Machines Quotes
This quotation is historically important because it documents the radical change in agriculture that technology brought on. In this period it was steam power. There were steam powered tractors in addition to what he enumerated. The production cost and hence the prices of agricultural products became much lower increasing the standard of living for all consumers. However, the small farmer, without capitol and the scale of a large enough farm, was put in a position in that he could not compete with the major products of agriculture without huge investment in capital equipment and large enough farms. While many went out of business, many others shifted to specialized crops and raising animals where the automation was not as necessary. This process has been on going in American agriculture since the invention of mechanized farm implements, and the small farmer has gradually become more rare. But the process has been ongoing throughout American history.
This quotation is often misunderstood. At the time there were a number of siege machines that were used to batter or breach the walls of towns, forts or castles. However, really good architects (actually military engineers and architects were the same at the time) were able to design countermeasures to thwart the machines by analyzing the principles of the siege machines and creating counter machines, structures and tactics. This point was that the clever architects were necessary and able to save nations. Most of these have got unheralded at the time or in history except for a few like Leonardo Da Vinci who is today known as a great artist and futurist but was mainly known his his own time as a military engineer.
The left has always been ambivalent about automation. Many object to it on the grounds that it puts men out of work. However, others such as Lafage, argued that automation was the only economic way to reform the working hours and conditions of labor. The problem at the time was that as long as labor was so cheap, there was no motivation for the manufacturer to invest in better machinery. He and many others argued that minimum wages and their increases increase productivity because it would force manufacturers to invest in more productive equipment to reduce their labor costs.
