Concepts of Progress in the Book "In Defense Luddism" by Noble and Weir

The way Noble Argues Based on the Book “In Defense of Luddism.”
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The way Noble Argues Based on the Book “In Defense of Luddism.”
Introduction
Technology is considered as an aspect that has brought a revolution into this modern world, thus making work easier in every industry. Through technology, manufacturing has been enhanced with the sole objective of increasing the mass production of commodities. Given this, mass production results in the constant supply of human necessities through the use of efficient means enhance through the inclusion of technology. In the book “In Defense of Luddism”, the author shades light to his audience on the concepts of progress and the manner in which technological advancements are currently considered as progress in as much as some schools of thought allude to it as an undermining of human labor, resulting in suffering. The significance of technology in this modern age remains an obvious aspect considering that the benefits of the revolution brought about by technology tend to outweigh the demerits.
However, Noble posits that the Luddites being technophobic and naïve, embraced approaches that saved them from the consequences that were prone to occur upon implementing the use of technology and machines. As provided, instances of oppression, unemployment, and the lack of equity among the workers were some of the negative aspects that the Luddites negated (Edgerton, 2011). The central purpose of this paper remains in supporting the arguments presented by Noble in his book, “In Defense of Luddism”. The paper will disclose the manner in which different schools of thought argue for and against technological advancements as an essential and inherent aspect initiated for the benefit of humanity, a view that Noble supports.
Noble's Central Argument
In his book, Noble gives a description of Luddism as one of the hugest resistances of workers who held on to the fear that the advent of new technologies would affect employment. This movement took course in 1811 and continued for a period of six years, thus ending in 1817. The workers who made protests against the element of industrial revolution were inferred to as the Luddites. The Luddites as posited by Nobel had a negative perception about technology. This therefore saw this population negating technological changes and acted in self-defense by taking initiatives in destroying machines since a majority of these workers resisted the inclusion of technology in the service industry. With the advent of new technologies, a new culture that is perceived as offensive is launched, hence rekindling confidence in progress. It is however essential to interject and this point and establish that the Luddites were not against the new technological innovations as per say, but rather were against the social changes that would come with the inclusion of technology (Noble & Weir, 2012). Nobel therefore establishes that the Luddites rejections of such changes were rational since technology would control labor and alienate people by depriving them of their rights. In this regard, technological changes are therefore perceived as autonomous considering that its advancement has some ideological and political touch. On the other hand, technology has the capacity to restructure the patterns of production and social relations within a society.
Noble in his book majors on valuable parallels that exist between two eras, with one of the era supporting the inclusion of technology and its advancements in revolutionizing the industrial world while the other era negates such advancements. However, according to Noble, both the proponents of technology during these two eras argue that the advancements of technology remain an essential and unstoppable force that has the capacity to benefit humanity. Noble clearly paints a picture of how technology has resulted in the loss of jobs given that through it, machines (Noble & Weir, 2012) replace human capital. It is evident that there are battles that exist between the advocates of human capital and those supporting the advancements of technology, also referred to as the tech shrewdness. The loss of jobs has been constituted as an aspect that enhances social issues in the society such as the increased in crime rates because of unemployment and the stagnation of an economy.
According to the views of Noble, the Luddites never engaged in destroying machines because of the technophobic nature, but because they felt this was necessary. This occurred because the Luddites were constantly seeking for approaches aimed at shaping the initiation of new technological inputs in the society, an aspect that necessitated the need to slow the destruction of the society’s economic relations until such a time when the population was in a position to adjust to these modalities. The Luddites therefore needed to choose between property destruction, starvation, or violence against the capitalists (Campa, 2014). Approaches that were driven towards making protests against underemployment and the demise of compassion among the factory owners. Noble therefore argues that the element of technology and innovation is not a neutral phenomenon since it is tied to a given form of economic development and is selective to a given section of classes (Hammond & Hammond, 2011). He additionally insinuated that with the inclusion of new technology as a weapon, the society is in a position to advance at a steady rate towards vestiges of organization and power and work and skill autonomy in the quest for a potential vehicle of exploration and investment. Noble’s argument therefore bases its points on human costs by moving accusations to the religion of technology upon which the modern society has established its existence. According to this author, the wake of information revolution over a period of five decades has seen people and employees work long hours under worse job conditions, resulted in a rise in stress levels and anxiety, less benefits, less skills, less security, and less pay. On the other hand, the author of this book argues that information technology has over time been initiated and used during this period to discipline, deskill, and dislodge the element of human labor through an unprecedented proportion.
In real sense, some previewed technology as an element that is utilized by selfish groups and individuals for the sole purpose of pursuing their selfish gains, an aspect that has resulted in the pushing of other individuals out of business. The opposition in this progress therefore find themselves as the enemies of change since they have no defense against the effects of changes that wrought from technological innovations, thus forcing them to find refuge in denial and delusion. On the other ha...