MAN AND THE MACHINE.

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19880, 8 May 1936, Page 9

MAN AND THE MACHINE.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —The problem of the Sphinx. Which is the more important, man or Ihe things his hand and brain have made? This is the quarrel that knots every problem facing humanity today; every social system, whether it be Fascism, Hitlerism, Bolshevism or Socialism. It is the problem unsolvable at this juncture by finance and economy. Do we believe that man and the spirit of man arc sacred, or do we believe that what is sacred is the j Bank of England, or international credit, or the will of the Labour | Party, or of the State, or of the leader? Is the aim of our society the breeding of men and women able to feel, I reason and act like fully conscious I beings, or do we hope for obedient automatons or robots? Society for the individual, or the individual lor society? Unfortunately our process of industrialism has been to diminish the thinker and skilied worker, whether by hand or brain, and to increase tho number of machine-herds, whether the machine be a power loom or a typewriter. The whole of our community to-day is infected with the machine-enslaved mind, causing disinterestedness, soul-killing monotony, . and wage-slavery. The forces used (against us appeal to our love and need iof order. Nothing is more orderly j than an ant-heap, except a cemetery , jWe have seen a prediction fulfilled J wherein Slates have arisen in which | the individual is nothing and the 1 j State all. This is a danger that may arise in this country under a socialistic [ Government. Wait and sec! —I am, : etc., MARCUS JAMES. Hamilton, May G.