Advantages and Disadvantages of Industrialization

Introduction

The development of science and technology has resulted in the growth and spread of Heavy Industries. Human progress now-a-days is measured in terms of industrial potentialities and prosperity.

But it is unfortunate that we have not yet realized the evils of industrialization due to unplanned growth in our time. The ecological imbalances and greenhouse effects have posed serious threat to human kind and its survival is questioned.

Man must learn to accept industry not as an end in itself but as a means to the end of social, economic and spiritual well-being and up-liftment.

However, Industrialization has both advantages and disadvantages. We have discussed them below:

Advantages

The advantages of industrialization are given below:

1. The growth of industries has resulted in large scale production of goods which are available to the consumer at much cheaper rates.
2. There is saving of time and labor.
3. Industrialization has resulted in a considerable rise in the standard of living of the people.
4. A number of substitutes in consumer goods are available. The customer get wide variety of choices.
5. There are means to control and check the colossal wastage of human energy that can be used otherwise.
6. Industrialization creates new job opportunities, leading to the removal of poverty to a great extent.
7. Industrialization has also resulted in the development of new modes of transport making quick export and import possible. The world has become a small place.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of Industrialization are discussed below:

1. The immediate result is in the gradual disappearance of many natural resources, the pollution of land, water and air.
2. The increase in vehicular traffic, launching of space ships and rockets by competing nations, the incessant working of machines in factories have brought in noise-pollution and dust and smoke.
3. The general dirty and unhealthy conditions in and around the industrial sites have affected human health and happiness. Diseases, unheard of before, are spreading far and wide.
4. There has been instances of child labor in factories.
5.  The exploitation of the poor by the rich has increases increases the crime-rate, isolation and sense of loneliness.
6. The gradual displacement of manpower in industries is ultimately leading to unemployment.
7. There has been a steady decline in spiritual values and well-being of man consequent upon the growth of an artificial, mechanical and materialistic civilization brought about by industrialization.
8. Capitalistic ethics with a craving for more and more money seem to dominate and influence millions of people. The grave uncertainties in the money-market sometimes bring misfortunes for the common people.
9. Inflation sets in, the value of money goes down and the poor working class becomes poorer. Class conflicts, strike, dharnas, gheraos and bandhs and then lockouts cause hardship and unrest. Society faces their impact in various ways.
10. Large scale heavy industries lead to a sharp fall in the number of cottage industries and their gradual disappearance. Regional and local artisans and workers of various trades and professions suffer a great deal.

Conclusion

It is time that emphasis is put on a planned and balanced industrialization keeping in view the preservation of environment. Man should be less dependent on the machine, which once a slave, tends to become the master. Excessive dependence on the machine makes man unfit for many things and renders him a helpless creature. Heavy industries and cottage industries must be complementary to each other, so that sustained development would be possible. It would be a move in the right direction. It will employ local and regional manpower and utilize the local and regional resources.