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The Luddite Fallacy

2 points by Nition 10y ago

nabla9 10y ago
>The Luddites were a group of English textile workers who violently destroyed machines. They broke up power looms because they feared that these new machines were taking their jobs and livelihoods. The above is the real Luddite Fallacy. What the Luddites Really Fought Against http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-real... >Despite their modern reputation, the original Luddites were neither opposed to technology nor inept at using it. Many were highly skilled machine operators in the textile industry. Nor was the technology they attacked particularly new. >But the Luddites themselves “were totally fine with machines,” says Kevin Binfield, editor of the 2004 collection Writings of the Luddites. They confined their attacks to manufacturers who used machines in what they called “a fraudulent and deceitful manner” to get around standard labor practices. “They just wanted machines that made high-quality goods,” says Binfield, “and they wanted these machines to be run by workers who had gone through an apprenticeship and got paid decent wages. Those were their only concerns.” There was essentially no wage growth from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1760 to about 1850 (Engel`s Pause) despite very rapid technological change and technology adoption in Britain. What people crying Luddite fallacy forget is that Industrialization was accompanied with major institutional changes in Britain, weakening the bargaining power of industrialists. Industrialization as we know it, would have been impossible without that. Automation must be accompanied with similar institutional changes today if we want to avoid unrest and mass unemployment.
- Nition 10y ago
  Thanks for those comments. I thought it was an interesting article but I partly posted it because I was thought there might be some interesting rebuttal to be had as well.

2 points by Nition 10y ago

>The Luddites were a group of English textile workers who violently destroyed machines. They broke up power looms because they feared that these new machines were taking their jobs and livelihoods. The above is the real Luddite Fallacy. What the Luddites Really Fought Against http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-real... >Despite their modern reputation, the original Luddites were neither opposed to technology nor inept at using it. Many were highly skilled machine operators in the textile industry. Nor was the technology they attacked particularly new. >But the Luddites themselves “were totally fine with machines,” says Kevin Binfield, editor of the 2004 collection Writings of the Luddites. They confined their attacks to manufacturers who used machines in what they called “a fraudulent and deceitful manner” to get around standard labor practices. “They just wanted machines that made high-quality goods,” says Binfield, “and they wanted these machines to be run by workers who had gone through an apprenticeship and got paid decent wages. Those were their only concerns.” There was essentially no wage growth from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1760 to about 1850 (Engel`s Pause) despite very rapid technological change and technology adoption in Britain. What people crying Luddite fallacy forget is that Industrialization was accompanied with major institutional changes in Britain, weakening the bargaining power of industrialists. Industrialization as we know it, would have been impossible without that. Automation must be accompanied with similar institutional changes today if we want to avoid unrest and mass unemployment.

Nition 10y ago
Thanks for those comments. I thought it was an interesting article but I partly posted it because I was thought there might be some interesting rebuttal to be had as well.