[Whereever] neo-Luddites may be found, they are attempting to bear witness to the secret little truth that lies at the heart of modern experience: Whatever its presumed benefits, of speed, or ease, or power, or wealth, industrial technology comes at a price, and in the contemporary world that price is ever rising and ever threatening.
Predictor: Sale, Kirkpatrick
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Nation, adapted from his book “Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution,” Kirkpatrick Sale urges people to step back and question technology. He makes seven key points: ”We in the industrial world are in the middle of a social and political revolution that is almost without parallel. Call it ‘third wave’ capitalism, or ‘postmodern,’ or ‘multinational,’ or whatever; this transformation is, without anyone being prepared for it, overwhelming the communities and institutions and customs that once were the familiar stanchions of our lives … No wonder there are some people who are Just Saying No. They have a great variety of stances and tactics, but the technophobes and technoresisters out there are increasingly coming together under the banner that dates to those attackers of technology of two centuries ago, the Luddites … These neo-Luddites are more numerous today than one might assume, technopessimists without the power and access of the techno-optimists but still with a not-insignificant voice … These would include those several million people in all the industrial nations whose jobs have simply been automated out from under them or have been sent overseas as part of the multinationals’ global network, itself built on high-tech communications … They may include, too, quite a number of those whose experience with high technology in the home or office has left them confused or demeaned, or frustrated by machines too complex to understand, much less to repair, or assaulted and angered by systems that deftly invade their privacy, or deny them credit, or turn them into ciphers. [Whereever] neo-Luddites may be found, they are attempting to bear witness to the secret little truth that lies at the heart of modern experience: Whatever its presumed benefits, of speed, or ease, or power, or wealth, industrial technology comes at a price, and in the contemporary world that price is ever rising and ever threatening.”
Biography:Kirkpatrick Sale, an author and journalist, wrote a book titled “Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution” that made him a leader of the neo-Luddites of the 1990s. “Luddites” generally believe that technological advances are an endangerment to society. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Nation
Title, headline, chapter name: Lessons From The Luddites
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
www.ensu.ucalgary.ca/~terry/luddite/sale.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stevens, Shawn