Government, Technology and Social Change
The American government
completely relied upon the scientific community to solve social problems by
1900. The industrialization and urbanization of America presented new challenges
and social problems for the country. The government had increasingly turned to
the scientific community in the late 1800s to deal with these problems. The
bureau became the way that government organized scientific work. These bureaus
were composed of different types of scientists who worked on a specific problem.
These bureaus typically developed regulatory authority over time, such as the
establishment of the Food and Drug Administration in 1906.
The American
populace had generally become dependent upon the government for solving social
problems by 1920. The problems associated with the rise of urbanization demanded
governmental assistance. Cities were becoming crowded, which posed health
problems. A safe food supply was demanded by people living in the cities.
Farmers were faced with the problem of insects and disease which reduced
productivity. An adequate transportation net-work to connect markets and
producers was needed throughout the country. These types of problems were too
major to be solved by an individual town or state. The American people thus
turned to the government to solve the problems.
The government thus
became dependent on the scientific community to develop technolo-gies and
strategies for dealing with social problems. Through this connection, the
government was able to solve many of the problems facing America. The solutions,
however, were often short-lived. As one problem was solved, other problems
developed due to the application of technology. This was exemplified in three
different social problems that were addressed by the government in the early
1900s. The first was the government’s attempt to increase productivity in
farming. The second was the development of the Tennessee Valley Authority that
was one of the means that government used to deal with the depression. The third
was the development of the atom bomb that could be used to deter military
aggression in the world.
Urban areas of America were faced with the
problem of having a cheap supply of food in the 1910s. Agricultural production
had not kept up with the demand for food resources. The government, seeing the
need to increase productivity in agriculture, established the county farm and
home demonstration agent system in 1912. The purpose of this system was to
dis-seminate the latest technical and scientific knowledge on agricultural
production to American farmers. While early resistance was evident, the system
was able to educate farmers on the latest techniques and equipment to improve
productivity.
The social environment was also favorable to the goals of
the county agent system. By 1925, a transportation network existed allowing the
transportation of surplus agricultural products to be distributed to the
markets. The ability to process foods through canning or freezing had been
perfected. Hybrid vegetable and plant seeds began to appear, which al-lowed more
productive and disease resistant crops. These new seeds, coupled with new
agri-cultural chemicals, allowed the farmer to produce greater results per acre.
These were neces-sary social conditions for the development of large farms and
to make mechanization cost ef-ficient.
The introduction of the
multi-purpose tractor in the middle 1920s set the stage for the rapid expansion
of the farm. Tractors before this time had been of limited use, were heavy,
expensive and were labor intensive. The multi-purpose tractor was economical,
could per-form several farming tasks and could save on labor. Farmers began to
see the economies of scale in using the farm tractor to increase production.
This was evident by the increase in the number of tractors that were used and
the increase in farm acreage used. In 1920, 246,000 tractors were in use. By
1940, 1,545,000 tractors were being used. In 1920, the average size of the farm
was 148 acres. In 1940 the average size of the farm was 174 acres. By the 1950s,
the use of horsepower in agriculture was almost nonexistent.
The increase
in productivity would suggest that the goals of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 that
established the county agent system had been accomplished. Increased
productivity, however, caused new social problems. The increase in productivity
caused market prices to move downward. In addition, the foreign demand for food
products also dropped seriously between 1919 and 1940. This caused many farmers
to either abandon farming or operate at a loss. The government, concerned with
this social problem, began to enact legislation. The McNary-Haugen Bill of 1927,
the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, and the establishment of the Commodity
Credit Corporation in 1933 were all measures Congress enacted to deal with
production. The goal was to lower the amount of production and provide price
sup-ports or subsidies for the farmer. These measures had only a minimal impact
on productivity, however.
The movement of former farmers to the cities
created a bigger problem. When the de-pression of 1929 occurred, America was not
prepared for the massive unemployment and im-poverishment that resulted. Entire
regions of America were in economic distress. When he was elected President in
1932, Roosevelt developed the “New Deal” to combat the economic distress in
America. The New Deal was an example of government involvement in social
en-gineering. The goals of the program were to develop a homogenous society to
eliminate the pluralistic nature of American society. The immediate goal was to
remove people from wel-fare. The long-range goal was to provide economic
prosperity for all Americans. One of the specific programs developed out of the
New Deal was the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933.
The
TVA, as this program became known, was a direct attempt by the government to
revi-talize the impoverished seven-state regions along the Tennessee River. This
area was charac-terized by a rural impoverished population. The area lacked
industry and employment oppor-tunities, as well as electricity and other
conveniences. Many of the farming areas had been de-stroyed due to poor
agricultural practices and erosion. The grand idea of Roosevelt was to develop
this region into a model community in which inhabitants enjoyed prosperity and a
common social experience. The corporation developed was to be “clothed with the
power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private
enterprise.”
The center piece of this development was to be a series of
hydro-electric dams on the Ten-nessee River. These would provide cheap or free
electricity to the surrounding communities and thus raise the standard of living
of the inhabitants. Early ideas also included the develop-ment of ideal
communities. Henry Ford, who had attempted to buy the Muscle Shoals Dam in 1921
to establish an ideal community, was consulted. The basic ideal was that
communities would develop around a small industry and provide a unique product
to sell. Each family would also maintain a private garden to provide for its
food supply. The development of greenbelts or parks for recreation would provide
an aesthetic environment. The result would be a homogenous community with modest
prosperity and a staple food supply. This ideal project would then draw people
from the industrial cities and encourage reproduction of this program in other
parts of the country.
The TVA encountered problems from the start. The
first directors were plagued with problems on how to proceed. Roosevelt had
given no clear direction for the project. Squab-bles over the design and
direction of development hindered implementation. Equally serious was the
reaction of the inhabitants of the region. Many of the inhabitants of the region
were independent small farmers. They were self-sustaining individualistic people
who saw no need for government intervention. There were also wide political
differences between the people of the Tennessee River Valley. In the East, the
people were associated with the North and the Union. In the West and South, the
people were associated with the Confederacy. The people in many areas had become
apathetic and existed in a “somnambulistic state.” The result was that the
ideals and goals of the TVA had to change over the years. While electrification
of the rural area around the Tennessee River occurred, the goal of prosperity
and homogeneity did not occur.
Government’s role in solving social
problems also extended into international relations. America had been a decisive
factor in the two World Wars. The ability of America to re-orient industry and
technology toward winning the wars was achieved. The development of new systems
of defense, munitions, communication and transportation aided in achieving
America’s objectives. The government’s use of technology to win the war had both
domestic and international implications. This was clearly true in the
development of the atom bomb.
Initially, American scientists had been
interested in discovering a way to use uranium fis-sion as a source of energy.
In 1939, President Roosevelt had appointed an Advisory Commit-tee on Uranium to
explore the possibilities of developing this energy source. During the next two
years, the research in uranium fission proved successful. With America’s
entrance into World War II, President Roosevelt was encouraged to develop the
atom bomb. The result was the Manhattan Project that pooled scientists in
secrecy to develop the bomb. By 1945, the atom bomb was seen as a way to end the
war with the Japan. After successful tests in July, the United States dropped
the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Three days later another
bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
The American government had successfully
brought an end to the war with Japan. The application of science and technology
had provided a powerful and destructive incentive to end the war. The use of the
atom bomb, however, was to cause major problems for the United States. The
ability of other countries to develop the bomb, particularly Russia, caused
uneasi-ness among the leadership of America. The international implications of
using of the atomic bomb had only been briefly examined by the Truman
administration. Citizens also were alarmed. Aware of the destructiveness and
lethalness of the atom bomb, many Americans became insecure and pessimistic
about the future. The new social problems that confronted America were two-fold:
one internal and one external.
In America, the fear of Americans
concerning the atomic bomb had to be addressed. The view of atomic power being
associated with weaponry and destruction had to be changed. This was
accomplished by the Atomic Energy Commission by diverting attention to the use
of atomic energy for power. In the period between 1945 and 1950, this agency
directed atten-tion to this aspect of atomic energy. The resulting media blitz
was successful. Magazines and news organizations extolled the usefulness of
atomic energy. Educational materials and public exhibits were developed to
educated the American populace on atomic energy. Atomic en-ergy became
associated with “health, happiness and prosperity rather than destruction.” The
success of this campaign, however, was short lived. By 1960, Americans again
felt the fear of atomic warfare.
The use of the atom bomb also presented
problems for America in international relations. Before the use of the atomic
bomb, the concern over a proliferation of nuclear weapons had been expressed.
The Truman administration, however, did not think through the implications of
atomic warfare. While America was trying to posit the positive aspects of
nuclear energy, Russia was developing its own nuclear capabilities. The result
was the Cold War. After 1950, the United States was faced with the potential of
nuclear destruction by the Soviet Un-ion. While it had brought an end to World
War II, the atom bomb provided the initiative for other countries, the Soviet
Union in particular, to develop their own defensive systems based on atomic or
nuclear warfare. This forced the American government to spend billions of
dollars on research and development so America could maintain a strategic
military advantage. Major international problems have occurred from the
proliferation of nuclear capabilities.
These three examples of government
using technology to solve social problems show the limitations of government
intervention. In all three cases, the solution is useful only in the short-term.
Within a few years, each solution is modified or new strategies are employed to
deal with the new problems. As is true with most technology, the introduction of
new tech-nology creates new social problems. These new problems can be minor in
nature, requiring only direct intervention or government legislation to correct,
or they can be major, as seen in the development of the Cold War. While
technology can be applied to solve problems, the values and social needs of the
society that employs the new advances determines the uses of technology. Society
equally determines the potentials or limitations of technology. This is evi-dent
in the three examples that show society shaping the application of technology.
© CopyRight 2002 Scott R. Simpson