maya ⛓️

https://www.verysane.ai/p/against-the-luddites

look i am not the most "we should have all been paying more attention to marx" type

but

> The destruction of machinery was the first instinctive reaction of workers who had not grasped that their enemy was the social relation wielding the machine.

is a fun line to highlight

via xanthe

Against the Luddites

The rehabilitation of Luddism is a vice signal.

Very Sane AI Newsletter
Apr 8 at 2:44amWeb
Show threadmaya ⛓️1d ago
the thing i have articulated to myself in past about not liking elevating the luddites is that there must be some better movement to cite around tech in the workplace who had more lasting influence, who weren't delaying something inevitable
Show threadMoss Wizard1d ago
@maya In all cases including theirs, the *only* factor making anything “inevitable” is a wild-eyed lust for money to be extracted from the broken backs of the workers. Absolutely none of this was “inevitable” except in the sense that we were unable to evit it when faced with overwhelming force.
Show threadmaya ⛓️1d ago
@Moss do you have a good example of something having been evited? that's kind of what i'm trying to get at here – I don't actually know what a good one would be but I bet there are interesting cases that *show* not all technology-driven change is just inevitable
Show threadMoss Wizard1d ago
@maya on the one hand no, the robber barons have always won, at least apparently. But otoh the resurgence of personally satisfying activities like crochet, birding, and baking suggests to me a longer term survival, a failure by the barons to truly conquer all fields of endeavor.
Show threadThe Witch of Crow Briar1d ago
@maya @Moss The US autoworkers union brought an actual opposing force to bear that persists to this day.
Show threadJP8h ago
@maya @Moss not sure if this meets the definition but tech company execs regularly dream of things that they claim are the inevitable future only for them to collapse on the runway. in more than a few cases, eg Google Glass, mass pushback created social consequences. it was ultimately something that had no reason to exist besides some rich techies liking the idea of a new monopoly.