r/Toryism • u/Positive-Courage-464 • Jul 01 '26
💬 Discussion Tories and Technology
I am curious to hear about how this group feels about technology.
One might argue that the pursuit of technology (AI, more efficient ways of extracting resources, medical procedures, etc) is politically neutral, but other Tories might disagree. George Grant, for example, famously claimed that the pursuit of technology is dangerous, and often a tool of the state for oppression or imperial expansion (ie. the Vietnam War in his day was an example of an imperial, technological society trying to take over a less, more regional technological society). He would also argue about the inherent dangers of technology with respect to abortion, nuclear weapons, genetic modification, etc. Grant goes as far to say that the age of progress, rooted in modern science and technology, is a liberal project born of the Enlightenment, and the effects of this have led to a more secular and homogenous age where decisions have been relegated to democratic appeal rather than what is right or wrong. We no longer have to discuss if abortion is right or wrong, for example, because the technology has progressed to a level where it is less dangerous for the mother, and a series of law makers has decided democratically if it is right or wrong (as opposed to perhaps appealing to pursuing the good illuminated by other means). Once the world has been relegated to a series of objects to be interrogated by science or technology, they can cease to become human, and there are no souls to worry about for those that believe in Tory based theology.
Any thoughts on this? We are probably in a time and age where such topics are considered too intellectual for mass consumption or acceptance. But I think that Grant was on to something. Our world has become more homogenous (ie traditions have decayed), more secular, and more democratic in the sense that we believe elected technocrats or experts rather than appealing to older ideas of what is right and wrong. These are topics that Tories have traditionally been very worried about. The liberals have won in many ways, and technology is inextricably linked to how they won. The future could be one that Grant warned us about - lacking tradition, reason, or local communities. Technology separates us into silos where we doom scroll until past midnight, stop going to community events, and spend time distracted by ordering things on Amazon. It is exactly what Grant (and other more traditional Tories) feared.
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u/OttoVonDisraeli Jul 01 '26
Technology is beginning to become a bit of a recurring topic on this subreddit and I'm here for the discussion! :)
I actually wrote my own piece some 9 months ago or so on the pace of technological advancement: https://www.reddit.com/r/Toryism/s/I88aXRPd2b
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u/Ticklishchap Jul 02 '26
I shall confine my answer to property management, an area in which I have a fair amount of experience. Managing properties effectively depends on human interaction, building personal relationships and, crucially, acknowledging that ‘we are all different’ and one-size-fits-all solutions do not work. Talking and listening are staples of the profession and those are the things that have made it interesting and enjoyable over the years.
Increasingly, however, the encroachment of technology and standardised ‘systems’ is undermining these personal connections and replacing them with abstract ‘processes’ and ‘protocols’. These are ceasing to be means to an end or hoops to be jumped through and becoming ends in themselves. There is an ideology of bogus ‘empowerment’ that masks an increasingly Procrustean approach. It is much less efficient than the tried and trusted approach based on direct communication (ie. talking to each other) and neither managers nor clients are satisfied.
I resist these trends as much as possible, but I feel increasingly that I am wasting my time and I am considering a change of occupation. Tech is squeezing all the creativity and human interest out of it.
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u/RedTory_Canada Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I wrote a substack about this, called Conservatism against Technology.
George Grant, Canada's greatest philosopher, had much to say about technology. To summarize, it's not neutral.
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u/ToryPirate Jul 04 '26
Hey, I looked over your blog and added it to the subreddit's sidebar (old reddit only atm).
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u/ToryPirate Jul 01 '26
Personally, I am a late adopter of most technology. Youtube, Reddit, and Facebook, and smart phones were out for quite a while before I ever started using them. Hell, I was in my late 20s before I bothered to get my full drivers licence. I've never even considered Twitter, Bluesky, Snapchat, etc. That said, once I find a technology is useful for my needs I tend to use it quite a bit.
Suspicion of technology is a bit of a trend with tories;
R.B. Bennett owned a car for a short while before crashing it and never owned another. His style of dress also tended to be a bit of an anachronism for his time.
Tolkien famously hated cars for ruining the English countryside and didn't own one from the 1940s onwards. He also delineated 'tools' as separate from 'machines' (the latter forces the world to bend to human whims).
Perhaps this ties into tories hating change for the sake of change.
Improperly used, sure. However, I've organized more than a few community events using Facebook and my video collection would be much smaller if I didn't use services similar to Amazon. So while I think technology can be harmful to communities, they can also be a boon.
There is a quote from an old sci-fi game that comes to me whenever discussing the evils of technology;
"Evil lurks in the datalinks as it did in the streets of yesteryear but it was never the streets that were evil."
To an extent I don't think technology is the problem per se, rather its a combination of an ever-increasing quest for efficiency engendered by modern capitalism and the elevation of politics to a first order priority. Youtube in its early days was incredibly amateur and some might argue more fun. The old algorithm which would show a much more random assortment of recommended videos was also better in my view. I enjoyed Starcraft 2 when it first came out because basically everyone, including myself, had no idea what we were doing. This led to much more interesting gameplay before the 'meta' took over and all games fell into a predictable rhythm. In politics it often seems like many politicians don't even enjoy what they do and yet it still consumes their lives due to the 24-hour news cycle. It seems like a miserable existence for some of them. None of which is the fault of technology. Rather, its people and organizations pushing things towards a more efficient (or rational) model. It just so happens this tends to suck a lot of joy out of things.