Progressive societies outgrow institutions as children outgrow clothes.
Henry GeorgeRead
The march of invention has clothed mankind with powers of which a century ago the boldest imagination could not have dreamt.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the incredible advancements in technology that have transformed human capabilities beyond imagination.
Henry George's quote emphasizes the dramatic progress that technology and invention have brought to humanity. It reflects on how previous generations could not have conceived the vast array of possibilities and tools that we now take for granted, showcasing the transformative power of human creativity and innovation over time.
In practice
During a technology conference to inspire innovation among young entrepreneurs.
Progressive societies outgrow institutions as children outgrow clothes.
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.
Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over.
The protection of the masses has in all times been the pretense of tyranny - the plea of monarchy, of aristocracy, of special privilege of every kind. The slave owners justified slavery as protecting the slaves.
So long as all the increased wealth which modern progress brings goes but to build up great fortunes, to increase luxury and make sharper the contrast between the House of Have and the House of Want, progress is not real and cannot be permanent.
Compare society to a boat. Her progress through the water will not depend upon the exertion of her crew, but upon the exertion devoted to propelling her. This will be lessened by any expenditure of force in fighting among themselves, or in pulling in different directions.
One of the things I'm excited about is the observation that gamers are creators and creators are gamers too. We used to think of creators as workstation customers and think of gamers as consumers.
The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.
There is a massive apparatus within the United States government that with complete secrecy has been building this enormous structure that has only one goal, and that is to destroy privacy and anonymity, not just in the United States but around the world.
Any new technology, if it's used by evil people, bad things can happen. But that's more a question of the politics of the technology.
As our technology evolves, we will have the capacity to reach new, ever-increasing depths. The question is what kind of technology, in the end, do we want to deploy in the far reaches of the ocean? Tools of science, ecology and documentation, or the destructive tools of heavy industry?
Techno-humanism aims to amplify the power of humans, creating cyborgs and connecting humans to computers, but it still sees human interests and desires as the highest authority in the universe.
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