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Rating: 
Summary: An Eloquent, Provocative & Thoughtful Critique !
Review: "Rebels Against The Future" is a book with an important, relevant, and timely message. Written by Sales Kirkpatrick, long-time editor of "The Nation", the book describes the historical struggle for human rights against the forces of technological innovation by way of the saga of Ned Ludd & his followers. By detailing this example, the author illustrates how difficult it is, both historically and culturally, for individual workers & ordinary people to successfully come to terms with the anonymous and often overwhelming forces of an intractable and self-propelled technical dynamic; industrial progress. I first came across this book last year by way of the internet; an excerpt of it was posted on a neo-Luddite site I was browsing through. Reading this short portion hooked me on Mr. Kirkpatrick's writing style and substance. This is a book ostensibly devoted to the iconoclastic revolt by a small but determined group of nineteenth century English cottage workers against the hurtful introduction of new machines that, in essence, deprived them of an opportunity to make a living and support themselves and their families. It was the first documented account of a group rebelling against the enforced imposition by industrialists of new technology that was contrary to their own social and economic interests. It was not all machinery that the so-called "Luddites" rebelled against; it was only those technological innovations "but all Machinery hurtful to Commonality". He forwards an impressive, multi-faceted argument; each facet of the argument bearing on various aspects of what the author associates with various characteristics of technologies. Thus, Kirkpatrick ascribes a "motif industriale" on such technologically-based innovation such that; first, technologies are never neutral, & some are hurtful; second, industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; third, only those serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines, fourth; the nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; fifth, that resistance to the industrial system, based on moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; sixth, that resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; seventh, philosophically, resistance to industrialism has to be embedded in an ideology that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; and eighth, if industrial civilization does not eventually crumble from determined resistance within its walls, it seems certain to eventually crumble of its own accumulated excesses and instabilities. Of course, the lessons from the experience of the Luddites are central to the issues of our own time. Everywhere in the burgeoning postindustrial world citizens face the same hurtful, impersonal, dehumanizing, and disenfranchising effects of the rapidly changing technological landscape. The central issue of runaway technological progress is the degree to which it acts without meaningful citizen input to determine the nature of the society it increasingly interrupts, disrupts, and alters through a ceaseless and seemingly unmanaged and undirected dynamic of industrial innovation. There seems to be no human face to this process, and it appears to be unresponsive, insensitive, and totally indifferent to its dehumanizing effect on the millions of individual human beings who are so profoundly and negatively affected by its ministrations. This is an important and thought-provoking book, and one every concerned citizen should take the time and energy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Kinda Ironic This Book Is Selling on Amazon.com...
Review: "Rebels Against The Future" is a book with an important, relevant, and timely message. Written by Sales Kirkpatrick, long-time editor of "The Nation", who describes the historical struggle for human rights against the forces of technological innovation by way of the saga of Ned Ludd & his followers. By detailing this example, the author illustrates how difficult it is, both historically and culturally, for individual workers & ordinary people to successfully come to terms with the anonymous and often overwhelming forces of an intractable and self-propelled technical dynamic; industrial progress. I first came across this book last year by way of the internet; an excerpt of it was posted on a neo-Luddite site I was browsing through. Reading this short portion hooked me on Mr. Kirkpatrick's writing style and substance. This is a book ostensibly devoted to the iconoclastic revolt by a small but determined group of nineteenth century English cottage workers against the hurtful introduction of new machines that, in essence, deprived them of an opportunity to make a living and support themselves and their families. It was the first documented account of a group rebelling against the enforced imposition by industrialists of new technology that was contrary to their own social and economic interests. It was not all machinery that the so-called "Luddites" rebelled against; it was only those technological innovations "but all Machinery hurtful to Commonality". He forwards an impressive, multi-faceted argument; each facet of the argument bearing on various aspects of what the author associates with various characteristics of technologies. Thus, Kirkpatrick ascribes a "motif industriale" on such technologically-based innovation such that; first, technologies are never neutral, & some are hurtful; second, industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; third, only those serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines, fourth; the nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; fifth, that resistance to the industrial system, based on moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; sixth, that resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; seventh, philosophically, resistance to industrialism has to be embedded in an ideology that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; and eighth, if industrial civilization does not eventually crumble from determined resistance within its walls, it seems certain to eventually crumble of its accumulated excesses and instabilities. Of course, the lessons from the experience of the Luddites are central to the issues of our own time. Everywhere in the burgeoning postindustrial world citizens face the same hurtful, impersonal, dehumanizing, and disenfranchising effects of the rapidly changing technological landscape. The central issue of runaway technological progress is the degree to which it determines the nature of the society it constantly interrupts, disrupts, and alters through its ceaseless dynamic of industrial innovation. There is no human face to this process, and it seems to be unresponsive, insensitive, and totally indifferent to the dehumanizing effect on the individual human beings who are so profoundly and negatively affected by its alterations, wrenching changes, and undemocratically derived consequences. This is an important and thought-provoking book, and one every concerned citizen should take the time and energy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!
Review: Don't waste your money! There are good books on this worthy subject but this one is very bad. It's poorly written, pompous in tone, yet full of lame assumptions any college student could see beyond. The few good ideas are not the author's own, though he rarely gives credit where credit is due. It's as if it was written in one sitting, by a not very intelligent person who had done little reading on the subject and didn't have much respect for ideas. I don't usually bother writing bad reviews but politically I'm on the same side as Sale on many of these issues and he makes an embarrassing, sophomoric mess of them.
Rating:
Summary: provocative, good!
Review: Excellent, provocative work. Calls into question the whole progressivist paradigm of Western Liberal thought...definite good lesson to all those with naively sunny visions of the .com future... Strongly recommend Mark Lutz & Kenneth Lutz if you liked this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good history; so-so analysis.
Review: Kirkpatrick Sale is a first rate historian, but as an analyst of history he tends to be blinded by his own so-called "Neo-Luddite" leanings. He does correctly identify that the Luddite movement was not about machinery, per se, but rather about social tensions arising in Europe, and that attacking machinery was simply an easy target. But his misses much in his economic analysis. Like many neo-luddites and "left anarchists", Sale believes in small government, but his (and their) small government is not small in power; it has the power to compel decentralization and to resdistribute income. It is, like Chomsky's 1970s-variety anarchism, Socialism under a different rubric. Sale believes that large corporations, large cities and any large scale human endevor must be artificial, created in order to exploit man and nature, which rather puts him at odds with the experiences documented through most of written history. He rejects the efficiencies people have traditionally found in both trade and scale, and prefers instead an enforced village. The are a good many inconsistencies in his rationale; he decries the large corproation, but wants to redistribute the wealth produced by such entities. One wonders where the wealth will come from once he destroys the wealth producers; I am reminded very much of the recent history of Zimbabwe. In summary, then: Not his best work, but worth reading for the historical material, and for some of the social analysis. Just take the economics with a large dose of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Good history; so-so analysis.
Review: Kirkpatrick Sale is a first rate historian, but as an analyst of history he tends to be blinded by his own so-called "Neo-Luddite" leanings. He does correctly identify that the Luddite movement was not about machinery, per se, but rather about social tensions arising in Europe, and that attacking machinery was simply an easy target. But his misses much in his economic analysis. Like many neo-luddites and "left anarchists", Sale believes in small government, but his (and their) small government is not small in power; it has the power to compel decentralization and to resdistribute income. It is, like Chomsky's 1970s-variety anarchism, Socialism under a different rubric. Sale believes that large corporations, large cities and any large scale human endevor must be artificial, created in order to exploit man and nature, which rather puts him at odds with the experiences documented through most of written history. He rejects the efficiencies people have traditionally found in both trade and scale, and prefers instead an enforced village. The are a good many inconsistencies in his rationale; he decries the large corproation, but wants to redistribute the wealth produced by such entities. One wonders where the wealth will come from once he destroys the wealth producers; I am reminded very much of the recent history of Zimbabwe. In summary, then: Not his best work, but worth reading for the historical material, and for some of the social analysis. Just take the economics with a large dose of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible!
Review: Kirkpatrick Sale is one of the visionary writers of our time, and deserves a much wider audience. This book rescues the reputation of the unjustly maligned workers who fought against some of history's cruelest businessmen. Contrary to myth, the "Luddites" were not knee-jerk foes of any technological change; they were workers fighting to protect their jobs and families from businessmen interested only in profit. No one who reads this book (and who cares more about people than gadgets) will ever again use the word "Luddite" as a term of opprobrium.
Rating:
Summary: Luddites, Technology, Industrialism, and Humanity
Review: Lessons from the Luddites for the Computer Age include: 1) Technologies are never neutral, and some are hurtful; 2) Industrialism is always a cataclysmic process, destroying the past, roiling the present, making the future uncertain; 3) "Only a people serving an apprenticeship to nature can be trusted with machines."; 4) The nation-state, synergistically intertwined with industrialism, will always come to its aid and defense, making revolts futile and reform ineffectual; 5) But resistance to the industrial system, based on some grasp of moral principles and rooted in some sense of moral revulsion, is not only possible but necessary; 6) Politically, resistance to industrialism must force not only "the machine question" but the viability of industrial society into public consciousness and debate; 7) Philosophically, resistance to industrialism must be embedded in an analysis-an ideology, perhaps-that is morally informed, carefully articulated, and widely shared; 8) If the edifice of industrial civilization does not eventually crumble as a result of determined resistance within its very walls, it seems certain to crumble of its own accumulated excesses and instabilities within not more than a few decades, perhaps sooner, after which there may be space for alternative societies to arise.
Rating:
Summary: Sophomoric rant
Review: This book contains an interesting, if biased, history of the Luddite movement which will interest all those who have no knowledge of that period of British history. This book also presents a number of "arguments" suggesting that luddism is an appropriate stance vis a vis today's technology and science. The fact is that his arguments are sloppy and his analysis is tendentious and sophomoric. There's nothing here which you wont find in the most hackneyed of anti-science rants issuing from post-modern science warriors. An example is that nuclear technology led to the creation of the atomic bomb therefore it is inherrently evil. Anyone who knows anything about global politics and strategy should pause to laugh at this (MAD-logic doesn't even get a look in let alone a critique), anyone who's interested in the history of science will stop to laugh at this and frankly, anyone who agrees with this and uses a computer (which relies on the same QM theories) should stop to consider whether or not their belief system is hopelessly inconsistant. We don't get any insight of any detail into what motivates the moral judgements Sale makes, we're just expected to blindly agree, so anyone who has done any moral philosophy should be scratching their heads. Give this one a pass.
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