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Welcome to the Machine: Science, Surveillance, and the Culture of Control |  | Author: Derrick Jensen
Creator: George Draffan
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $8.25
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New (22) Used (17) Collectible (2) from $7.65
Seller: ambrosia_books
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 68098
Media: Paperback
Pages: 296
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 1931498520
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4834
EAN: 9781931498524
ASIN: 1931498520
Publication Date: July 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Machine-readable identity cards are issued to prisoners, workers, and schoolchildren around the world. Tiny ID chips track every car, shirt, and razor blade purchased from every corporate manufacturer in America. Chips track--and control--humans and other animals. Exoskeleton armor makes soldiers invincible; mind-altering drugs make them incapable of remorse. Scientists design swarms of nanoparticles as weapons to target specific ethnic groups. Governments and multinational corporations gather gigabytes of information on every citizens race, family life, credit record, telephone conversations, employment history, buying preferences, favorite TV shows. Welcome to Western civilization, 2004. In their new collaboration for the "Politics of the Living" series, Derrick Jensen and George Draffan reveal the modern culture of the machine, where corporate might makes technology right, government money feeds the greed for mad science, and absolute surveillance leads to absolute control--and corruption. Through meticulous research and fiercely personal narrative, Jensen and Draffan move beyond journalism and exposé to question our civilizations very mode of existence. Welcome to the Machine defies our willingness to submit to the institutions and technologies built to rob us of all that makes us human--our connection to the land, our kinship with one another, our place in the living world. Welcome to the Machine is part of the "Politics of the Living" series, a collection of hard-hitting works by major writers exposing the global governmental and corporate assault on life.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 Our Modern-Day Thoreau November 25, 2009
Nate (Colorado)
Our modern-day Thoreau once again delivers us cautionary advice and uncommon wisdom by looking at our cultural machinations and manifestations of paranoia, greed, power, and control run amok in our global society. Welcome to the Machine challenges our submission to the institutions and technologies built to rob us of all that makes us human--our connection to the land, our kinship with one another, our place in the living world.
Getting back to basics March 20, 2006
R. A. Barricklow (Las Vegas NV USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Identity theft is about the taking, not of your papers, but of cutting close to the bone of your very being. There are many other areas where we are being manipulated by the 1%'s (The one percent who have bought, signed, sealed, and delivered your government down the river). Sadly some of our so-called leaders are buying this corporate program against the will of "we the people". Here are some of the signs of the times just around the corner or already here.
This book WILL scare you... January 19, 2006
Kyle Danley (Rochester, MI. USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As scary as this book is, I thank Derrick Jensen and George Draffin for writing the truth. Modern survalence is a threat to our freedom. Anybody who wants to know what those in power are doing to monitor us, or what they plan to do read this book. Not only is it full of facts, but Derrick helps you come to terms with what all of it means. People now-a-days dont have a huge problem with giving up some of their freedom for security. But what those in power are doing with this information is down right scary, and un-acceptable. It is a quick read too. It will bring up huge topics, define and break them apart, and open your eyes to modern technology; all in a days/weekends read. Overall great read. A+++
 Not Jensen's best, but still worth the read. November 21, 2005
Andy
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Having read some of Jensen's material before, I had an idea of what to expect. With this book, the authors compare all of the attitudes and institutions of society to a machine, designed to convert "human beings to workers", to turn individuals into "cogs". Basically, the machine exists to control and direct the actions of the masses, for the purpose of achieving the goals of the few.
While I like the writing style, the second half of this book can be quite tedious. During the first half, the basis for the machine is established, and the arguments made by the authors can be humorous and compelling. As the book progresses though, I got the feeling that every point had already been made, and the rest of the book mainly consists of those points being reinforced by listing endless examples. In the chapter "Money", the author spends several pages simply listing ways in which the government spends money. While this does help to hammer the point home, it makes a tiresome read. Still, the first half of the book alone makes it worth the read, and the second half comes in handy if you get into an argument with someone and want to bombard them with facts and numbers. If you like Jensen, this book shouldn't disappoint.
The most depressing author alive September 12, 2005
Eric Krupin (Salt Lake City, UT)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
Even as a converted Jensen-ite, there were times during this book when it came across as the "horrible conspiracy theory crazy talk" that the one-star reviewer below described. However, I came to see those moments as rhetorical exaggerations in the service of a deeper underlying truth.
If we agree that Starbucks is not going to be beaming advertising directly into your cerebral cortex any time soon, it behooves us to ask why we're so sure. Because that corporation would certainly have the modesty and decency not to saturate our environment with their product and advertising? Uh... hmm... Because of the fundamental respect they have for our individuality? Well, probably not. (And why should they? If you're getting your coffee at Starbucks, how individual do you think you are?) Because scientists would never lend themselves to such a dehumanizing project? Their record strongly suggests otherwise. Because no one would ever sign up for it? Do you know how many hours of television the *average* American watches in a day to numb them to the alienated misery of their life? [And who says you'll have a choice? How much choice did you have about getting your kid injected with a disease... excuse me, I meant "immunized"? Or having them assigned a tracking number... excuse me, I meant "Social Security number"?] Because it's just too science fictional? Not a safe bet. Could you have imagined 20 years ago how the Internet would change your life? Not just the convenience of book buying on Amazon, of course, but the end of written correspondence and the skyrocketing of identity theft?
If you're honest, I think you'll have to concede Jensen's real point here. Which is that if Starbucks is not *already* beaming advertising directly into your cerebral cortex, it is only because the Machine has not yet provided them with the means for doing so. And that the Machine will *inevitably* seek out this power (or some more cost-efficient alternative) to make you a better-fitting cog for its operation - in the pious name of "boosting the economy" or "homeland security", of course.
So long story short: the Machine is already at least 90% finished "processing" the indigenous peoples of the world, the large fish population, and first-growth forests into corpses (fishsticks and junk-mail brochures are corpses too) - which is its ultimate Product. In the course of that achievement, it has created measurable level of dioxins in the breast milk of every woman on the planet, flushed away millions of tons of topsoil, and set us speeding down the path to irreversible global warming. Our middle-class American hope is that It will be kind enough to stop there - while we can "enjoy" our frozen dinners, SUVs, and "reality shows" - without killing all of us as well.
But a Machine doesn't have feelings. And it has gotten terribly efficient at what it does.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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