From Stocking Frames to AI: Luddism and Technological Resistance

The Poor Prole’s Almanac · Dec 18, 2025 · 46m

This episode traces the continuous thread of Luddite resistance from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution straight through to the age of AI, noting how the term Luddite is often used today as a pejorative to dismiss critics of technological expansion. The movement began with 19th-century English cloth workers who mobilized against the horrific context created by industrial expansion. Following Parliament's enclosure of six million acres of commons, workers were forced into terrifying, unsafe cities to become "meat for the machines." The depravity was immense; for example, in Manchester, 57%…