time: the refreshing river 



concealed. Not only abundance of all commodities could be attained 

 by the proper use of the world's raw materials and the available 

 technical and mechanical genius, but also abundance of leisure. But 

 the ruling classes of the world are afraid of leisure for the people. 

 Just as up to the i8th century free thought was regarded as the preserve 

 of the ruling classes, so now leisure is a jealously guarded privilege. 

 Under conditions of greater leisure, the workers might begin to think. 

 But to return to the ethics of modern technology. As Stuart Chase 

 pointed out in his remarkable book Men and Machines^ the contacts 

 of men with machinery may be classified into a list. Some contacts 

 are beneficial, others are lethal. A list of this kind (modified from 

 Chase's presentation), would be as follows; — 



Beneficial Contacts: 



(i) Operating machines with a large measure of individual re- 

 sponsibility (e.g. locomotives, motor-cars). 



(2) Operating stationary machines with responsibility only for 



speed or direction control (e.g. liner engines, turret-lathes). 



(3) Inventing, designing, repairing, or inspecting machines. 



(4) Playing with machines (e.g. amateur radio, models). 



(5) Submitting to a machine process in someone else's control 



(e.g. dentist). 



Neutral Contact: 



(i) Being carried by a machine with no responsibility for control 

 (e.g. train, ship, plane). 



Lethal Contacts: 



(i) Tending machines with no responsibility for control (e.g. 

 feeding raw material, receiving and stacking finished 

 products). 



(2) Participating in the work of machines with no responsibility 



for control (e.g. performing comparatively simple operations 

 on objects passing on a conveyor belt). 



(3) Submitting to a machine process in someone else's control 



(e.g. being shelled or bombed). 



(4) Forming part of a machine under the control of others (e.g. 



army or prison "discipline"). 



These are the kind of considerations which should be taken into 

 account in thinking of productive labour. Under the capitalist economic 



134 



