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Ned Ludd's Diatribes Whatever the Social Problem, Technology Is Not

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NED LUDD’S DIATRIBES WHATEVER THE SOCIAL PROBLEM, TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE ANSWER! Ellen Jose – Song Journey Illustration Front Cover FLOATING 2005 Ellen JOSE Oil on Linen 25.5 x 25.5 cm Copyright Ellen Jose AUTHOR: Gerry HARANT a.k.a. Ned Ludd PUBLISHER: ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE P.O. BOX 20 PARKVILLE 3052 MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA Tel: 0439 395 489 Email: [email protected] Web: anarchistmedia.org Message Centre: (03) 8508 9856 ISBN: 0 9758219 2 X Published December 2007 Copyright remains with the author Gerry Harant. Material can be published by ‘not for profit groups and organisations’ as long as source and publisher are acknowledged. All other people who want to republish material need to contact the publisher for permission to republish. PREFACE Philistines, Anarchists and Luddites have long been considered to be beyond the pale. Recent research has shown that the inhabitants of Philistia – an ancient country on the west coast of the Mediterranean - were much more cultured than the surrounding barbarians that finally overran them. Anarchism is enjoying a revival as a political ideology and a social movement as a consequence of increasing population growth, finite resources and the domination of the planet by an economic system that demands increasing profits, irrespective of the human, social and environmental costs. Only the Luddites continue to shiver outside the tent in a society where it is believed that every problem has a technological solution and the path to human happiness is a life burdened by technological innovation. Ned Ludd’s Diatribes – a collection of essays written by Gerry Harant and used as the basis for an ongoing discussion between Gerry Harant and Dr. Joseph Toscano on the ‘Anarchist World This Week’ – broadcast from the studios of 3CR in Melbourne across Australia on the National Community Radio Satellite, streaming live on 3CR.org.au and recently podcast, highlights the negative aspects of technology and buries the furphy that technology is value free. Gerry Harant has, through this collection of essays, rehabilitated the reputation of Luddism and has succeeded in dragging the Luddites out of the cold and putting them back into the ongoing discussion that needs to occur in the community to ensure that technology does not destroy the human spirit and human civilisation. Dr. Joseph TOSCANO Convenor Anarchist Media Institute – Melbourne, AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2007 CONTENT CONTENT - Contents of Booklet ………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 1 DIATRIBE 1 - INTRODUCTION - The Story Behind This Collection of Essays ……………………………………………………... 3 DIATRIBE 2 - The Myth Of The Robot……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 DIATRIBE 3 - The Robotic Threat ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 DIATRIBE 4 - Dumb Robots ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 DIATRIBE 5 - The Robotic Threat? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 DIATRIBE 6 - Artificial Intelligence ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 DIATRIBE 7 - The Motor Car And Its Illusions ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 DIATRIBE 8 - Myths Of High Fidelity …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 DIATRIBE 9 - Technology Vs Content – Why We Have To Have Digital TV & Radio? ……………………………………………. 12 DIATRIBE 10 - The Impact Of Modern Technology On A Specific Industry – Libraries ……………………………………………… 13 DIATRIBE 11 - What Price "Efficiency"? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15 DIATRIBE 12 - The Great Telephone Fraud …………………………………………………………………………………………….... 16 DIATRIBE 13 - Technology Of Movies …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17 DIATRIBE 14 - Great Inventions Which Destroy Our Environment: The Flushing Toilet …………………………………………….. 18 DIATRIBE 15 - September 7, 1994 - The Myth Of "Natural Selection By Market Forces" …………………………………………… 19 DIATRIBE 16 - More About The Future ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 21 DIATRIBE 17 - Predicting A Future For Humanity ………………………………………………………………………………………... 22 DIATRIBE 18 - Rampant Stupidity Under Capitalist Managements …………………………………………………………………….. 23 DIATRIBE 19 - Why Capitalism Is So Environmentally Destructive …………………………………………………………………….. 24 DIATRIBE 20 - With A Guard At Every Door ………………………...……………………………………………………………………. 25 DIATRIBE 21 - The Irrationality Of “Economic Rationalism” …………………………………………………………………………….. 26 DIATRIBE 22 - Smart Money Or Smart Shysters …………………………………………………………………………………………. 27 DIATRIBE 23 - The Technology Of Toys ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 28 DIATRIBE 24 - Distrust Of Technology – The Technology Of Distrust ……………………………………………………………….... 29 DIATRIBE 25 - Efficiency? You Would Have To Be Joking ……………………………………………………………………………… 30 DIATRIBE 26 - Positive Technology – Part I ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 31 DIATRIBE 27 - Creating Catastrophes …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32 DIATRIBE 28 - Mutual Aid …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 33 DIATRIBE 29 - The Technology Of War …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 34 DIATRIBE 30 - Positive Technology – Part II ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 35 DIATRIBE 31 - The Motor Car Revisited …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 DIATRIBE 32 - Destroying The Third World ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 37 DIATRIBE 33 - The Dignity Of Labour ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 38 DIATRIBE 34 - Abandon Hope – All Ye Who Embrace The Technological Fix ……………………………………………………….. 39 DIATRIBE 35 - The Technology Of Hope And What It Does To The Human Psyche ………………………………………………… 40 DIATRIBE 36 - The Technology of Community Destruction ……………………………………………………………………………… 41 DIATRIBE 37 - The Disappearance Of Work – Yet Again! ………………………………………………………………………………. 42 DIATRIBE 38 - Environmental Refugees (New Scientist – 31 August 1996) ………………………………………………………….. 43 DIATRIBE 39 - Technology As An Excuse – Downsizing The Community …………………………………………………………….. 44 DIATRIBE 40 - Experimenting On Humanity – Part I ……................................................................................................................ 45 DIATRIBE 41 - Why Cults? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 46 DIATRIBE 42 - How To Stop The World From Starving …………………………………………………………………………………… 47 DIATRIBE 43 - Structural Violence ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 48 DIATRIBE 44 - Carn’ The Clones! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 50 DIATRIBE 45 - Job Creation At Last ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 51 DIATRIBE 46 - Experimenting On Humanity – Part II ……………………………………………………………………………………… 51 DIATRIBE 47 - Road Rage …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 53 DIATRIBE 48 - Damning The Dams ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 54 DIATRIBE 49 - How Technology Really Destroys Jobs …………………………………………………………………………………… 55 DIATRIBE 50 - Neutral Technology – Are You Joking? ………………………………………………………………………………….. 56 DIATRIBE 51 - How Technology Shifts The Goalposts ………………………………………………………………………………….. 57 DIATRIBE 52 - Going Backwards …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 58 DIATRIBE 53 - Technologies Of Co-Operation ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 59 DIATRIBE 54 - Technologies Of Genocide ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 60 DIATRIBE 55 - Running Cars On Nothing – An Airy Proposal …………………………………………………………………………… 61 DIATRIBE 56 - The Price Of (Not Having) Skills …………………………………………………………………………………………… 62 DIATRIBE 57 - Wharf Efficiency – You’d Have To Be Joking …………………………………………………………………………….. 63 DIATRIBE 58 - Emulating The Titanic ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 64 DIATRIBE 59 - “Normalising” The Disabled …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 65 DIATRIBE 60 - (Dis)Organising The Union Movements And The Left …………………………………………………………………… 66 DIATRIBE 61 - Contracting With The Devil …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 67 DIATRIBE 62 - Designing For Disaster ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 69 DIATRIBE 63 - Masking Reality – Election Broadcast Technology ………………………………………………………………………. 70 DIATRIBE 64 - Biotechnology Creates Human Hunger And Profits ……………………………………………………………………… 71 DIATRIBE 65 - Digitising The ABC Out Of Existence ……………………………………………………………………………………… 72 DIATRIBE 66 - How To Plan Foe Disaster – The International Space Station …………………………………………………………. 73 DIATRIBE 67 - Technological Change As An Ideological Excuse ……………………………………………………………………….. 74 DIATRIBE 68 - The Courage Of Technology – Some Thoughts For ANZAC Day ……………………………………………………… 75 DIATRIBE 69 - Expensive Risks ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 76 DIATRIBE 70 - The Millennium Bug – The End Of The World As Bill Gates Knows It …………………………………………………. 77 DIATRIBE 71 - The Technology Of Deception – Shifting The Focus …………………………………………………………………….. 78 DIATRIBE 72 - Back To Chaos ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 80 DIATRIBE 73 - The Ideology Of Labour Processes – The Duivken Project ……………………………………………………………… 81 DIATRIBE 74 - The Twilight Of Technology …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 82 DIATRIBE 75 - Technological Disasters Of The Past ………………………………………………………………………………………. 83 DIATRIBE 76 - Millennial Musings ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 84 DIATRIBE 77 - Technology In Freedom ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 86 DIATRIBE 78 - Transcending Class? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 87 DIATRIBE 79 - Sports Cheating – Lots Of Cash And Not Much Sport …………………………………………………………………… 88 1 DIATRIBE 80 - Conflict Of Interest …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 89 DIATRIBE 81 - Learning To Cope ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 91 DIATRIBE 82 - Decoding The Hype About Decoding The Human Genome …………………………………………………………..
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