Technocracy movement

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The technocracy movement was a North American social movement in the 1930s that argued science and engineering should run society instead of politicians and business leaders. The idea was that experts could manage the economy more rationally, especially during the hardships of the Great Depression.

Origins and main groups
- The movement grew from earlier engineer-led efforts, including Howard Scott’s Technical Alliance. By the early 1930s, two main groups had formed: Technocracy Incorporated (Tech Inc.), led by Howard Scott, and a separate Continental Committee on Technocracy. Over time, internal disagreements diminished their unity.
- Technocracy Incorporated became the best-known branch and continued in various forms for decades. The movement is associated with other scientist-leaning groups as well, though many splinter and reform efforts faded after the mid-1930s.

What technocracy proposed
- Replace partisan politics and price-based economies with a system run by scientists and engineers who have technical expertise.
- Abandon the traditional idea of “political democracy” in favor of a technocratic system that uses energy as the key measure of value (an energy-based economy).
- Create a large, self-sufficient “Technate” across North America (from Panama to the North Pole) and organize it like a federation, with a central plan that coordinates production and distribution.
- Use energy accounting and energy certificates to manage goods and services instead of money. Each person would receive an energy allotment and hold an energy distribution card.
- Operate a continuous, efficiently designed economy by reorganizing work into four days of work followed by three days off, with groups rotating to keep production running 24/7. This was part of a broader aim to maximize resource use and minimize waste.

Public image and culture
- Technocrats favored a uniform, gray, factory-inspired aesthetic and produced materials featuring industrial imagery. They distributed monad lapel pins and promoted their own brand of “modern” language about energy, efficiency, and planning.
- They argued that the current price system created artificial scarcity and that energy-based accounting could deliver abundant goods for all.

Key historical moments
- The early 1930s saw a surge of public interest. Newspapers and schools discussed technocracy, and many study groups formed across the United States and into Canada.
- The movement’s momentum began to wane in the mid-1930s as it failed to produce a practical political program capable of winning public support in elections.
- In 1940-1943, Technocracy Incorporated faced legal and political hurdles in Canada during World War II, though the ban was later lifted as the movement supported the war effort.
- Notable individuals connected to technocracy include Joshua Norman Haldeman (grandfather of Elon Musk), who was arrested in 1940 as part of a crackdown on the movement in Canada. Jacque Fresco later became known for his own projects that explored technical and social redesigns.

Relationship to other ideologies
- Technocracy was sometimes compared to socialism or communism, but its leaders argued it was distinct because it rejected political parties and the traditional price system in favor of a science-driven administration of resources.
- Some critics believed technocracy conflicted with, or was too radical for, both liberal democracy and Marxist socialism. Others speculated it might align with certain technocratic or cybernetic ideas that popped up in later decades.

Decline and legacy
- By the late 1940s, enthusiasm had faded as forecasts about the collapse of the price system did not materialize.
- The Continental Committee dissolved in 1936, but Technocracy Incorporated persisted and continued to publish newsletters and maintain a website. An archive of materials is held at the University of Alberta, reflecting ongoing interest in the movement’s ideas.
- Over time, technocracy influenced popular culture and some later discussions about technocratic governance and energy-based planning, though no country has adopted it as the governing system.
- The movement’s footprint lives on in books, art, and occasional modern discussions about how to manage technology and energy in large economies.

In short
Technocracy proposed a society run by engineers and scientists, organized around energy-based measurement and planning rather than money and politics. It gained prominence briefly in the 1930s, declined as a political program, but left a lasting mark on discussions about technocracy, energy, and the role of experts in managing complex economies.