“In order that economic development and progress can take place, a country must industrialise”. Discuss
Industrialisation is the application of scientific knowledge to man’s economic, agricultural, and other wealth-generating activities. In other words, it is the conversion of the ‘know-why’ of science into `know-how’ for industry; it is the practical application of man’s inventiveness in the improvement of his well-being and the increase of his wealth.
Industrialisation depends on four essentials: the right idea, the right method of putting it into effect, the right moment in time, and the availability of the right materials. The Machine invented with the help of scientific know-how are used for quicker and easier production of wealth. Therefore, it is only sound commonsense to say that the economic development and progress of a country are dependent on its industrial growth.
There was a time when countries depended entirely on agriculture. Before the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain too was an agricultural country. Had it not been for the wealth she was able to amass from her colonies, she would not have become a wealthy nation depending on agriculture alone. America at first had an economy rooted in agriculture. With the invention of machines and with the advent of industrialisation, she made use of machines even for her agricultural activities, apart from setting up factories and manufacturing articles for sale.
Before machines were invented, the articles required for use by man were handmade. These articles were not produced in bulk. But machines helped man to produce articles in large numbers.
Today machines are used virtually in all spheres of life. Agriculture, especially in Western countries, is highly mechanised. There are machines to plough the land, sow seeds, hoe and weed. Pesticides are often sprayed by aeroplanes and helicopters. Fertilisers produced in bulk in factories are used for the healthy growth of plants. All these facilities afforded by mechanisation double our agricultural production; this means an increase in economic wealth and prosperity.
Industrialisation means the growth of industries and better utilization of natural resources. Steel is produced, oil is refined and other products are made with almost no physical effort. Giant turbines are installed for the production of electricity. Human beings need not do more than just push buttons, pull levers, or supervise. All this means that more work can be done by fewer people in less time and with less effort, and the production too is much more.
It is industrialisation that makes it possible for giant networks of communication to span land, sea, and air. The telegraph, radio, television, and telephone carry messages from one end of the earth to another almost as fast as the flight of human thought. The train, the aeroplane, the ship, and the car carry vast numbers of people from one place to another at an incredible speed.
The growth of human knowledge and information has been greatly facilitated by the development of machines. The printing press had become so highly mechanised that books, magazines, and newspapers are produced at great speed.
All the developed countries of the world have been highly industrialised. Great Britain, Japan, France, the United States of America, and Germany, just to mention a few of the advanced countries, are regarded as wealthy nations because they are highly industrialised. Industrialisation means enough manufactured goods to export, apart from self-sufficiency at home. Exporting products means earning money.
A country that is not industrialised remains backward and poor. This is what has happened to the underdeveloped nations of the world. Not only that these nations are not scientifically and technologically advanced but they are dependent on the rich nations for their very existence. Even if these nations are politically independent, economically they are not.
Industrialisation not only means self-sufficiency in essential items and progress in terms of material wealth, knowledge, communication, and transport but also shows strength. A highly industrialised country is militarily strong; it can manufacture its own sophisticated weapons, and will not have to depend on stronger and more advanced nations for help in times of emergency.
Economic development is assured once the country becomes industrialised. But more than economic development and wealth, industrialisation marks progress. The standard of living of the people in general increases with increasing industrialisation. We have only to look at the agricultural workers and the factory workers and contrast them to realise how the latter maintain a better standard of living. A nation’s prestige, her position in the comity of nations, her economic development, her progress in terms of communication, and transport, and her military strength are all tied up with her industrialisation.
