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Technocracy Incorporated is a North American organisation formed in the 1930s after the dissolution of the Technical Alliance.

The new organization was founded by Howard Scott, in the state of New York, in 1933 as a non-profit organization, which sought to implement the findings of the Alliance and create a new kind of society.

Led by Howard Scott, as the director-in-chief or "Chief Engineer", the organization promoted its goals of educating people about the Alliance's ideas via a North American lecture tour in 1934, gaining support throughout the depression years, though membership and interest decreased over the years following World War II, Technocracy Inc is active in early 21st century with members participating in in discussion groups and publishing quarterly "The North American Technocrat".

Organization

The standard unit for the organization is the chartered Section, consisting of at least fifty members. At Technocracy's height in popularity, many cities contained more than one Section, sometimes as many as a dozen or more. These sections undertook the majority of Technocracy's work, including the research that continued after the Technical Alliance.

The organization receives its funds entirely from dues and donations from its members. Because of the goal of abolishing political controls, membership is open to any citizen of North America, except politicians.

Technocracy's Continental Headquarters ("CHQ") was originally situated in New York. It has moved several times through its history, and is currently located in Ferndale, Washington.

Ideas and goals

The stated goals of of the newly formed Technocracy Inc were

1. to carry on a program of economic research
2. to bring technocratic theory to the attention of the public
3. to provide a skeleton organization capable of forming the Technate of North America in the event of a final collapse of the social and economic order based on the price system

Technocracy was also committed to abstaining from both political and revolutionary activities

The "Technocracy Study Course" first published in 1934. Sets out a series of lessons on Technocracy's principles and approach, including areas such as basic Physics, units of measurement, energy and thermodynamics, growth, Price System and Technocracy design.

Howard Scott noted that the science behind the ideas of Technocracy Technate design are based on the work of an American scientist Willard Gibbs (note in links below the article by Technocracy Incorporated called History and Purpose of Technocracy by Scott).

History

Josiah Willard Gibbs, a mathematician, engineer and chemist, was described by Howard Scott as the "intellectual forefather of technocracy" for his work on energy determinants. Groups formed after the First World War that were inspired by the ideas of Gibbs, including Henry Gantt’s "The New Machine" and Thorstein Veblen’s "Soviet of Technicians". These organisations folded after a short time. However, the "Soviet of Technicians" resulted in a series of lectures, which Howard Scott attended; Scott started the Technical Alliance in the winter of 1918-1919. The members were mostly scientists and engineers, and included Veblen. The Alliance started an Energy Survey of North America, which would give a scientific background for the development of ideas about a new social structure. However the Alliance broke up in the 1920s.

The word "technocracy" was first used by William H. Smyth to describe a government made up of scientists and engineers in 1919, and in the 1920s, it was also used to describe the works of Thorsten Veblen, who was a member of the Technical Alliance.

In the winter of 1931, M. King Hubbert joined the staff of Columbia University and met Scott. According to Hubbert, he encouraged Scott to revive the Technical Alliance, the resulting group was formalised in 1933 as Technocracy Incorporated, with Scott as leader. Hubbert was a member of the Board of Governors that founded the organization, and served as Secretary.In 1943 his membership of and involvement with Technocracy would be investigated in by his employers, the Board of Economic Warfare. Hubbert, a Geoscientist, would later give his name to the "Hubbert Peak", otherwise known as Peak Oil theory.

The new group sought to implement the findings of the Alliance and create a new kind of society. The group was incorporated in the state of New York in 1933 as a in the state of New York, in 1933 as a non-profit organization. Led by Howard Scott, as the director-in-chief or "Chief Engineer", the organization promoted its goals of educating people about the Alliance's ideas via a North American lecture tour in 1934, gaining support throughout the depression years.

The movement gained strength throughout the 1930’s but in 1940, due to an alleged initial opposition to the Second World War, was banned in Canada. The ban was lifted in 1943 when it was apparent that Technocracy Inc. was committed to the war effort, proposing a program of total conscription. The movement continued to expand during the remainder of the war and new sections were formed in Ontario and the Maritime Provinces, though membership and interest decreased over the years following World War II, Technocracy Inc is active in early 21st century with members participating in discussion groups and publishing quarterly "The North American Technocrat".

Notable Members

Notable members of Technocracy Incorporated have included

• M. King Hubbert, a geophysicist who proposed the theory which has become known as the Hubbert Peak or Peak oil.

• Thorstein Veblen, Norwegian-American sociologist and economist.

Technocracy in Fiction and Culture

Satirical treatments

The Technocracy movement was the subject of several satires in the 1930s. A special notable "Technocracy Number" of Judge humor magazine, illustrated by Dr. Seuss, made fun of Technocracy, Inc. and featured satirical rhymes at the expense of Frederick Soddy. In a 1933 Flip the Frog cartoon, Techno-Cracked, Flip builds a robot to work for him and gets a lesson in unintended consequences.

Technocracy Incorporated Publications

The organization has published several magazines throughout its history, including the The Technocrat, The Northwest Technocrat and Technocracy Digest, it currently publishes the North American Technocrat and the movement still continues after more than 70 years of history (for a more complete list of past publications see here [1]).

• Technocracy Study Course [Technocracy, Inc.] (1934)
• Technocracy Handbook [Technocracy, Inc.], (1939)
• The Sellout of the Ages, Howard Scott, (1941)
• Our Country, Right or Wrong, (1946)
• Continentalism: The Mandate of Survival, (1947)

Further reading

Books on the early history of the Technocracy movement:

• William E. Akin, Technocracy and the American Dream: The Technocrat Movement, 1900-1941 (University of California Press, 1977) ISBN 0-520-03110-5
• Henry Elsner, The Technocrats, Prophets of Automation (Syracuse University Press, 1967)
• Harold Loeb, Life in a Technocracy. What it Might Be Like (The Viking Press, 1933)
• Allen Raymond, What is Technocracy? (McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., LTD., 1933)

External links

• Technocracy Incorporated (Official Website)
• Historical Background and Development of Social Security from the U.S. Social Security Administration (see section Technocracy)
• Archive material from Technocracy Incorporated
• History and Purpose of Technocracy according to Howard Scott
• The Origins of Technocracy from the official site

See also

• Technocracy
• Technical Alliance
• M. King Hubbert
• Technocracy movement
• Willard Gibbs
• Howard Scott