Ebook: The Failure of Technology

"What does 'technocracy' mean? If the word has any meaning, it can only be that the technician rules, that he takes over the government. But the technician is no statesman...."

Originally published in 1946, F.G. Jünger’s long essay The Failure of Technology criticizes the growing mechanization of the twentieth century through arguments later adopted by environmental protection movements. But Jünger reaches beyond political ideology to warn the West of its own impending destruction should technological growth continue unchecked.

Contrary to many of his contemporaries, Jünger saw the world after World War II not as a bright new age but as a march to ruin. Regardless of the men wielding them, he believed machines bore intrinsic evils and their rapid advance collided with the natural rhythms of life. Though the Anglo world romanticizes advancing technology as “progress” toward a future techno-utopia, the German Jünger rejected unnatural perfection and precision in favor of humility and appreciation of the mysteries and wonders inherent to the natural world.