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2
- #41
jmw
Industrial
- Jun 27, 2001
- 7,435
This debate makes me think that a point has been missed here.
The world turns, life moves on.
I guess somewhere in the world they still make steam trains. They did in China long after Britain stopped. Same with cotton and wool and lots of other things.
Each time some industry came to a halt some one lobbied parliament, introduced new taxes or tried to do something about it. Early on it was the ludites breaking the machines that ultimately went somewhere else anyway.
Britain used to produce lots of coal. It doesn't now. It probably should have stopped long before it did.
Hanging on to the past for its own sake is a real handicap when what you should be doing is looking forward to the future and adapting.
As usual with success, when the cruch comes there are a lot of people dependent on an industry who wake up to find coal is imported or replaced by gas, cotton is cheaper from India or China, no body makes steam trains any more, and some one makes ships but fewer and fewer in the UK. It doesn't mean the UK is no longer a maritime power. It may not make many ships, it may not own many or operate many. Ships are going to be dirt cheap from China very soon as Korea, in its turn, loses out to another Asian country. But the Uk is still a maritime power with significant influnce because it uses its 300 yer knowledge in a new way. It makes pretty good money at it. A lot more per person employed than it did when the merchants traded round the world, i would guess. It is tough on the shipworkers. It is always tough on the workers in any industry when it ups stakes and moves somewhere else.
Life is. Things change. Governments never helped anything or anyone, they just meddle and make things worse. If engineering is going somewhere else there isn't too much to do about it. It's some one elses turn to make cotton, or engines, cars or whatever. Sooner or later everyone will have had a turn at making steam engines. Accept and move on.
Personally, i like steam trains, traction engines, clipper ships and so on. I just don't make my living at it.
The best thing we can take from our culture is the learning and put it to a better use.
People want cheap goods. Companies want to make profits. Nothing is going to change that.
Sooner or later those start up skills are shared and there is no longer any exclusivity and there is always someone who can make it cheaper or better. All you can do is make life miserable for yourself and someone else by trying to hold back the tide of change; or you can see if you can work out what the future will be and latch on with both hands or take a hand at helping the world along. There is always something else. The US isn't going to collapse. The UK hasn't. There will just see a lot of unhappy engineers for a while. What's new?
Was it St Ignatius Loyola who said "Let me not try to change those things i cannot change but let me not shirk from trying to change the things i can change and grant me the wisdom to know the difference."?
The world turns, life moves on.
I guess somewhere in the world they still make steam trains. They did in China long after Britain stopped. Same with cotton and wool and lots of other things.
Each time some industry came to a halt some one lobbied parliament, introduced new taxes or tried to do something about it. Early on it was the ludites breaking the machines that ultimately went somewhere else anyway.
Britain used to produce lots of coal. It doesn't now. It probably should have stopped long before it did.
Hanging on to the past for its own sake is a real handicap when what you should be doing is looking forward to the future and adapting.
As usual with success, when the cruch comes there are a lot of people dependent on an industry who wake up to find coal is imported or replaced by gas, cotton is cheaper from India or China, no body makes steam trains any more, and some one makes ships but fewer and fewer in the UK. It doesn't mean the UK is no longer a maritime power. It may not make many ships, it may not own many or operate many. Ships are going to be dirt cheap from China very soon as Korea, in its turn, loses out to another Asian country. But the Uk is still a maritime power with significant influnce because it uses its 300 yer knowledge in a new way. It makes pretty good money at it. A lot more per person employed than it did when the merchants traded round the world, i would guess. It is tough on the shipworkers. It is always tough on the workers in any industry when it ups stakes and moves somewhere else.
Life is. Things change. Governments never helped anything or anyone, they just meddle and make things worse. If engineering is going somewhere else there isn't too much to do about it. It's some one elses turn to make cotton, or engines, cars or whatever. Sooner or later everyone will have had a turn at making steam engines. Accept and move on.
Personally, i like steam trains, traction engines, clipper ships and so on. I just don't make my living at it.
The best thing we can take from our culture is the learning and put it to a better use.
People want cheap goods. Companies want to make profits. Nothing is going to change that.
Sooner or later those start up skills are shared and there is no longer any exclusivity and there is always someone who can make it cheaper or better. All you can do is make life miserable for yourself and someone else by trying to hold back the tide of change; or you can see if you can work out what the future will be and latch on with both hands or take a hand at helping the world along. There is always something else. The US isn't going to collapse. The UK hasn't. There will just see a lot of unhappy engineers for a while. What's new?
Was it St Ignatius Loyola who said "Let me not try to change those things i cannot change but let me not shirk from trying to change the things i can change and grant me the wisdom to know the difference."?
