Thank you! Ah, how desperately we need good news this week, and this evidence of a real Luddite rebellion led by youth is WONDERFUL news! But it comes none too soon--the techlords and their fascist allies are frantically pushing data centers everywhere, and with King Donald in power, they're getting away with all sorts of corner-cutting. Here in rural West Virginia, no one's talking much about lost jobs or alienation, but the politicians, all of them Republicans, have already passed a bill taking away any say re data centers from counties and cities--and the governor just said he hopes to see WV triple the power it exports, from gas and coal, to feed data centers. You might want to do a column on the battle in Memphis over the huge data center Musk's XAI is building near a black community, ignoring permits and with no public input.
I also don't have a subscription. My link from a google search just opened. but maybe they have a "first one free" policy, and I hadn't been there b4? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Great info! We've been indoctrinated into the Cult of the Shiny Thing by the technocracy and it's time to break out. The fact that tech billionaires are a thing now is a giant tell. Unfettered capitalism + unregulated technology = human farming for profit.
Incredibly fascinating, and it is heartening to see the next generation rediscover life outside of the digital and virtual space.
There is one aspect that does concern me - although from your article it does look like this movement is mostly targeted towards AI. Technology has greatly helped the disabled community.
Just this weekend, I was looking into purchasing an electric floor lift. My elderly mother has been experiencing more falls lately, and I lack the strength to be able to pick her up. So far she is able to get up by herself, but I anticipate that one day she will no longer be able to do that. And so technology will be a great help to me as a caregiver and in the future, as I myself age in place.
I usually posit that it is not the tools that are the source of the problem but how we use them. Part of the issue with all the technological advances specifically around the internet and AI is how exponentially fast things developed. There was almost no time to adjust and adapt in a healthy way.
Thanks again for highlighting this movement - I had actually reached out to the new york group because of another article you wrote, and it was wonderful to receive a snail mail letter from them! I am based in DC, so I will look into that group as well. 💙💚🦋
I know I wasn’t the only one feeling this and it’s appreciated that you’ve pulled it together in this article. Thank you.
I’ve been playing around with smaller scale resistance by adding friction back into my life - unoptimizing is what I’ve been calling it (wrote about this in May and Aug of this year).
It feels hopeful to see others joining together to question the things that have flattened the human experience and with it insulted our intelligence. Not to mention threatened the livelihoods of so many (structural unemployment strikes again….)
It’s also something that has deep roots dating back millennia. I’ve been digging around (with some help from AI - realizing this puts me on the outside of the fully anti AI folks).
My hope is that both can co-exist—the technology advancements and luddite renaissance—with a conversation from both to strengthen the other. Advancing technology feels impossible to stop (and sometimes not always the right thing to do).
Questioning these “advancements” and not succumbing to major changes in our behaviors and wiring feels like the kind of thing I would want to stand for when I was younger and pass down to my daughter.
And bummed to be out of town for this event, would have loved to join!
I have considered myself a Luddite for some time, (which is why I bought and have read your book) - though I do have a computer (obviously), but no "smart"phone, GPS, etc. - consider myself an "elementalist", as in favor of carbon based life forms, against silicon ones ...
Being one of those carbon based life forms increasingly being discarded by the silicon ones by their adherents, I don't have much money, so I appreciate very much those sites, such as here, that don't involve pay-to-play, pay-to-say features, thus allowing me to participate ... however I notice that some of the references in this piece do require pay to read or to participate, so I can't access them, e.g. Atlantic, New York mag unless i pay - and, as for the many Substack sites, where downloading an "app" is required, my system apparently won't allow me to - so thanks for providing an e-mail code :)
I would really like to connect with any of the Luddite groups you mention - do you have any URLs for them through which I can connect and participate ....
I also LOVE this effort by UK musician Tim Arnold on the right to be off-line: https://superconnected.technology/story/ Why Dame Imelda Staunton, Stephen Fry and Midge Ure Joined My Campaign to Protect Human Choice in a Digital World One Week Off-Grid, 16 Voices, and a Petition That Could Change Everything
"I believe in the right to choose or refuse to be superconnected!
Artist-Activist vs Big Tech | Creator of Super Connected™ – the acclaimed film, album & live show dismantling the illusion of digital freedom and exposing the human cost of screen addiction. https://substack.com/@timarnold
Hello, will the New Luddism event at Columbia have a stream or record the panels/discussions for later viewing? Very interested to hear the discussion. thank you.
The proudly Luddite resistance to tech progress is doomed from the get-go. AI tools are just that. Those who adapt and incorporate them to science their goals will prosper. Those who persist in futile efforts to resist will be left in the dust.
AI makes work, including creative work like writing, more efficient and effective. Who can successfully argue with that? Not even the bloodiest of machines.
I wrote this traditionally, word by carefully chosen word. But I used my iPhone (item one in my modest tech stack), and AI-powered Grammarly (item 2), which hopefully spared readers the inevitable mistakes by yours truly, AKA The Typo King).The point being, we will all use AI, whether we like it (or even know it), or not. If that’s the case with us adults, imagine what it will be like for your children, who can’t imagining an AI-free world.
No, to paraphrase the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Resistance is futile”—for better or worse.
Nonetheless thanks for your thoughtful and exceptionally well written analysis, reporting, and curation. I’m happy for you that by adapting to the new journalistic realities of the 21st Century, you’ve been able to land on your feet.
Consider it analogous to the Reformation. The High Church of Journalism has been shattered into thousands of fiercely independent writers whose name is their brand, who have a direct relationship with their readers as Luther claimed with the Almighty, needing no editorial intermediary, no support from selling advertising absolutions.
I don't worry about AI taking my job, it simply won't happen during my lifetime. However, misuse of software and personal information may lead to be offered a shitty salary because I/we happen to be in need.
I learned a few weeks ago about "algorithmic wage discrimination" and I'm worried. Even credit card debt data is used to negotiate salaries.
Thank you! Ah, how desperately we need good news this week, and this evidence of a real Luddite rebellion led by youth is WONDERFUL news! But it comes none too soon--the techlords and their fascist allies are frantically pushing data centers everywhere, and with King Donald in power, they're getting away with all sorts of corner-cutting. Here in rural West Virginia, no one's talking much about lost jobs or alienation, but the politicians, all of them Republicans, have already passed a bill taking away any say re data centers from counties and cities--and the governor just said he hopes to see WV triple the power it exports, from gas and coal, to feed data centers. You might want to do a column on the battle in Memphis over the huge data center Musk's XAI is building near a black community, ignoring permits and with no public input.
Revenge on the Nerds
you asked for a report on the Sep 27 event. I found this one... https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-tech-rally-apple-iphone-elon-musk-tesla-luddite-movement-2025-9
This looks great — you don't happen to have a gift link do you, I don't have a BI sub
I also don't have a subscription. My link from a google search just opened. but maybe they have a "first one free" policy, and I hadn't been there b4? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Great info! We've been indoctrinated into the Cult of the Shiny Thing by the technocracy and it's time to break out. The fact that tech billionaires are a thing now is a giant tell. Unfettered capitalism + unregulated technology = human farming for profit.
Incredibly fascinating, and it is heartening to see the next generation rediscover life outside of the digital and virtual space.
There is one aspect that does concern me - although from your article it does look like this movement is mostly targeted towards AI. Technology has greatly helped the disabled community.
Just this weekend, I was looking into purchasing an electric floor lift. My elderly mother has been experiencing more falls lately, and I lack the strength to be able to pick her up. So far she is able to get up by herself, but I anticipate that one day she will no longer be able to do that. And so technology will be a great help to me as a caregiver and in the future, as I myself age in place.
I usually posit that it is not the tools that are the source of the problem but how we use them. Part of the issue with all the technological advances specifically around the internet and AI is how exponentially fast things developed. There was almost no time to adjust and adapt in a healthy way.
Thanks again for highlighting this movement - I had actually reached out to the new york group because of another article you wrote, and it was wonderful to receive a snail mail letter from them! I am based in DC, so I will look into that group as well. 💙💚🦋
I know I wasn’t the only one feeling this and it’s appreciated that you’ve pulled it together in this article. Thank you.
I’ve been playing around with smaller scale resistance by adding friction back into my life - unoptimizing is what I’ve been calling it (wrote about this in May and Aug of this year).
It feels hopeful to see others joining together to question the things that have flattened the human experience and with it insulted our intelligence. Not to mention threatened the livelihoods of so many (structural unemployment strikes again….)
It’s also something that has deep roots dating back millennia. I’ve been digging around (with some help from AI - realizing this puts me on the outside of the fully anti AI folks).
My hope is that both can co-exist—the technology advancements and luddite renaissance—with a conversation from both to strengthen the other. Advancing technology feels impossible to stop (and sometimes not always the right thing to do).
Questioning these “advancements” and not succumbing to major changes in our behaviors and wiring feels like the kind of thing I would want to stand for when I was younger and pass down to my daughter.
And bummed to be out of town for this event, would have loved to join!
Anything in Los Angeles？Or do I gotta start somethin'?
Great piece!
I have considered myself a Luddite for some time, (which is why I bought and have read your book) - though I do have a computer (obviously), but no "smart"phone, GPS, etc. - consider myself an "elementalist", as in favor of carbon based life forms, against silicon ones ...
Being one of those carbon based life forms increasingly being discarded by the silicon ones by their adherents, I don't have much money, so I appreciate very much those sites, such as here, that don't involve pay-to-play, pay-to-say features, thus allowing me to participate ... however I notice that some of the references in this piece do require pay to read or to participate, so I can't access them, e.g. Atlantic, New York mag unless i pay - and, as for the many Substack sites, where downloading an "app" is required, my system apparently won't allow me to - so thanks for providing an e-mail code :)
I would really like to connect with any of the Luddite groups you mention - do you have any URLs for them through which I can connect and participate ....
As they say, "thank you for your service" :)
The machines the Luddites tried to burn actually worked….
To do what, precisely - replace the skilled workers, God bless them, who bashed them ....
Being from a "hands on" medical field, I am truly distressed that those "hands" are increasingly not flesh and blood ..
This is AMAZING! Someone called me a Luddite the other day, so I had just explained the term to my youngest.
I also LOVE this effort by UK musician Tim Arnold on the right to be off-line: https://superconnected.technology/story/ Why Dame Imelda Staunton, Stephen Fry and Midge Ure Joined My Campaign to Protect Human Choice in a Digital World One Week Off-Grid, 16 Voices, and a Petition That Could Change Everything
"I believe in the right to choose or refuse to be superconnected!
Artist-Activist vs Big Tech | Creator of Super Connected™ – the acclaimed film, album & live show dismantling the illusion of digital freedom and exposing the human cost of screen addiction. https://substack.com/@timarnold
Thanks for the good news, thanks for laying out concrete ways to get involved, and mostly thanks for giving us a little hope.
Hello, will the New Luddism event at Columbia have a stream or record the panels/discussions for later viewing? Very interested to hear the discussion. thank you.
The proudly Luddite resistance to tech progress is doomed from the get-go. AI tools are just that. Those who adapt and incorporate them to science their goals will prosper. Those who persist in futile efforts to resist will be left in the dust.
AI makes work, including creative work like writing, more efficient and effective. Who can successfully argue with that? Not even the bloodiest of machines.
I wrote this traditionally, word by carefully chosen word. But I used my iPhone (item one in my modest tech stack), and AI-powered Grammarly (item 2), which hopefully spared readers the inevitable mistakes by yours truly, AKA The Typo King).The point being, we will all use AI, whether we like it (or even know it), or not. If that’s the case with us adults, imagine what it will be like for your children, who can’t imagining an AI-free world.
No, to paraphrase the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Resistance is futile”—for better or worse.
Nonetheless thanks for your thoughtful and exceptionally well written analysis, reporting, and curation. I’m happy for you that by adapting to the new journalistic realities of the 21st Century, you’ve been able to land on your feet.
Consider it analogous to the Reformation. The High Church of Journalism has been shattered into thousands of fiercely independent writers whose name is their brand, who have a direct relationship with their readers as Luther claimed with the Almighty, needing no editorial intermediary, no support from selling advertising absolutions.
re: "Cyberspace is the New Heaven" . . .
https://medium.com/@stevenwelzer/cyberspace-is-the-new-heaven-ede893d44544
I don't worry about AI taking my job, it simply won't happen during my lifetime. However, misuse of software and personal information may lead to be offered a shitty salary because I/we happen to be in need.
I learned a few weeks ago about "algorithmic wage discrimination" and I'm worried. Even credit card debt data is used to negotiate salaries.
https://columbialawreview.org/content/on-algorithmic-wage-discrimination/