It was never about what the automation does, but who it does it for.
The Luddites were disparaged by the ruling/rich class because the rich wanted to automate in order to cut out skilled textile workers and pay lower wages to people who only knew how to operate the water looms.
The Luddites just wanted people who trained and made a living as textile workers continue to play their trade. The rich just want to screw the working class just like they still do.
They wanted to cut out skilled textile workers and replace them with children! Imagine someone not only destroying your livelihood, but then trying to force your children into dangerous work
Way better than Tubthumping ngl
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
ballad of general ludd, in case it’s of interest
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
What people think the Luddites were against: technology
What the Luddites were actually against: Child labour and bourgeois ownership of technology
