The Luddites weren’t anti-technology—they opposed machines that destroyed their livelihoods and benefited factory owners at workers’ expense. Their resistance was a critique of the social and economic chaos caused by the Industrial Revolution. Over time, “Luddite” became an insult due to capitalist propaganda, dismissing their valid concerns about inequality and exploitation. Seen in context, they were early critics of unchecked capitalism and harmful technological change—issues still relevant today.
I really got a bad taste in my soul about the luddites mostly because of Wendell Berry and his use of his wife as the replacement for a computer. I mean, sure if you are willing to exploit people, machines are less important. But he didn’t even type his own work. She typed, proofread, edited. Like a word processor but a human one.
Just learned of this guy now, but yeah. If the originalist Luddites were doing the right thing for the wrong reason, Berry here is doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.