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Oh dear... this is the literally the same argument the luddites made, and it did not end well! We laugh at luddites to this day! > They protested against manu

Oh dear... this is the literally the same argument the luddites made, and it did not end well! We laugh at luddites to this day! > They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

jwestbury 3y ago
The reality is, the Luddites are actually receiving quite a lot of positive attention in recent years[0][1][2]. As you've said, they weren't fighting against machines, they were fighting against the use of machines to circumvent labour practices, i.e., using machines to replace labour who had grown too powerful and were difficult for the ruling class to control. I'm not sure if you were saying this argument is poor because the Luddites made it, but the Luddites were right: Textile workers were particularly badly impacted by technology in the early 19th century, but the 19th century in western Europe saw a massive and accelerating concentration of wealth that was only knocked off-course in the wake of the First World War. Since the 1980s, we've been seeing a similar change again - so it's not surprising to see similar views now to those of the Luddites 200 years ago. 0. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/06/the-luddites-were-right https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/06/the-luddites-were-rig... 1. https://qz.com/968692/luddites-have-been-getting-a-bad-rap-for-200-years-but-turns-out-they-were-right https://qz.com/968692/luddites-have-been-getting-a-bad-rap-f... 2. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-rea...
- verisimi 3y ago
  It seems to me that luddites were expert textile workers that wanted to use technology in order to make better products. They objected to using technology with the benefit accruing to the factory owners only, who could now employ low skill level workers to make poor products.

jwestbury 3y ago

The reality is, the Luddites are actually receiving quite a lot of positive attention in recent years[0][1][2]. As you've said, they weren't fighting against machines, they were fighting against the use of machines to circumvent labour practices, i.e., using machines to replace labour who had grown too powerful and were difficult for the ruling class to control. I'm not sure if you were saying this argument is poor because the Luddites made it, but the Luddites were right: Textile workers were particularly badly impacted by technology in the early 19th century, but the 19th century in western Europe saw a massive and accelerating concentration of wealth that was only knocked off-course in the wake of the First World War. Since the 1980s, we've been seeing a similar change again - so it's not surprising to see similar views now to those of the Luddites 200 years ago. 0. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/06/the-luddites-were-right https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/06/the-luddites-were-rig... 1. https://qz.com/968692/luddites-have-been-getting-a-bad-rap-for-200-years-but-turns-out-they-were-right https://qz.com/968692/luddites-have-been-getting-a-bad-rap-f... 2. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-rea...

verisimi 3y ago
It seems to me that luddites were expert textile workers that wanted to use technology in order to make better products. They objected to using technology with the benefit accruing to the factory owners only, who could now employ low skill level workers to make poor products.