Introduction to Technocracy (archive.org)

Overview & Context 📘

This 1940 volume, published by Technocracy Incorporated, presents one of the clearest and most accessible introductions to the technocratic movement—a proposal to replace market-driven democracy with scientific governance administered by engineers and scientists. (archive.org)

🔍 Core Principles

• Energy Certificate System: Advocates for an economy managed through energy-based credits instead of currency, reflecting actual resource use and production metrics.
• Technocratic Governance (“Technate”): Envisions a centralized authority staffed by technical experts overseeing production, infrastructure, and distribution.
• Quantitative Planning: Emphasizes data, systems analysis, and continuous measurement to optimize societal functions and eliminate inefficiencies.
• Beyond Politics: Argues democracy and partisan politics are obsolete, distracting from the scientific management of society and resources.

🌐 Historical & Ideological Relevance

• Captures a moment in mid-20th-century reformist thought, which believed that science could reshape society beyond political institutions.
• Precedes modern discussions around algorithmic governance, data-driven policy, and critiques of market capitalism.
• Serves as a foundational text for understanding gov‑corp technate ideas—where state functions, corporate logic, and surveillance converge in expert-led systems.

📚 Citation

Technocracy Incorporated. (1940). Introduction to Technocracy. Retrieved from Archive.org. Summary generated by ChatGPT (GPT‑4).