What’s a Luddite? Martha explains that this term for “someone resistant to technological change” has its roots in a form of populist rage in the early 19th century. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Luddite”
You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
We received an email recently from Linda in Dallas. She’d heard somebody described as a Luddite, and she wondered about that word.
Now, a Luddite is somebody who’s resistant to technological change. And Grant, you’ve probably heard people who aren’t very adept with computers call themselves Luddites, right?
Yeah, they usually take a little bit of pride in it.
Exactly. Oh, I don’t know anything about those. You do it.
Well, the term itself has its roots in a kind of populist rage. Picture this. It’s the early 19th century in England, and skilled artisans are increasingly incensed by the changes brought about by industrialization. And among other things, they’re angry about this new technology that they fear is going to cost them their jobs.
If they’re skilled in weaving things by hand, for example, they’re afraid that these machines are going to take their jobs away. So they organize. And in 1811, they go around destroying factory machinery and terrorizing business owners.
Well, their leader writes a manifesto with all their grievances and signs it with the fictitious name King Ludd. That’s L-U-D-D. And his followers, therefore, called themselves, wait for it, Luddites. And they kept up this rebellion for about five years. And then things like government suppression and the country’s growing prosperity led them to disband.
And the Luddites ended up protesting a lot of different things, but it was their opposition to labor-saving devices. It really captured the public’s imagination and ended up giving us the term Luddite. And, Grant, I should mention that the word Luddite is almost always capitalized these days.
Yeah, even though it’s far removed from its origins.
Yeah, exactly. I’ve encountered a lot of people who are still that way, people who even this far into the computer revolution don’t get that computers are here to stay. Unless we have an apocalypse, the computer is not going away, right?
That’s right. And I think you’re right that they do take a certain pride in reading things like, what are those things called?
Books?
Books. Yeah, the tree thing, right?
Yeah, the tree thing. Right.
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