Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

Side Effects of Modernization

Civilization is such a great value because it includes art, technology, science, religion, ethics and it is being improved ever since the first man on earth to contemporary times, but modernization, which is a sub genre of civilization, has a history not more than three centuries old when Industrial Revolution came to pass. Since then, same as the purpose of the Revolution, it is obvious that developments in science and technology assist humans in order to make their life easier or more practical and less painful; Ruth Veenhoven says The average citizen lives more comfortable now, then kings did a few centuries ago (2) so apparently modernization works, but such comfort comes with the price. To reach that kings level, people act like there is no moral code any longer and they voluntarily and miserably blindly become slaves of their jobs in order to achieve to that comfort zone, so it is not even possible to say that modernization has improved peoples life, on the contrary it tears down the elements of civilization, so peoples life. Although modernization makes the life easier, more practical and more healthful for humans to live, actually it worsens the quality of life, because deviant behavior has spread out all over the world and people became modern slaves.

Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

Certainly, modernization serves humanity as it designed, when Industrial Revolution was began; machines were invented in order to simplify and the human life and without a doubt it seems it is succeeded. With the developments in science and technology and the progress at communication and transportation, modernization seems to work just perfectly and people are thinking that it is fantastic and phenomenon. Diseases such as cholera, smallpox, malaria or flu does not sound deadly than how it used to be, because dozens of millions of people do not die on the force of these epidemics nowadays. However, there is another side of the medallion: Veenhoven argues that Ever fewer people die in accidents and epidemics (2) but it is not rational to say that this impression is completely true, he does not mention everything objectively and he is misleading people, because modernization brought its own diseases such as hearth attack, diabetes and obesity; if our ancestors were able to see the condition of the contemporary world, they would not believe it and be shocked, because even children have hearth attacks and half of the US is already obese. There were no such sicknesses like these before, not that world widely and not at that amount, this is the consequences of the lifestyle, which is insisted to live, in order to be modern man, so these diseases are one of the side effects of modernization.

Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

Immorality increases everywhere day by day. Our ancestors probably thought that with the assistance of modernization, the earth would be turned a more livable and more peaceful place. As a simple example: Alfred Nobel would definitely never envisioned the consequences of dynamite, which was invented by him, nowadays it is used for political assassinations and political terrorism and these are consequences of ethnic troubles, because one nation thinks that they deserve higher life standards than another nation and discriminate them in order to achieve to the kingly comfort zone. Another horrible immorality is drug use. It is rising up everyday, because some of the people have already tasted every possible pleasure in the world like the kings did in the past and they are confused what to do next and they obviously want to taste something different and than they do drugs. The fight against drugs is nothing but just a show off, because on the other side someone tries to earn more money in order keep their kingly comfort zone. Veenhoven says One kind of problem is deviant behavior, such as criminality, drug use (2) and mentions about ethnic troubles and political terrorism (2), there were always murderers and thieves but some deviant behaviors such as drug use, ethnic troubles and political terrorism considerably new and a consequence of modernization.

Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

Another trouble that brought by modernization is it makes people depended on money. It is such a problem that it makes people blind and turns them to biological machines in order to work and earn more then consume more. In contemporary world people think they always need and buy something; a new car, a new house, new furniture and a technological device such as latest model cellphone or computer, so in order to have them all, their highest priority is earning more money and to achieve this goal they do not care any moral code what so ever. Richard Heinberg says a slave to clock and wages (10) to those men who are just the worthless pieces of this system. They want to live their lives how kings used to live, so they became so depended on money that they live paycheck to paycheck. As the Poot says who is a character of TV show called The Wire The world going one way, people another, nobody stops anybody, because they all want to keep this lifestyle, which is orient by modernization. This kind of lifestyle definitely not good for humanity and it is an obstacle in front of the civilization in order to progress.

Modernization is an uncontrollable force and at some point it not possible to manage it. Because of it, there are health problems such as hearth attack, diabetes and obesity; there are immoralities such as drug use, ethnic troubles and political terrorism and people became modern slaves without knowing it. It is late to be sorry, but not too late. Ironically, Warren Buffett one of the most important figures of the modern world

Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

says, Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken and this is what needs to be done. People have to break those chains bravely and realize what is going around them truly.

Furkan Eref Yaln 20900971 ENG 102-42 1st Essay - Final Richard Fisher

01.11.2011

Heinberg, Richard. "The Primitivist Critique of Civilization." (1995): n. page. Print. <http://www.primitivism.com/primitivist-critique.htm>. Poot, , perf. The Wire. 22 Nov 2011. DVD. Veenhoven, Ruth. "LIFE IS GETTING BETTER." (2005): n. page. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. <http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub2000s/2005k-full.pdf>.