Are We Stealing from the Industrial Revolution?

The industrial revolution was, how they say “revolutionary.” It introduced some of the biggest changes to our economy and way of life than ever before. Many people would probably argue that the internet has been a much bigger revolution, and they may be right. However, I want to propose another idea; that the emergence of the internet is actually not creating a brand new culture at all. As people often say:

“History tends to repeat itself”

Life before the Industrial Revolution

Before this remarkable transition, the majority of people worked for themselves. They were farmers, artisans, traders, or something of the like. They had the freedom to work at their own pace.

Of course, this meant their lively hood was solely based on their work. This is not unlike many freelancers we see today! Many freelancers will tell you that one of the biggest downsides to freelancing is that you are practically always working. But this is not a new concept whatsoever! Farmers worked every single day; there were no weekends. If you took a break, your plants or animals could die!

“A lot of people today are actually working in a similar way to our ancestors despite the changes the industrial revolution brought.”

Life after the Industrial Revolution

One big change the industrial revolution introduced was the means of mass production. This change ended up actually putting many artisans out of business. Today, we are beginning to see a shift against this. Many people are turning away from mass production, and consider specially crafted products as unique and sought after.

Another emerging change was that semi-independent laborers transitioned into wage-earning employees. This introduced a completely different relationship to the work they were doing. People used to care about what they did because they were creating something, and how well they did that determined their wage. Today, we are given a salary no matter how much work you actually put in.

People today tend to lose interest in their work, and not give it their all. Something you could not afford pre-industrial revolution. And something we don’t often see in freelancers or entrepreneurs.

The industrial revolution also introduced something that people take for granted today: leisure. Many Americans “live for the weekend”.

That concept didn’t really exist until the industrial revolution made it possible!

And once again, today, we see many freelancers and entrepreneurs working all the time. Many of us who still work a 40-hour workweek see those people in an envious light, wishing we were as free as they.

The internet is a revolutionary tool. It continues to change the way we live our lives. But perhaps it is not changing them into something brand new. Perhaps, thanks to the internet, we are conforming back into our original ways of work. Working for self, working for something we are passionate about, not just working for a paycheck, and not just working for the weekend either.

Working for life.

This post was previously published on medium.com and is republished here with permission from the author.

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