Rebels Against the Future

Rebels Against the Future, Kirkpatrick Sale, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, 1996

The Luddites were a loose confederation of textile workers living in 1800s England (in the same area where Robin Hood became famous) who saw their way of life destroyed by the coming of technology.

They worked out of their cottages or small craft shops. There was pride in their work. There was no boss or time clock to consider, so there were occasional ale breaks. They weren't rich by any means, but, being part of a centuries-old tradition, they made a living. Machines came along which allowed one person to do the work of many. They were housed in multi-storied factories on the edge of town. Many textile workers lost their jobs, were forced off their land, and had no choice but to go to filthy, overcrowded cities to look for work (read Charles Dickens).

The Luddites (they took their name from their "leader," a mythical Ned Ludd) are thought of as some sort of anti-technology fanatics. Their problem was not with technology itself, but with technology that destroyed their way of life, technology that was for the benefit of the few, and to the detriment of the many. They rebelled in the only way they knew how, by smashing the machines that had destroyed their way of life. This went on for about 15 months, during which time no one snitched to the British Government, showing that the Luddites had a lot of sympathy among the public. The British stationed several thousand troops in the area, and eventually lowered the boom, with hanging judges, snitches, night time arrests, executing the innocent, etc, putting an end to this threat to industrial progress.

Today, there is a large and growing movement of people who do not believe that technology is automatically a good thing. Some believe that the entire concept of technology and society needs some radical re-thinking, while others are actively opposing particular pieces of "progress," like asbestos, nuclear weapons, aspartame or NAFTA/GATT.

This is a very interesting and well-done book. For anyone who believes in technology for the sake of technology, reading this book is a really good idea. It is time well spent.