Rebels against the future
by Kirkpatrick Sale · first published 1995
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This is the story of a bold uprising by the earliest victims of the first Industrial Revolution, viewed from the perspective of today's second Industrial Revolution, a vivid reminder that the current turmoil, driven by rapidly developing technologies and the global economy, is every bit as disruptive as the one created by the steam engine and laissez-faire. Rebels Against the Future is a work of careful scholarship, but it is also an exciting tale of people whose resistance to technology was so dramatic that their name has entered our vernacular. "Luddite" today refers to anyone unmoved by la
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Required reading anytime someone invokes the word "Luddite": http://www.amazon.com/Rebels-Against-The-Future-Industrial/d... Enclosure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure) is suspiciously never mentioned whenever the Luddites are invoked. It's not as simple as "technology took muh job, rar!" -- it's more…
on “Not a Luddite fallacy (2011)” ↗…https://shepherd.com/book/rise-of-the-robots This one I haven't read yet, but I've heard it tries to look historically as it looks at this concept. And then of course, you have the historic luddites :) Rebels Against the Future By Kirkpatrick Sale Book cover of Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution: Lessons for the Computer Age https://shepherd.com/book/rebels-against-the-future
on “Ask HN: Any insightful historical books on the impact of automation?” ↗…cars go up there all the time. That is more than just change. That is something the Luddites faced: it wasn't technology and mass production they decried, it was a loss of identity. Kirkpatrick Sale's "Rebels Against The Future" is an awesome history of the luddites and I think it is very relevant today.
on “I started programming when I was 7. I'm 50 now and the thing I loved has changed” ↗…requires proof. Is there evidence the amish abuse their children at a rate higher than the rest of society, and/or other cultural enclaves such as tight-nit immigrant groups? [1] http://www.amazon.com/Rebels-Against-The-Future-Industrial/d... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure
on “The Amish Effect” ↗