Technology as a Cultural Force: For Alena and Griffin

To various degrees, the citizens of the advanced industrial countries are suffering from a crisis that is as profound as it is vague and therefore hard to deal with. The problem is particularly acute in the United States, however, and in what follows, some of the illustrations pertain particularly to that country, the one I live in and know best. In any case, though vagueness obscures the crisis, there have to be symptoms of some sort; otherwise we would not feel troubled. What are the signs of trouble in the culture of technology and democracy? First there are economic problems — national budget deficits, problems of international trade, newly emerging and powerful competition, viz., India, and China, and the dwindling supply of oil.