Question

1. Luddism refers both to a historical movement and a social concept. What current technologies and their consequences might concern contemporary Luddites? Site five examples and discuss.

2. What are the risks of “unlimited progress”?

3. What, if anything, can we learn from Luddites?

Answer 1

The Luddites were the communities of skilled artisian & the textile workers   in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire, whose trade were threatened by a combination of machines & other practices that had been unilaterally imposed by the aggressive new class of manufacturers that drove the Industrial Revolution.in England in1811..

This community formed various bands of workers in England to destroy manufacturing machinery, beliveing that its use would remove employment. Here some people opposed or resistant to new technological changes..

Historical movement : he movement began in Nottingham in 1811 and 1812 , Spread rapidly throughout England. Many wool and cotton mills were destroyed until the British government harshly suppressed the movement. The Luddites met at night in surrounding industrial towns, practicing drills and maneuvers and often enjoyed local support. Multiple clashes & battles between Luddites and the British Army occured occurredhe movement began in Nottingham in 1811 and spread rapidly throughout England. Many wool and cotton mills were destroyed until the British government harshly suppressed the movement. The Luddites met at night on the moors surrounding the industrial towns, practicing drills and maneuvers and often enjoyed local support. Multiple battles between Luddites and the military occurred.Measures taken by the government included a mass trial at York in 1812 that resulted in many executions and penal transportation Magistrates and food merchants were also objects of death threats

A SOCIAL CONCEPT :Luddism began as a defence of the status quo for workers worried about their wages and other working conditions the economic status of the employees rapidly depleting & diminishing. The low wages caused the workers to reach poverty & eventually unemployment. The unemployment reason was as new machinery introducing into the factories designed to replace an average group of workers & would only require a few workers to operate it. The replacement of factory workers with advanced machinery technology threatened the jobs of many skilled textilers pushing the community to poverty.

A vision of Future :

There is wide acceptance of the view that advances in computerisation and artificial intelligence.Neo-Luddism is based on the concern of the technological impact on individuals, their communities, and/or the environment, Neo-Luddism stipulates the use of the precautionary principle for all new technologies, insisting that technologies be proven safe before adoption, due to the unknown effects that new technologies might inspire. Neo-Luddism often establishes stark predictions about the effect of new technologies. Although there is not a cohesive vision of the ramifications of technology, neo-Luddism predicts that a future without technological reform has dire consequences. Neo-Luddites believe that current technologies are a threat to humanity and to the natural world in general, and that a future societal collapse is possible or even probable.

A famous astro -physicist, predicted that the means of production will be controlled by the "machine owner" class and that without redistribution of wealth technology will create more economic inequality.

RISKS OF UNLIMITED PROGRESS :

The changes in humanity's place in the future due to replacement of humans by computers, genetic decay of humans due to lack of natural selection, biological engineering of humans, misuse of technological power including disasters caused by genetically modified organisms, nuclear warfare, & biological weapons; control of humanity using surveillance, propaganda, pharmacological control, and psychological control; humanity failing to adapt to the future manifesting as an increase in psychological disorders, widening economic and political inequality, widespread social alienation, a loss of community, and massive unemployment; technology causing environmental degradation due to shortsightedness, overpopulation, and overcrowding.

ANS 3 ) The Luddites were not opposed to technology itself. They were opposed to the particular way it was being applied. After all, stocking frames had been around for 200 years by the time the Luddites came along, and they weren't the first to smash them up. Their protest was specifically aimed at a new class of manufacturers who were aggressively undermining wages, dismantling workers' rights and imposing a corrosive early form of free trade. To prove it, they selectively destroyed the machines owned by factory managers who were undercutting prices, leaving the other machines intact.

The original Luddites enjoyed strong local backing as well as high-profile We seem to have forgotten that technology is a tool we can deploy to achieve democratically agreed ideals. Revisiting the motives of those loom-breakers reminds us that technology is not just about machines. It's about human choices and priorities and what progress really means.