Quote from: Oxford English DictionaryLud·dite
/ˈləˌdīt/
noun
noun: Luddite; plural noun: Luddites
1.derogatory
a person opposed to new technology or ways of working.
"a small-minded Luddite resisting progress"
2.
historical
a member of any of the bands of English workers who destroyed machinery, especially in cotton and woolen mills, that they believed was threatening their jobs (1811–16).
Although the word "Luddite" did enter the lexicon as meaning "an anti-technology fanatic", I think anyone familiar with the problems of unions and the capitalist version of history knows this is Orwellian 1984 style Newspeak to twist the meaning to serve their own ends, which of course has always been to reduce the cost of labor and replace it as much as possible with automation and machinery.
What they never worked out though was how once they eliminated the jobs needed to make the products, how they would get the money necessary to BUY these products into the hands of the CONSUMERS of these products. Even Henry Ford understood that the same people who worked on the production line were the ones he wanted to sell the cars to, so in the beginning he agreed to the Union demands for a wage good enough to do that. Said early contracts of course weren't honored as the auto companies went bankrupt and thei unfunded long term liabilities (aka pensions) were absorbed by the taxpayer funded PBGC (Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation). Later contracts with crippled unions continued to eat away at worker pay, and auto companies relocated jobs offshore to China & Mexico et al. Thus the whole American economy shifted to a lower paid service economy, along with fake wealth generated by the finance econommy and expanding debt.
Which brings us round to today, as the time to pay the piper grows near.
RE