Is the Industrial Revolution the real villain in Hard Times?

The Industrial Revolution certainly provides an appropriate backdrop for the exercise of serial villainy. Most of the characters in Hard Times have, to some extent, been corrupted by the rapid development of industrial capitalism—morally, spiritually, and economically. In the villainous character of Mr. Bounderby we have the epitome of the dark side of the Industrial Revolution with its rampant greed, exploitation, and crass materialism. Bounderby lives in the lap of luxury while his impoverished workforce slaves away to keep him in a position to which he's become accustomed.
And it's not just coldhearted plutocrats who are the product of the Industrial Revolution. The system also throws up unpleasant characters like the dastardly Slackbridge, a cynical demagogue who turns the workers against Stephen Blackpool because Stephen refuses to join his labor union.
Yet despite his harsh portrayal of entrepreneurs, business per se is not a problem for Dickens; rather, it's the particularly rapacious and exploitative variety of industrial capitalism to which he objects. Mr. Sleary, proprietor of a traveling circus, is presented in a sympathetic light. Making money and bringing much-needed joy and merriment to people's otherwise drab lives are by no means mutually exclusive activities, Dickens appears to be saying in this portrayal. This in turn makes the villainous behavior of the self-appointed captains of industry all the more repugnant. For the Bounderbys and Gradgrinds of this world, this is nothing more than humbug and mawkish sentimentality. In their world of the factory and the countinghouse, cold hard facts and utility must prevail. Their villainy is the villainy of the system to which they remain so utterly devoted.