⚙️ The idea of a military-industrial complex isn’t uniquely modern.
Victorian Britain had already begun linking industrial production with military expansion, shaping both policy and empire.
It’s a longer story than most people realize.
#Brewminate #History #IndustrialAge
https://brewminate.com/victorian-military-industrial-complex/
#OTD January 6, 1907
Maria Montessori opens the first Casa dei Bambini in Rome, a humane response to the social damage caused by industrialization and urban poverty.
Photo credit: public domain
#january6th #education #reform #industrialage #society
I always thought that #JRRTolkien's #Smaug was a metaphor for the #IndustrialAge and #WealthHoarding. It seems I'm not alone! #Tolkien was actually an #environmentalist and possibly a #socialist (though he describes himself as an #anarchist). Does that mean #LOTR will be banned by #Fascistic #Capitalists? Hmmmm...
#Dragonomics: Smaug and #ClimateChange
Posted on February 22, 2019 by Richard Fahey
Excerpt: "Today, we talk about dragons. I refer specifically to the greedy, northern (often fire-breathing) variety as described in Beowulf and featured in Tolkien’s #Hobbit, and I will consider how these monsters present #EnvironmentalCatastrophe as a direct result of #hoarding and #greed.
"My discussion of dragons and climate change continues my recent series of blogs interested in placing medieval literature (and in this case also modern medievalism) in conversation with current crises. This blog develops an earlier argument made in a paper at a 'Tolkien in Vermont' conference (2014), titled 'Dragonomics: Smaug and #Pollution on Middle-Earth,' in which I argue that pollution in Tolkien’s Hobbit is linked to both the literal destruction by the dragon, and the rampant greed that motivates Smaug and ultimately initiates the plunder and violence at the Battle of Five Armies."
#MiddleEarth #Capitalism #ClimateCrisis #Oiligarchy #Oligarchy #CapitalismMustDie
#ClimateChange boosted #HurricaneMelissa’s destructive winds and rain, analysis finds
By ISABELLA O’MALLEY
Updated 10:18 AM EST, November 6, 2025
"Human-caused climate change boosted the destructive winds and rain unleashed by Hurricane Melissa and increased the temperatures and humidity that fueled the storm, according to an analysis released Thursday.
"Melissa was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall and brought destructive weather to #Jamaica, #Haiti, #DominicanRepublic and #Cuba, causing dozens of deaths across the #Caribbean. Roofs were torn off of homes, hospitals were damaged, roads were blocked by landslides and crop fields were ruined.
"The rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution found that climate change increased Melissa’s maximum wind speeds by 7% and made the rainfall near the center of the storm 16% more intense. The scientists also wrote that the temperature and humidity in which the storm intensified were made six times more likely due to climate change compared to a #PreIndustrial world."
#ClimateCrisis #SuperHurricanes
#RecordBreaking #Weather #ExtremeWeather #ExtremeWx #Capitalism #CapitalismKills #IndustrialAge
An analysis from World Weather Attribution reports human-caused climate change intensified the winds and rainfall unleashed by Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean. Melissa, one of the strongest to hit the Atlantic, caused destruction in Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba. Dozens of fatalities have been recorded, homes and public infrastructure were damaged and crops were ruined. The analysis reports climate change increased Melissa’s wind speeds by 7% and made the rainfall 16% more intense. Planet-warming gases released by humans, such as carbon dioxide, cause the atmosphere to hold more water vapor and spike ocean temperatures. Warmer oceans give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen quickly.
#Greed and the #GildedAge: Power, Wealth, and Corruption in 19th-Century America
Examining Wealth, Corruption, and Social Change in the Gilded Age
November 16, 2021
Excerpt: "From the 1870s to the 1890s, the United States entered a period of rapid #industrialization. There was a shift from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy and many Americans began to move to urban areas. #MarkTwain called this period the Gilded Age and criticized the era as a time of #greed and #PoliticalCorruption.
Industrialization greatly increased the need for workers in the nation’s factories. The availability of factory jobs that required little or no skills was one of the reasons for a dramatic increase in immigration to the United States. Although working conditions in most factories were poor and unsafe, there was a steady stream of immigrant workers to fill the positions.
While there were millions of factory workers, the #wealthy #entrepreneurs who owned the factories represented a tiny fraction of Americans. The few wealthy controlled most of the wealth in the United States during this time.
During the Gilded Age, the economic disparities between the workers and big business owners grew exponentially. Workers continued to endure low wages and dangerous working conditions in order to make a living. #BigBusiness owners, however, enjoyed #lavish lifestyles.
he industrialization of the United States brought economic growth to the country like never before. The economy moved from agrarian to industrial; consumer goods were mass-produced and readily available. However, manufacturing was not the only industry that experienced growth. The railroad industry grew as the need to transport people and goods increased.
The rapid growth of the manufacturing industry created a great need for unskilled workers. This demand caused migration as farm workers moved from rural areas of the United States to find jobs in America’s rapidly growing cities. The increase in jobs was also a draw for people in foreign countries. Many people immigrated to the United States in search of work and the opportunity to live the American dream.
While industrialization led to an increase in jobs, it also led to poor working conditions for this new industrial labor force. Workers were forced to work in dangerous conditions surrounded by heavy machinery. Unskilled laborers required little training and completed routine tasks. They also worked long hours and were paid low wages.
Big business owners benefitted tremendously from the economic changes in the United States. Some historians have said that these entrepreneurs were robber barons because they got rich through ruthless means. Others have called them captains of industry because they were greatly responsible for increasing productivity, expanding markets, providing jobs, and increasing the nation’s wealth."
Read more:
https://brewminate.com/greed-and-the-gilded-age-in-19th-century-america/
#Capitalism #CapitalismSucks #CorporateColonialism #IndustrialAge #RobberBarrons #TechBros #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #LifestylesOfTheRichAndFamous
So, it seems that technology isn't the problem. It's #HumanGreed! The #IndustrialAge happened not to make life easier for people (though it did in some ways), it was to make money selling shit to make life easier for people (without regard of the consequences -- like PFAS and plastics), and produce cheap shit to profit some fat-cat CEOs and investors. I mean technology is just using tools -- even crows know how to do that! But who is profiting from selling the *tools* that we are told will make our lives easier, faster, more convenient? We know who. People like #NikolaTesla are out there -- willing to create tools to benefit humankind and not destroy the planet. But unfortunately, there are far more #Edisons out there!
How #AirPollution is causing girls to get their first #periods earlier
New research shows that girls in the US are getting their first periods earlier. Exposure to toxic air is partly to blame.
By David Cox, June 4, 2024
"The same trend has also been noted around the world. South Korean scientists have described with some alarm how the number of girls displaying signs of precocious puberty – either breast development or #menstruation before the age of eight - increased 16-fold between 2008 and 2020.
"We're also seeing that these decreasing ages at puberty are even more pronounced in lower socioeconomic status groups, and ethnic minority groups," says Audrey Gaskins, an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, the US. "This has important implications for long-term health."
Researchers like Gaskins are primarily concerned that beginning puberty earlier might trigger a cascade of events which have far-reaching consequences later in adulthood. Emerging data suggests that it may not only curtail the fertility window, particularly if these women then enter menopause sooner, but shorten their lives. Precocious puberty has been repeatedly associated with a higher risk of diseases ranging from breast and ovarian cancers, metabolic syndromes such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease."
By David Cox, June 4, 2024
"For several decades, scientists around the world have become increasingly concerned by signs that girls are entering puberty at a much younger age compared with previous generations.
From when girls experience their first period, something which scientists term the age of menarche, to commencing breast development, these seminal changes marking the onset of adolescence appear to be taking place progressively sooner.
"American girls today have been estimated to start menstruation up to four years earlier compared to girls living a century ago. In May, new data showed that while girls born between 1950 and 1969 typically began menstruating at 12.5 years, this decreased to an average of 11.9 years for the generation born in the early 2000s.
"The same trend has also been noted around the world. South Korean scientists have described with some alarm how the number of girls displaying signs of precocious puberty – either breast development or menstruation before the age of eight - increased 16-fold between 2008 and 2020.
"'We're also seeing that these decreasing ages at puberty are even more pronounced in lower socioeconomic status groups, and ethnic minority groups,' says Audrey Gaskins, an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, the US. 'This has important implications for long-term health.'
"Researchers like Gaskins are primarily concerned that beginning puberty earlier might trigger a cascade of events which have far-reaching consequences later in adulthood. Emerging data suggests that it may not only curtail the fertility window, particularly if these women then enter menopause sooner, but shorten their lives. Precocious puberty has been repeatedly associated with a higher risk of diseases ranging from breast and ovarian cancers, metabolic syndromes such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
[...]
"Some of the major culprits appear to be #ToxicGases such as #SulphurDioxide, #NitrogenDioxide, #CarbonMonoxide and #ozone, all of which are released into the air either through #VehicleEmissions or waste produced by #Manufacturing Plants. In 2022, a study from scientists in Poland, a country known for its poor air quality due to the prevalence of #coal-burning factories, examined data from 1,257 women, and found a link between greater exposure to nitrogen gases and menstruation occurring before the age of 11."
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