This weeks class and what has been going on in our society has really made me think about leadership and power. Hank Morgan in the novel somehow was able to gain power over the people of the 6th century in which he changed everything they once knew. Hank was able to use technology and his knowledge to gain control over a large group and get them to do what he asked of them. This idea is something I may look to explore in my paper, in which I want to analyze how a person or group gains power and controls others. While our bodies are motors, there is always something that controls the motor. We like to think that we ourselves control our own bodies and minds, but when it comes down to it, who is determining what fuel we put into our motors? How often are we “allowed” to refuel our motors and why do we allow a person or group to change the way our motors run.
Another discussion we had during that class that sparked my thoughts was the discussion on the different “technologies” introduced to the 6th century people and how it affected them. What if Hank introduced technologies that are taken advantage of in todays society, but introduced them in a more effective, nature friendly, and non-violent way. For example, when he created the school and education system, it should have been open to everyone and anyone to actually learn and should not have been kept hidden. If everyone had the opportunity to learn and if Hank taught positive topics, maybe the education inequality we see today would not have been born. Another example was the creation of the factory. The 6th century people already had the community aspect in that they all only had their community to help each other survive. If that mental aspect was what drove factories, worker estrangement may not have been born. If the people working in the factories were able to make things that are useful and meaningful to them, and were something they needed then the factory work would be seen as less painful. Factories allow for people to specialize in the making of a certain aspect of a good in order to create a whole good. Reinforcing the ideas of community to help the greater good could have made the outcome of the story a more positive one. What prevented a good outcome was the way Hank used his power over the people and how he ran their motors. Instead of running the peoples motors to benefit the entire community, Hank used his power to manipulate the people. He let the power he had get to him and ended up killing many people. Today, we see similarities to Hanks power when we look at big corporations and factories who are abusing the human motor and running workers into the ground.