The pillars of life have evolved. According to an article I was reading, technology, humanity,society and the media are driving our very existence. Have you ever wondered how phone companies continue to make money? Every three months the newest version of a phone is out, and as the saying goes, “Out with the old, in with the new.” I often observed that the rich and the poor have the same cell phones even with the exorbitant prices in the Caribbean. We act as though we are slaves to the products that humans manufacture.
Most forms of technology that we consume in the Caribbean was imported and resold. The West continues to expand its wealth based on our demand for their goods. The United States and Europe are global power houses that have a market in the Caribbean and their supply of technology are increasing as the developing countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, are aiming to mirror the lifestyle of the developed. “Mass production in a dual sense of “increase in productivity” and “for mass consumption” has led to another feature of the technical mode of production, namely, mass society. The comprehensive enveloping of human life by industry and technology has created the technological society, in which technological demands regulate the lives of human beings.”Jacques Ellul.
Technology is a sign of evolution. New forms emerge everyday, those fortunate to afford it and even those who cannot, we are consumed by it, driven by it, propelled by it. Those who control technology, control what the developing nations consume. If technology is so instrumental to our modern existence, are we slaves to technology itself? Or are we slaves to the countries that use technology to further their agendas and build their empires.
Alisha Gobinsingh
References
Gershuny, J (2005) ‘What do we do in Post-industrial Society? The nature of work and leisure time in the 21st Century’, ‘Working Papers of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, paper 2005-7. Colchester: University of Essex.
Rajaee, F (2000) GLOBALIZATION ON TRIAL: The Human Condition and the Information Civilization. IDRC/Kumarian Press. Retrieved from: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-9417-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
The 'Third World' In Global Development 
If we each do a self evaluation we will see how technology predominates in our lives. For instance when we awake on a morning sometimes right after or even before we say our morning prayer we reach for our phones to see if we have any missed calls, whatsapp messages or messages from a miss call form the nigh before. If we go on an outing, and we take pics we instantaneously want to posts them for everyone to see, whether it be on fb, instagram or whatsapp. We are so intuned that if sometime we are busy (now I am not saying everyone is doing it) and our whatsapp or text message notification goes off we forget what we are doing, and unconsciously run to get the phone. We have forgotten that the phone can take a message or that we can return a call. Sometimes we do not even rely on our memory for something that need to be done, we put reminders in the telephone to remind us to do it. Some of us hardly even cook now, we prefer to eat precooked meals that take a few minutes to be prepared by the push of a button. I agree times have changed, and people’s live are a lot more busy, but we need to look at the health risks associated with the amount of usage we do with technology. So I have to agree that we have become slaves to technology.
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Great piece, never thought about it like this. I think that in a world which is primarily driven by technology, where we have been able to make almost every human task simpler and to be do with minimum effort, that we have forgotten that we can survive without it. While technologies in fields such as health are vital for life, we must stop to consider if it has done more bad than good to us.
Good job.
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This aspect of globalization is often overlooked. Maybe we should question ourselves about the things we are slaves to. And the West continues to profit off our consumption patterns. But they seem to be the ones that birth our consumption patterns. And i agree with you when you say we are aiming to mirror them in the Caribbean…but how are we benefiting from globalization and technology? Are we benefitting at all?
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I believe globalisation has introduced us to a wider range of technology and it benefits us by allowing barriers of communication to be reduced. Certain medical advances are possible because of the technology that we have bought from the West. However, we still seem to be governed by thinking what the West has is better. For example we use certain products that are from the United States, instead of looking at our local remedies. The same concept applies to technology in the Caribbean. We prefer to buy finished products as opposed to funding a local engineer and opening new diverse markets for ourselves. We are markets for their goods and while we may believe we are benefitting, we are simply becoming more dependent and enriching other economies.
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I think this issue is something that can be so easily overlooked, because as humans we sometimes do not notice the things that we are doing, similarly to how a drug addict will not notice that he is an addict. I think technology works the same way, as I myself sometimes go through my day picking up my smart phone without even needing it in my hand provides comfort. You said that we act as though we are slaves to the products that humans manufacture and I did not think of it like that until I read it. I feel as though while this may be true- that we crave for the latest gadgets on the market, the problem lies more psychologically in terms of wants vs needs and a growing addiction to the technological era. What do you think?
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Maybe it is psychological because the media tends to brainwash us into believing that we need certain items. The technology that we use such as television, the internet and laptops all have advertisements that send subliminal messages and it speaks to our subconscious. This can be a reason why many persons are unable to function without a cell phone for a day. We are always plugged into social media and traditional values are lost. You were told as a child “…if you don’t have, do without…” but modern day generations were not taught this concept. Sadly, our minds are already conditioned to this technological era and what we debate as a psychological problem may become the modern day norm. Just a slave to technology.
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I do agree, we are slave to technology even if we consume reuse and repackaged items. We often have limited access to most of the features and we do not even own any of what we consume. Many person are chasing the western ideals to technology and development, that is, we most times mirror what is being done in other parts of the world which informs our taste and this has therefore made our good and services become unattractive to local consumers. We have lost most of our culture chasing after what we have considered to be “better than us” and our local producer have not made things better. We as locals most time deal with high mark ups and pay almost triple digits for the same item we can purchase online much less. The entire structure needs a change.
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Do you recall in early Caribbean Sociology writings the concept of “Barrel child syndrome”? In search of a better life many people migrated leaving their children in the care of grandparents and the extended family, and as they lived and worked abroad they would provide for their families by packing barrels of food items, clothing and other nice things to excite them all to the envy of their not so fortunate friends. Coined by Jamaica social workers to describe the negative effects of migration on children left behind, barrel child syndrome refers to the dependency said children develop over time after receiving barrels full of goods from their absent parents. There is a host of issues coming out of this including sexual abuse, psychological scarring, depression, suicidal tendencies and ultimately dependency on these barrels to feel fulfilled. Before I bore you more with this beautiful story, let me connect the dots to modern day globalization. The US (predominantly) our absent mother provides us with goods and services that we enjoy and love….brand name clothing, designer shoes and bags, yummy Swiss macaroni and cheese, tablets, ipads, iphones and the list goes on and on. We are now the children suffering with barrel child syndrome, nursing uncommon health problems arising from imported foods and experiencing psychological disorientation when we do not have access to the products we have come to love. We now do not know how to make our own way and continue to look to Mommy America for solutions and more products to appease our consumerism. Technology has especially had this barrel child syndrome effect on us as we find it difficult to reprogram ourselves to life without cell phones, internet, wifi, candy crush, and OH MY GOD how will we ever adjust to life without whatsapp, twitter, Instagram and Facebook that facilitated our communication networks and fueled our egos on a daily basis for so long?
As you rightly pointed out, we are certainly slaves to technology, the master of course; our mind.
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YES!! This post has me re evaluating my life! Wow! What a way to look at it! Very interestingly enough, just today i was having a conversation with my friend as to how my phone is my life! Without it i seem to not be able to function… Now i am thinking if this technology has made me a slave to it….? My mind would like to think no, but based on my actions (even as i type this post, my phone is sitting right next to me) i am to believe that i have fallen into the trap! I do have the LATEST iphone…. and i will have the latest one after this… because i crave being on top of technology.. there is a desire to have what is said to be the BEST! This post has really opened my eyes to the level of control that technology really has over society.
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So what are you going to do about it? *Blank stare*
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