3 ms·
> None of this excites a moral panic. It has done, in the past, and these concerns have not been without merit. The Ur-Case is that of the Luddites. When weav
by jbreckmckye 9y ago
> None of this excites a moral panic.
It has done, in the past, and these concerns have not been without merit.
The Ur-Case is that of the Luddites. When weaving machines came onto the fore in 19th century Britain, groups of saboteurs fearing for their jobs wrecked the machines with rocks and hammers. The Crown response was swift and unflinching. Machine-breaking was made a capital offence and the Luddites were put down with the violence typical of 19th century law enforcement.
Nowadays we look on and shake our heads. In the long run the Luddites' fears were unfounded. Mechanisation improved productivity, which meant more cloth could be made cheaply, which increased the size of the market, boosted purchasing power and opened up new markets for new kinds of work.
In the short run, however, things were not so comfortable for the workers of Northern England. The 'compensatory effects' of technological improvement took many years to land. In the meanwhile an entire generation of men were reduced to penury.
Perhaps these technologies will open new markets after all. But how quickly? And will the jobs compare? What happens when the work human beings like and are good at disappears? What happens when only trivial jobs remain? What does that do to people and their relation to society?
- lucas_maximus83 9y agoThis is an incorrect history of the Luddites. They didn't fear for their jobs. Most of them were machine operators and most of the machines they destroyed was over 200 years old at the time. It was a protest about shit working conditions caused.
- crdoconnor 9y ago"The Luddites were a group of English textile workers and weavers in the 19th century who destroyed weaving machinery as a form of protest. The group was protesting the use of machinery in a "fraudulent and deceitful manner" to get around standard labour practices.[1] Luddites feared that the time spent learning the skills of their craft would go to waste as machines would replace their role in the industry.[2]" "It is a misconception that the Luddites protested against the machinery itself in an attempt to halt progress of technology." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite The modern day equivalent would be the French anti-Uber strike: https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/26/10832204/french-taxi-uber-strike-paris-vtc https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/26/10832204/french-taxi-uber... CATO's agenda, of course, requires depicting the French taxi drivers as "luddites protesting technology" which neatly illustrates exactly why the misconception has persisted for so long: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfeeney2/2015/06/30/uber-execs-arrested-in-france-after-luddite-protests https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfeeney2/2015/06/30/uber-...