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Where are the Luddites?
In The Battle against the Luddites Paul Dawson does a masterful job of walking through the economic impact of the first industrial revolution on communities across the UK, showing how well paid jobs were replaced by precarious factory ones. The artisanal manufacturing of clothing gradually replaced over fifteen years, a societal down skilling that transferred wealth from the lower and middle classes into the hands of an elite few. From 1780 to 1820 the mechanisation of cloth manufacturing and farming, combined with the economic downturn caused by the Napoleonic wars, brought about a cultural revolution that embedded free market capitalistic impulses in UK society. All of this sparked a smouldering counter-revolution colloquially called the Luddites, which eventually was suppressed by the UK government. Fast forward to 2024, and with the oncoming automation of services by AI potentially culling well paid middle class jobs there is a striking parallel between the early 1800s and now. The question is, where are the modern Luddites, and is the current income inequality driving society to more extremes?
Of course, there is always a danger in drawing too many comparisons between historic periods, especially when the cultural contexts are different. On the one hand you had an agricultural society rapidly industrialising, on the other a post-industrial society that grew rich through credit and financial…
