{"id":2127235,"date":"2023-12-17T05:41:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/learning-from-the-luddites\/"},"modified":"2023-12-17T05:49:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:49:46","slug":"learning-from-the-luddites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/learning-from-the-luddites\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning from the Luddites: Lessons to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flearning-from-the-luddites%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2127235&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Unveiling \u2063the Luddites: \u2063Rebels Against \u2063Progress or \u200cAstute Observers?<\/h2>\n<p>Everyone knows about the Luddites. They hated technology;\u200c they hated progress; they hated happiness. And what\u2019s more,\u2062 they were\u2062 fools, thinking that technology would ruin everything, when it obviously improves all of our lots.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In the \u200dtech bro\u2062 equivalent of &#8220;They hate us for\u200c our freedom,&#8221; \u200cMicrosoft\u2019s attorney \u200dperfected the \u2062caricature\u2063 during the company\u2019s 1998\u2062 antitrust hearings: &#8220;The 19th-century reactionaries \u2026 \u2064fearful \u200bof competition,\u2062 went \u2062around smashing machines with sledgehammers to arrest the march of \u200dprogress driven by science and technology.&#8221; Few of us know more than \u2062Bill Gates\u2019s lawyer about the movement, but that hasn\u2019t stopped people from brandishing the term \u200dagainst anyone who\u200d dares to think about technology before \u2064using \u2062it\u2014or, scandalously, <em>not<\/em> using it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Brian\u200c Merchant\u2019s\u200b <em>Blood in the Machine: The Origins \u200bof the Rebellion \u2063Against \u2063Big Tech<\/em> should do something to correct our \u2063collective \u2064ignorance. \u2062The \u2062book offers \u200ba\u2064 rapid-fire history of the movement\u2019s \u2063origins, \u2063motivations, and \u2063eventual defeat, with a heavy \u200cemphasis on the\u200d similarities between \u200dthe\u2062 Luddites\u2019 times and\u200b our own. This is no disinterested survey, for those readers \u2063looking to\u2063 bone up on \u2063their British labor movements. Merchant\u2019s mission is rather to draw explicit connections between the Luddites and us, so that \u2064we can apply \u2063their insights,\u2062 strategies, and inspiration to \u200bour own rage\u2063 against the \u2062machine.<\/p>\n<h3>A Glimpse into History<\/h3>\n<p>Still, the history must be told before we can draw any \u200clessons from it.\u200c During the Industrial Revolution,\u2063 British textile \u200cworkers found \u2062themselves\u200d threatened by the new &#8220;wide frame,&#8221;\u2062 a \u2063device that could boost garment production and, they feared, reduce \u2064wages. As\u200b shop \u200downers began to\u2063 do just that, workers\u2063 in Nottingham saw\u2063 that the government\u200b would side with capital rather \u2063than labor in any disputes and so elected to engage in a bit of their own creative destruction, \u2063sneaking into a textile\u200c factory in 1811 to break\u2063 the hated machines. They took as their inspiration the Robin \u200dHood-like \u2064folk hero Ned Ludd, supposedly an apprentice who smashed his own knitting frame in retaliation \u2062against an overbearing master.<\/p>\n<p>From there, \u2062the movement against automation took off, \u200cas the \u200bnewly dubbed \u200dLuddites, by sabotaging factories, facing off against their employers, and agitating \u200cfor political reform, won the support\u200d of both fellow\u200c laborers\u200d and an impressive \u200croster\u2064 of artists.\u200d Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley were champions of\u200d the cause, and Percy\u2019s wife Mary, in her <em>Frankenstein<\/em>, would give voice to the new\u2062 anxieties over man\u2019s relationship to his\u2064 inventions. Perhaps the best summary of the strange fears of the age, though, was given \u2062by \u200cone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opinion-reparations-a-bad-idea-based-on-fake-history-from-the-1619-project\/\" title=\"OPINION: Reparations: A Bad Idea Based On Fake History From The 1619 Project\">textile worker<\/a>, anticipating the dread that this reviewer, at least, experiences when \u2064faced\u2062 with an imminent software update: &#8220;There\u2019s a conspiracy on foot\u200b to improve \u2062and improve till the working man that has nothing but \u2063his hands and\u2064 his \u2064craft to feed him and his children will be improved off the face of creation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Luddites&#8217; True Motivation<\/h3>\n<p>Alas, <em>Blood\u2063 in\u200c the Machine<\/em> \u200bis no\u200c <em>Childe Harold&#8217;s \u2063Pilgrimage<\/em>. The \u200cstory\u200d is told rather breathlessly, with many one-sentence paragraphs and \u200brarely \u2064a pause for \u2062commentary or summary. By focusing on the perspectives of discrete individuals, often not particularly important themselves, Merchant tends to lose the forest for the trees,\u2064 only to\u2063 then zoom out to the scale of the\u200c biome for a \u200csweeping claim \u2062about the workings of\u200c capitalism. Still, one argument \u200bcomes through clearly: In Merchant\u2019s telling, the\u200d Luddites weren\u2019t really anti-technology\u2064 at all,\u200b or \u200cat least not\u2063 anti-technology\u2064 <em>tout court<\/em>. On\u2064 the contrary, they were astute observers\u200b of how one \u200dinnovation \u200ccould promote their well-being, while another could \u200chinder \u200cit: &#8220;Luddism can and\u200d certainly \u2064did\u200c coexist with technology, and even a love of technology.\u2062 The handloom, for example,\u2063 made the Luddites\u2019 way \u2062of \u2062life possible, long before they became Luddites.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rather, Merchant insists, \u200dthe Luddites \u200bwere anti-<em>boss<\/em>\u2014the Man who\u200c found in\u200c new technologies a means of\u200c enriching himself \u200cat his\u2062 employees\u2019 expense. Smashing machines \u2064was just the best\u200c way of striking \u200bat the\u2064 machines\u2019 owners \u2063and their attempts at automation, whether by replacing \u2062workers with machines or by turning workers <em>into<\/em> machines. Merchant thus sees\u200b &#8220;King Ludd&#8221;\u2063 as a kind\u200d of proto-Dilbert, embracing technology but \u2063hating his servitude under the \u2062Pointy-haired Boss.\u2062 Depicting \u200dLuddism as driven by anti-technological ire, \u2062Merchant \u200csuggests, might \u200cbe not \u200bjust \u2063a matter of innocent ignorance, but part of a strategy \u200cto bully skeptics into \u2064accepting the machinations of the \u200c&#8221;entrepreneurial elite&#8221;\u2014an elite that, if \u200dyou can\u2063 believe it, stands to earn a pretty penny from our acquiescence.<\/p>\n<h3>Directing Our Hammers<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s therefore ultimately toward\u200c the modern\u2063 equivalent of the\u200b factory\u200c owners\u2014Amazon warehouse managers, gig app CEOs, and the like\u2014that, \u200bMerchant\u2063 concludes,\u2062 we should be\u200c directing our hammers. &#8220;As\u2064 long \u200das we\u2019re in thrall to the same basic economic \u200cpreconditions, attitudes toward technology \u200dand entrepreneurship, and \u2063business-first policies that were inaugurated\u2062 in the age of the Luddites, it will all happen\u2062 again. \u200b\u2026 If \u200cthe Luddites have taught \u2062us anything, \u2064it\u2019s that robots aren\u2019t taking our jobs. Our <em>bosses<\/em> are.&#8221; Merchant is\u200b right to \u2064insist\u2062 that reports of robo-unemployment are\u2063 highly exaggerated, but his call\u200c for a new\u2064 &#8220;Luddite-style uprising&#8221; does not\u200d sound promising, either. Is seizing the means of production \u200dreally \u2063a better plan\u200c than destroying them?<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s \u200bmore, even \u200dif one does hope\u200c for a new &#8220;rebellion against Big Tech,&#8221; it\u2019s not obvious that the Luddites offer a good model to follow.\u200d After all, they\u2063 lost\u2064 handily: The British government\u200b eventually\u2064 sent thousands of\u2064 troops to quell the\u2062 unrest, and\u200c after a series of swift and prominent trials in 1813,\u2063 which sent the \u2064guilty Luddites to the\u200c gallows or to the Australian penal colonies, the movement quickly flickered out like a \u200bdying lightbulb. In light\u200c of their failures, what lessons \u200ddo \u2063the \u200dLuddites really\u200b have to \u2062teach us today?<\/p>\n<h3>Lessons from Defeat<\/h3>\n<p>Perhaps it is in their very defeat that we can \u200dgleam an insight. Counterintuitively, the Luddites\u2019 loss gives the lie to \u200dthe narrative that there\u2019s \u200cno sense trying to stop\u2062 technology\u2019s ineluctable\u2064 progression\u2014a &#8220;march,&#8221; as Microsoft\u2019s attorney put it. In this contradictory myth, technology\u2019s unstoppable, intrinsic nature\u200b has \u2062already settled how we will use it;\u2062 but somehow \u2064we also have a\u200c duty to welcome every new technology\u2064 immediately\u200d and\u200c maximally\u200b incorporate it into our lives. \u2062Consider\u200c venture\u2062 capitalist Marc Andreessen\u2019s recent \u200b&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/a16z.com\/the-techno-optimist-manifesto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Techno-Optimist\u2062 Manifesto<\/a>,&#8221; which praises\u200b the &#8220;techno-capital machine&#8221; that &#8220;has been running for hundreds of years, despite continuous \u200chowling from \u2063Communists and\u200b Luddites.&#8221; (Never mind that communists have been ardent\u200c champions of technology: Lenin, a great \u200badmirer of American industry, insisted that the \u2062&#8221;Soviet Republic must at all costs \u200badopt\u2064 all that\u2062 is valuable in the\u2062 achievements\u2064 of science and \u2063technology.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>This is a masterclass in\u200c owning the Ludds, but the truth is more \u200dcomplicated. It wasn\u2019t anything \u2062about the \u2063stocking frame\u2063 and the spinning jenny themselves,\u200d after all,\u200b that settled the struggle between the Luddites \u200band the factory-owners, but rather\u200c the state\u2019s willingness to intervene and decide which side would win, and therefore\u200c which\u200b direction the technology \u2063would \u2062take. Who\u200d knows who\u200d might have \u200cwon \u2062in a fair fight? One might think, like Merchant, that\u2062 Parliament aided the wrong side, or\u200b be glad that the upstarts \u200cwere\u2062 put in their place; either \u2062way, there \u2064was no neutral\u200c domain in \u200bwhich the technology was free to simply work out its own magic.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no different\u200d today. For better\u2063 or worse, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-shows-growing-democratic-opposition-to-cheap-labor-migration\/\" title=\"Poll Shows Growing Democratic Opposition to Cheap Labor Migration\">technological innovation<\/a> \u2063is a matter, not just of following the mysterious guidance of the invisible hand, and \u200bcertainly not of coaxing into \u2064being technology\u2019s inner destiny, but of consciously\u200b deliberating \u200bover\u200b how, and whether, a given tool\u2064 should be used, in \u2062what circumstances, and toward what ends. This is more difficult than both the kneejerk rejection of \u2062the techno-skeptic, and the\u2062 blind embrace of the\u200b techno-optimist\u2014more difficult, but for\u2064 that reason all the more vital.<\/p>\n<p><em>Blood\u200c in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech<\/em><br \/>  by Brian\u200c Merchant<br \/> Little, Brown, 496 pp., $30<\/p>\n<p><em>Robert Bellafiore\u200c is\u2063 research \u2062manager at the Foundation for American Innovation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u200b How can we critically assess the impact\u200c of technology on our lives to ensure that it serves our needs and \u200bdoesn&#8217;t cause harm?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Tps:\/\/a16z.com\/2011\/08\/20\/why-software-is-eating-the-world\/&#8221;>Why Software is Eating the World<\/a>&#8221; argument: He insists \u2064that\u2063 every \u200bindustry \u200bwill soon \u200cbe disrupted by software,\u2064 and urges us to embrace \u200cthis disruption\u2062 without question. This \u2064argument\u2064 mirrors the\u2064 rhetoric of the 1990s, when\u200d Bill\u200b Gates predicted that \u2062&#8221;banking\u2062 is essential,\u2063\u200c banks are not.&#8221; Yet, \u2062as Merchant points out, the banks are still\u200c very\u2064 much with us, and \u2062few would argue that bankers\u200d\u2063\u2062 are on the brink of extinction. The Luddites\u2019 failure reminds us that technology \u2063is not predetermined to follow a linear\u200c path. Rather, \u200cit is shaped by human decisions and actions, and our acceptance or \u200brejection of it\u200c ultimately depends on our collective choices.<\/p>\n<p>So,\u2062 perhaps \u2064the true lesson\u2009from\u2064 the Luddites is not to reject technology \u200boutright\u200b but to \u2064critically assess\u2063 its impact \u2063on our lives. It is\u2064 important\u2064 to hold technology accountable and ensure that it is serving \u2064our needs, rather than blindly accepting every new\u200d innovation for \u2063the sake of progress. We should strive for a\u200c balance\u2063 that allows us \u2062to harness the benefits of technology while mitigating its potential harms, such as job displacement\u200b or the erosion of privacy. This requires proactive engagement, informed debate, and \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-biden-education-department-encouraged-schools-to-use-covid-relief-funds-on-social-emotional-learning\/\" title=\"Report: Biden Education Department Encouraged Schools To Use COVID Relief Funds On \u2018Social Emotional Learning\u2019\">responsible decision-making<\/a> on both individual\u2064 and collective levels.<\/p>\n<p>While the Luddites\u2062 may have been defeated in their own time, \u200ctheir resistance to\u200b unchecked technological progress serves as a reminder that progress should \u200bnot come at the expense of human well-being.\u200c Their cautionary\u200b tale challenges\u2064 us to question the assumptions and narratives that surround technology and to \u200cadvocate for a future that is both innovative and humane. In this way, the Luddites can be seen\u200d not\u2062 as rebels against progress, but as astute observers who beckon us to think critically about the world we are creating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone knows the Luddites despised technology, progress, and happiness. They were foolish, believing it would ruin everything, despite its evident benefits. Microsoft&#8217;s attorney in 1998 likened them to tech bros&#8217; version of &#8220;They hate us for our freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2608,"featured_media":2127236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2127235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2127235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2127236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2127235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2127235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2127235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}