Technocracy Study Course

The Technocracy Study Course is a document, published in 1934, which formed the basis of Technocracy Incorporated of North America. The ideas presented in that document were the result of research, originating mainly from Columbia University at the direction of the Technical Alliance.

History
During the winter of 1918-19 , a group of scientists, engineers, and economists began organizing a group to study social problems. Their thesis: that technology was displacing man-hours of labor. This displacement in turn lead to increased unemployment and lack of purchasing power.

Calling themselves the Technical Alliance, they began what they called the Energy Survey of North America which would look at both the energy and natural resources of the North American continent. The alliance initially broke up after about a year. The leader, Howard Scott, continued the energy survey alone until the 1930s, when he then re-established the Technical Alliance at the University of Columbia. In 1933 , the alliance announced their conclusions, principally, that North America had the resources and the ability to produce an abundance for all of its citizens. They further argued that what was lacking was a viable method to distribute this abundance, as the Price system (as they termed the current economic system) could only distribute a scarcity. This inability to distribute abundance, the group argued, led to a recession in 1921, the introduction of installment buying in the 1920s, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Great Depression (See Technocratic views of the Price system).

Overview

The Technocracy Study Course attempts to frame social phenomena within scientific fields. Consequently, biology, climate, natural resources, and manufacturing are all given consideration in the text. The book argues that all things on the earth are composed of matter, therefore, we require a knowledge of chemistry. All things move, and in so doing involve energy, as a result, this requires an understanding of physics. Most materials are derived from the earth, and this requires a knowledge of geology. The aim of the book is to present a unified picture of the essential elements of various scientific fields as they pertain to society.

The documentation consists of:
*An outline of science and technology for use in forming a Technocratic society.
*An analysis of the Price System.
*A conclusion that the production and distribution of an abundance of wealth on a continental scale for the use of all citizens can only be accomplished by the formation of a Technate, a technocratic government.

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