Industrial Revolution Robert Owen Analysis

During the 19th century, machinery made its way into European society. It transformed the lives of European citizens and this period of time was known as the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution enriched Europe 's economy and expanded its wealth; however, this did not come without consequence. While Europe became industrialized, the quality of life diminished. The industrial factories polluted the environment and intoxicated citizens. This drastically decreased life expectancy in urbanized cities. The factories also had social consequences in terms of their labour. While factories incorporated both workers and machinery, workers were treated poorly and machines were treated with utmost care. Robert Owen, a manager of a cotton mill

During the Industrial Revolution, many managers of factories did not pay their workers decent wages as they did not see value or worth within them. They believed that they would lose profit by paying decent wages to workers, but Owen 's cotton mill contradicted this. He explained that human labour is just as important as machinery, even calling them living machinery in his speech. He began by discussing the concept about being "conscious of [the workers '] real value" (Owen, 320). Owen believed that workers should not be considered inferior to machinery, but rather they should be viewed as equal counterparts to one another. He viewed both machines and human labour to be "a system composed of many parts" (Owen, 320), and as a manager, he knew it was his duty to make sure everything ran smoothly, not just the machines. Through being acceptant of the workers, Owen stated that this would lead to the discovery that workers can "be easily trained and directed to procure a large increase of pecuniary gain" (Owen, 320). This would also lead to a high sense of self-gratitude and satisfaction. Owen expanded this theory by mentioning that without human labour, machinery could not be operated and without workers, the economical output of machinery could not be made. As a result, there would be no profitable gain.

The superiority of machinery was exaggerated when compared to the social costs of the unfair treatment of workers, but through Owen 's "A New View of Society", it shined a light to recognize the moral issues of worker standards during the Industrial Revolution. Owen mentioned that workers are "far more wonderfully constructed" (Owen, 320) than machines and he proved in his speech how workers can be more than meets the eye. Human labour are more beneficial than machinery through better capital gain and revenue, unity on a social scale, and creative methods on completing