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Throughout history, technological innovations have helped humankind improve their standards of living, beginning with the simple invention of bone tools of prehistoric times, continuing on to and beyond modern air conditioners, automobiles, and super computers. For nearly half of the twentieth century, Robert Moses seized upon the opportunities of technology. Moses believed in the power of technology and the inevitability of change, and he felt that it was always important to accomplish the task at hand. Following these principals, Moses eventually became one of the most powerful people in New York City, and shaped New York City during the middle part of the twentieth century. However, Moses power did not last, and his boldness eventually led to loss of public support, and eventually his loss of power. Moses life highlights several issues connected with evolving technology, especially the relationship between technological progress and social progress, the question of whether or not social problems can be solved with technological fixes, and the emergence of Moses as a tragic hero.
Technological progress and social progress are related, but there are differing views on the extent of the relationship. Emmanuel Mesthene presents three general viewpoints on this relationship in his writing. The first is that technology is the motor of all progress and that it is a great blessing to society. He also puts forth a more pessimistic view that describes technology as an uncontrollable curse on society. His own personal view, combines the two by saying that technology can, and most likely will, lead to social change, however, there will be both positive and negative consequences accompanying the technology and the resulting change (Mesthene, p. 61 - 69). Volti presents the idea that technological progress is not the same as general progress, although he also believes that technological change does produce social change.
He argues that a society can use, and even develop, advanced technologies without advancing in other areas. He points out the example of Nazi Germany and the fact that while they had great advances in automobiles and invented the V- 2 rocket, their nature and treatment of other people can only be described as barbaric (Volti, p. 10, 31). While the world viewed the Nazis as inhumane and regressive, to the Nazis their ideology was the most righteous of all causes, and they used their technology to spread their beliefs on the rest of the world. The Nazis were using their technological advances to affect the social patterns of the world, and in their own views they were advancing society towards their ideals, which was their idea of social progress. This reflects the viewpoint of Leo Marx who states that technological progress does lead to social progress as long as humans are willing to answer the question of progress towards what? (Marx, p. 12). The debates over the true nature of the relationship between society and technology continue today, and can be seen in modern technological advances.
The works of Robert Moses resulted in both positive and negative consequences, which reflects Mesthene's personal viewpoint of the relationship between technological and social progress. Moses built many roads and public housing projects throughout his career, which improved the quality of life for some New Yorkers, but not without consequences. For example, one of Moses most controversial projects was the Cross-Bronx Expressway, a road that would traverse the Bronx neighborhood, one of the most densely populated in the city, in the hopes that it would ease congestion resulting from a major shipping route out of the northeast. While this new expressway would ease traffic and open a trading route, it would tear apart a very close-nit community. In order for the road to be built, nearly ten thousand people would have to be relocated from their homes. The people fought Moses and lost, and eventually the road was constructed.
The road was a marvel of engineering, which greatly improved traffic flow benefiting many people, but in the process it destroyed others and disrupted an existing social structure (The World That Moses Built). While social progress is not necessarily a result of technological progress, there is clearly a relationship between the two. Technological progress is often a catalyst to social progress, not necessarily leading to social changes directly, but certainly speeding the process along. Another issue arising from the development of new technology is the question of whether or not technological fixes can be used to adequately solve social problems. Most people will agree that while technology can provide a temporarily solution to a problem, it cannot fully solve a social problem. The major reason that technology cannot solve social problems is that the two are fundamentally different.
Technical problems are very specific and limited in their scope, while social problems deal with human motivations and behaviors, which are more complex and difficult to understand, let alone change (Volti, p. 26 - 27). Weinberg adds to this by stating that social problems are more difficult to identify, and therefore solve, simply because the solutions are never definite. The only way to motivate a large group of people in order to solve a social problem is to invent social devices, usually legal, moral, educational, or organizational, that will redirect a persons activities towards something that is more socially acceptable (Weinberg, p. 37). Another reason technology cannot fix social troubles is that no problem is ever really solved since most solutions are incomplete and usually create new and different problems (Volti, p. 27). At best, technology is a temporary fix that can buy time until a social fix can be created and implemented, but it will never be able to take the place of social engineering (Weinberg, p. 42).
There are several examples of technical fixes for social problems, some of which are more effective than others. For example, a possible solution to water shortages in California and on the east coast could be the construction of nuclear desalination plants. This would solve the social problem by providing the needed water without taking water from other populated areas or limiting water usage (Weinberg, p. 40). This solution, while it could effectively solve the problem, cannot be economically implemented with existing technology. Another social problem people are looking to technology to solve is poverty. However, this problem is not as easily solved with technology.
The theory is that technology has increased American productive capacity. However, this newfound wealth is not evenly distributed (Weinberg, p. 38). In spite of this, it seems that as wages rise, so will the resulting prices, effectively raising the poverty line without significantly reducing the number of people below the line. While this technical fix may reduce poverty in the short run, eventually the lower class will be far enough below the rest of the population that the problem of poverty will return. This shows that technology cannot completely solve all social problems.
During the Great Depression, when poverty was rampant, Robert Moses sought to reduce poverty in New York City by implementing public works projects. This technical fix was designed to solve the problem of poverty by providing revenue to poor workers through the construction of public facilities funded by the government (The World That Moses Built). This solution was effective because it increased the average wealth of the workers. Consumer goods were also in low demand, since the general population did not have the money to buy them. As a result, the workers were lifted to and above the, poverty line. Robert Moses was by no means a social engineer, in fact many of his works ignored certain social concerns, but he did attempt to apply his technical ability to solve a major social problem.
While this fix did not solve the widespread poverty of the depression, or the remaining poverty since, it did help to reduce it for a time in New York City, which, according to Weinberg, is the best that any technological fix can hope to accomplish. Through his many works, including his public works projects of the 1920 s, Robert Moses gained widespread public support and power, only to lose it as a result of his boldness and lack of public sympathy. This raises the question of whether or not Robert Moses is a tragic hero. The classic tragic hero is a person who struggles against fate, against the forces of the universe that work to defeat them. By struggling against these forces, the tragic hero shows the highest reaches of human accomplishment (Format, p. 55). Then just as the hero is reaching their goals, a tragic flaw, generally a negative trait, causes them to stumble and fall.
By this definition, Moses would be considered a tragic hero. For Robert Moses this tragic flaw was his brashness. As Moses power grew, so did his brashness. He believed in the Machiavellian philosophy that the ends justify the means, so it was of no consequence if thousands of people had to be moved to pave a road, as long as it was good for the general public. Former New York Post reporter William Haddad claimed that Moses used his power through other people and as a result a lot of people got hurt. By the 1960 s, many people began to feel as if they were being pushed around, so they started to organize themselves to fight him.
As the public stopped listening to him, Moses began to lose his source of power. For a short time afterwards he retained the support of elected officials, but that support was also short lived. (The World That Moses Built) Eventually the one quality, his boldness, that had earned Moses his support, and as a result his power, led him to push his boundaries too far causing the people who once embraced him to now reject him. Thus Moses met a tragic end. For nearly half of the twentieth century, Robert Moses shaped and reshaped the structure of New York City. His technological marvels helped to illustrate the relationship between technological progress and social progress. His public works projects showed the applications of technological fixes to social problems, and his bold ideas gained him initial support, but later caused his own personal downfall.
There are many aspects of technology and its applications that can be examined through the life and career of a person such as Robert Moses. Technology may be a vehicle of progress that initiates social change, but it is not necessarily a means to an end, at least as far as social problems are concerned.
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