Where I Live From Walden Technology

The Impact of Technology
The rapid chugging sound that rushed through the dark, silent night, rattling the rickety tracks, was the result of hundreds of deaths. This railroad, constructed during the Industrial Revolution, is exemplified in Thoreau’s excerpt Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, from Walden, and is used to portray how technological advancement is hindering rather than helping human progress from its current state. As a transcendentalist who is against the indulgence of material wealth, Thoreau disapproved of consumer good developments. Additionally, the industrial movement generated opportunities for greedy contractors to commence cheap labor and poor working conditions. Specifically, the railroad construction became an advocate

The construction of the railroad was a strenuous and labor-intensive job that demanded hundreds of low-paid workers to speed up production rate. Most workers were unskilled, victimized Irish immigrants who were left to engage in these dangerous tasks. The “infamous case of tragedy on the tracks occurred in 1832 at Duffy’s Cut in Malvern, Pennsylvania”: 57 Irish immigrants died of cholera from the cramped living conditions and the community’s unwillingness to shelter exposed workers (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). The Irishmen are metaphorically described as “sound sleepers,” to compare the train carts designated for sleeping, called sleepers, to the dead men who would never wake again (Thoreau 234). Contractors focused exclusively on completing the railroad; consequently, their workers’ detrimental health conditions were ignored. When death finally prevailed on the overworked laborers, “The rails are laid on them… and the cars run smoothly over them” (Thoreau 234). Each track placed exhibited the country’s industrial progress, however it also reflected the country’s regression in human morality. Thus, regardless of the progress made in technology, it did not compensate for the human sacrifices caused by additional technology. Thoreau displays how a human aspiration to improve technology has become higher concern than the manner in which

Once the Americans were convinced that the railroad would bring economic benefits, they began track assembly. However, the negative consequences outweighed the rewards. The mountains and harsh cold weather presented physical obstacles that were endured by the workers. Many government officials were even bribed, with stocks and sums of money, to waive off the millions of dollars that were “changing hands under the table” (Library of Congress). Thoreau poses a rhetorical question to address the situation and mock the American government: “If we stay at home and mind our business, who will want railroads?” (234) Another transportation method was not imperative for humans to improve their personal lives. This production is only a waste of resources, energy, and time. By expressing a contemptuous tone, Thoreau emphasizes the purposeless actions in harming the beautiful environment, fostering worker adversities, and allowing government corruption, for the creation of a futile railroad. In result, humans are unable to improve their lives because technological inventions are inhibiting the development of established societies and provoke devastation for associated