Blood in the machine

The Luddites are painted as those who are opposed to technology and progress. The truth is far more complex and nowhere close to the painted caricature.

In 19th century England machines were invading every textile mill in the country already. The introduction of Broad Frame Machines implied that the skills required to weave cloth were not required. While it sacrificed quality to a certain extent, it was passable. The Mill owners in their avarice started hiring orphans from nearby orphanages and treating them as bonded labour.

Children at orphanages would be lied to. They would be told that if they left to apprentice, they would get learn at a factory and ride ponies and have stomach fulls. When these children consented and left, they were often treated just as badly as slaves. They would be forced to work 12 hours or more weaving at the mills.

This in turn led to unemployment and loss of bargaining power for the weavers.

In 19th century England, one had to spend years as an apprentice to graduate to a craftsperson and gain employment. Apprenticeship was almost like a limited-period slavery agreement.

Under the name of Ned Ludd who was a fictitious leader, the weavers started to break solely the broad frame machines in the factories. They would not touch any of the other machines. This was an economic fight and not one against technology. The very same weavers who were breaking the machine were users of technology. They were against the practice of using children to replace them.

At first, the movement was very successful and many mill owners were forced to suffer huge losses. They had to hire full-time security for their mills and had taken to canvassing the politicians to put an end to the menace.

Ultimately, they were able to get the government to extend capital punishment to those who were involved in breaking the machines and capital punishment took on a whole new meaning in and of itself.

The police state found, tortured, murdered and brought to justice all the people involved in the Luddite movement.

The book goes into great detail about the rise and fall of the movement and ends by comparing the current state of the world with those of the Luddites. Gig work has robbed workers of any power to negotiate while those wielding the tech try to centralise the power and by extension the money in their hands. The same applies to AI and all areas where one sees it used today.

Brian Merchant is a technology journalist who understands the issues so well and brings a great deal of clear-eyed thinking to the economic structures that technology enables.

An incredible book that I would highly recommend to all.