Technology Yields Convenience Yet Enslaves Many

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Technological advancements have merely extended the existence of a larger population living lives marked by hardship and relentless toil rather than improving their overall quality of life. Despite the progress enabled by the Industrial Revolution and its inventions, these developments primarily benefited the wealthy elite and expanded a limited middle class, while the majority remained trapped in a cycle of necessity and poverty, likened to a form of imprisonment. The stark reality reveals that for many, life consists of endless labor for survival, leaving little room for freedom or fulfillment.

An age of invention and mass production, propelled by a new mechanism – the corporate research lab – leads to a surge in material wealth like the world has never seen. How does a new nation, the United States, overtake its parent as the leader of the surging capitalist order? And what does it all mean in the lives of ordinary people?

By John Biewen, with co-host Ellen McGirt. Interviews with Woody Holton, Robin Alario, Edward Baptist, and Brad DeLong. Story editor: Loretta Williams. Music by Michelle Osis, Lilli Haydn, Chris Westlake, Alex Symcox, and Goodnight, Lucas. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music. "Capitalism” is a production of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, in partnership with Imperative 21.