Luddism

"Luddism" is a term that is often used in a derogatory manner to describe people who object in principle to certain advances in technology, or to describe individuals who either struggle unsuccessfully to use a particular technology or just like to complain about said technology. The original Luddites were textile artisans whose livelihood became threatened by the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in England. At that time Luddism inspired some full-blown protests that sometimes resulted in sabotage to automated factories as well as the need for new laws to be written. Sometimes the term "Neo-Luddite" is used to refer to more contemporary opponents of technology. Luddites both past and present have tended to be selective insofar as they can be shown to have gladly adopted some technologies while objecting to others.

The objections to technology raised by Luddites fall into various categories. Some examples are:

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Artistic objections (individual creativity replaced by assembly lines)

Economic objections (unemployment rises along with the use of automated machinery)

Political objections (government control technologies lead to oppression)

Spiritual objections (technologies contribute to dehumanization and alienation)

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The French Huguenot theologian/philosopher Jacques Ellul was a Christian anarchist who put forth perhaps the best known and most influential spiritual arguments against what he called "technique," a word that refers not much to machinery as to the various systems and efficiencies to which modern humans are routinely subjected.

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