Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Eloquent, Provocative & Thoughtful Critique !, June 16, 2000
"Rebels Against The Future" is a book with an important, relevant, and timely message. Written by Sales Kirkpatrick, long-time editor of "The Nation", the book describes the historical struggle for human rights against the forces of technological innovation by way of the saga of Ned Ludd & his followers. By detailing this example, the author illustrates how difficult it is, both historically and culturally, for individual workers & ordinary people to successfully come to terms with the anonymous and often overwhelming forces of an intractable and self-propelled technical dynamic; industrial progress. I first came across this book last year by way of the internet; an excerpt of it was posted on a neo-Luddite site I was browsing through. Reading this short portion hooked me on Mr. Kirkpatrick's writing style and substance. This is a book ostensibly devoted to the iconoclastic revolt by a small but determined group of nineteenth century English cottage workers against the hurtful introduction of new machines that, in essence, deprived them of an opportunity to make a living and support themselves and their families. It was the first documented account of a group rebelling against the enforced imposition by industrialists of new technology that was contrary to their own social and economic interests. It was not all machinery that the so-called "Luddites" rebelled against; it was only those technological innovations "but all Machinery hurtful to Commonality". He forwards an impressive, multi-faceted argument; each facet of the argument bearing on various aspects of what the author associates with various characteristics of technologies. Thus, Kirkpatrick ascribes a "motif industriale" on such technologically-based innovation such that; first, technologies are never neutral, & some are hurtful; second, industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; third, only those serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines, fourth; the nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; fifth, that resistance to the industrial system, based on moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; sixth, that resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; seventh, philosophically, resistance to industrialism has to be embedded in an ideology that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; and eighth, if industrial civilization does not eventually crumble from determined resistance within its walls, it seems certain to eventually crumble of its own accumulated excesses and instabilities. Of course, the lessons from the experience of the Luddites are central to the issues of our own time. Everywhere in the burgeoning postindustrial world citizens face the same hurtful, impersonal, dehumanizing, and disenfranchising effects of the rapidly changing technological landscape. The central issue of runaway technological progress is the degree to which it acts without meaningful citizen input to determine the nature of the society it increasingly interrupts, disrupts, and alters through a ceaseless and seemingly unmanaged and undirected dynamic of industrial innovation. There seems to be no human face to this process, and it appears to be unresponsive, insensitive, and totally indifferent to its dehumanizing effect on the millions of individual human beings who are so profoundly and negatively affected by its ministrations. This is an important and thought-provoking book, and one every concerned citizen should take the time and energy to read.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful, Interesting & Thoughtful Look At The Luddites!, June 21, 2000
"Rebels Against The Future" is a book with an important, relevant, and timely message. Written by Sales Kirkpatrick, long-time editor of "The Nation", who describes the historical struggle for human rights against the forces of technological innovation by way of the saga of Ned Ludd & his followers. By detailing this example, the author illustrates how difficult it is, both historically and culturally, for individual workers & ordinary people to successfully come to terms with the anonymous and often overwhelming forces of an intractable and self-propelled technical dynamic; industrial progress. I first came across this book last year by way of the internet; an excerpt of it was posted on a neo-Luddite site I was browsing through. Reading this short portion hooked me on Mr. Kirkpatrick's writing style and substance. This is a book ostensibly devoted to the iconoclastic revolt by a small but determined group of nineteenth century English cottage workers against the hurtful introduction of new machines that, in essence, deprived them of an opportunity to make a living and support themselves and their families. It was the first documented account of a group rebelling against the enforced imposition by industrialists of new technology that was contrary to their own social and economic interests. It was not all machinery that the so-called "Luddites" rebelled against; it was only those technological innovations "but all Machinery hurtful to Commonality". He forwards an impressive, multi-faceted argument; each facet of the argument bearing on various aspects of what the author associates with various characteristics of technologies. Thus, Kirkpatrick ascribes a "motif industriale" on such technologically-based innovation such that; first, technologies are never neutral, & some are hurtful; second, industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; third, only those serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines, fourth; the nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; fifth, that resistance to the industrial system, based on moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; sixth, that resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; seventh, philosophically, resistance to industrialism has to be embedded in an ideology that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; and eighth, if industrial civilization does not eventually crumble from determined resistance within its walls, it seems certain to eventually crumble of its accumulated excesses and instabilities. Of course, the lessons from the experience of the Luddites are central to the issues of our own time. Everywhere in the burgeoning postindustrial world citizens face the same hurtful, impersonal, dehumanizing, and disenfranchising effects of the rapidly changing technological landscape. The central issue of runaway technological progress is the degree to which it determines the nature of the society it constantly interrupts, disrupts, and alters through its ceaseless dynamic of industrial innovation. There is no human face to this process, and it seems to be unresponsive, insensitive, and totally indifferent to the dehumanizing effect on the individual human beings who are so profoundly and negatively affected by its alterations, wrenching changes, and undemocratically derived consequences. This is an important and thought-provoking book, and one every concerned citizen should take the time and energy to read.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Luddites, Technology, Industrialism, and Humanity, April 7, 2000
Lessons from the Luddites for the Computer Age include: 1) Technologies are never neutral, and some are hurtful; 2) Industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; 3) "Only a people serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines."; 4) The nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; 5) But resistance to the industrial system, based on some grasp of moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; 6) Politically, resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; 7) Philosophically, resistance to industrialism must be embedded in an analysis-an ideology, perhaps-that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; 8) If the edifice of industrial civilization does not eventually crumble as a result of determined resistance within its very walls, it seems certain to crumble of its own accumulated excesses and instabilities within not more than a few decades, perhaps sooner, after which there may be space for alternative societies to arise.
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