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givemeethekeystoday at 6:36 PM3 repliesview on HN

Was there a big industry push back against looms, tractors, computers, or the internet?


Replies

bluGilltoday at 6:42 PM

Tractors didn't get it because about the time they became useful for most farmers WWII was pushing the need for less men on the farm so they could go to war. There were tractors before then, but the previous ones had big negatives if you were not a much larger farm than most were then.

miltonlosttoday at 6:39 PM

Famously against looms, yes. That's how we got the term Luddite, that rapacious capitalists redefined to be a negative.

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throwaway5752today at 6:41 PM

There used to be a social contract, but now there are so many people that it's a problem that there is no work for the displaced. The leverage between the very small number of people with vast amounts of capital and a large number of people with very little capital or leverage - this is a societal dynamic that has existed before in the world. There is historical precedent for this, and it's probably worth paying very close attention to what comes next if you are a very wealthy person pushing against all forms of wealth redistribution.