Understanding where our modern standard of living comes from, at a basic level, is a responsibility of every citizen in an industrial civilization. Let’s call it “industrial literacy.” Industrial literacy is understanding: (1) That the food you eat is grown using synthetic fertilizers. That before we had modern agriculture, more than half the workforce had to labor on farms, just to feed the other half. That if synthetic fertilizer were suddenly lost, a mass famine would ensue and billions would starve. (2) That before 20th century appliances, housework was a full-time job, which invariably fell on women. That each household would spend almost 60 hours a week on manual labor. (3) That plastics are produced in enormous quantities because, for so many purposes—from food containers to electrical wire coatings to children’s toys—we need a material that is cheap, light, flexible, waterproof and insulating, and that can easily be made in any shape and color (including transparent!). That before plastic, many of these applications used animal parts, such as ivory tusks, tortoise shells or whale bone. (4) That many people you know over the age of 5 are alive today only because of antibiotics, vaccines and sanitizing chemicals in our water supply. That before these innovations, infant mortality (in the first year of life) was as high as 20 percent. With industrial literacy, you can see the economy as a set of solutions to problems. Then, and only then, are you informed enough to have an opinion on how those solutions might be improved. Roots of Progress (6 minutes)