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Gradually the Roman alphabet came to be the most flexible form of writing in Western Europe although we have to thank the Egyptians and Chinese for the origins of our modern decimal system. The credit for the base-10 system goes to the Hindu-Arabic mathematicians of the eighth to eleventh centuries AD. Only hand-written books were available until Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, with moveable typeface, in 1448. By 1500, more than 1,000 presses throughout Europe had produced about 10 million copies of 35,000 titles – more than all the books produced since the first written work.

It also explains why some states see military dictatorships as the only group able to restore order. W. Taylor’s ideas meet with Ellul’s approval, as do settled commercial techniques such as banking, estate management, accounting, the law and distribution. These concepts are not only confined to business; the same methods are used in local government and other administrations. The list goes on to farming, the arts, medicine, economics and so on. Ellul’s analysis shows why nationalisation cannot work, for it superimposes a system on what has grown either naturally or under the direction of different hands.

43 Future Storm – The Dynamics Unlocking the Future As the demand for brawn subsided even in heavy industries, many more tasks became available for which women were more adept than men and their talents were particularly needed in the rapidly growing service sector. This not only put at risk the ability of many semi-skilled men to find permanent jobs but threatened the family unit itself, for it meant that both parents felt obliged to work. This resulted in many children feeling neglected and the increase in single-parent families contributed to the rise of truancy and crime.