Postman: fully-armed 19thC technocracy

There on the wings of technocracy, the United States soared to unprecedented heights. That Jefferson, Adams, and Madison would have found such a place uncomfortable, perhaps even disagreeable, did not matter...
 ...Technocracy did not entirely destroy the traditions of the social and symbolic worlds...In nineteenth century America, there still existed holy men and the concept of sin.  There still existed regional pride, and it was possible to confirm traditional notions of family life.  It was possible to respect tradition itself and to find sustenance in ritual and myth.  It was possible to believe in social responsibility and the practicality of individual action.  It was even possible to believe in common sense and the wisdom of the elderly.  It was not easy, but it was possible.

The technocracy that emerged, fully armed, in nineteenth century America disdained such beliefs, because holy men and sin, grandmothers and families, regional loyalties and two-thousand year-old traditions are antagonistic to the technocratic way of life.

Technopoly p45-46