Technology’s political neutrality collapses when it becomes the universal form of production

Evidence

The technological a priori is a political a priori inasmuch as the transformation of nature involves that of man, and inasmuch as the “man-made creations” issue from and reenter a societal ensemble. One may still insist that the machinery of the technological universe is “as such” indifferent towards political ends—it can revolutionize or retard a society. An electronic computer can serve equally a capitalist or socialist administration; a cyclotron can be an equally efficient tool for a war party or a peace party. This neutrality is contested in Marx’s controversial statement that the “hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill society with the industrial capitalist.” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 572

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘technological a priori is a political a priori’ is the load-bearing concept for the reader’s stated purpose — consumption as control and flattened critique both rest on this. — connects to: Dissent is neutralized by demands for a universal alternative system — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 227; Technology is never neutral but already carries domination in its construction. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 98; Communist states replaced political coercion with technological domination — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 158 (+10 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the technological a priori by its political dimension: transforming nature transforms man, since man-made creations reenter the societal ensemble.

Broader Connections

• Technology carries no inherent politics; usage determines its effects #contradicts (0.90)
• No technology is neutral; each reproduces or contests power #expands (0.85) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 2421
• Scientific-technological ordering is inherently political #expands (0.82) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 618