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michaelnoir t1_j6ee1d8 wrote

Reply to comment by PhilosophusFuturum in Are there any real movements against AI technology? by musicloverx98x

I do want to go that far because what I've written is true. The handloom weavers did go out of business, outcompeted by factories and machines, and a lot of them did end up in the workhouse.

> They believed that industrialization would lead to workers getting paid less and having a lower quality of life because the artisanal trade would be replaced by easily-replaceable uneducated workers.

And they were right. It was, and it did.

> Industrialization lead to a massive increase in salary and the quality of life for your average Englishman (as hard to believe as that is)

It's not hard to believe, it's just wrong. Who is "the average Englishman" and who suddenly got a massive increase in salary? Why on earth would you give a factory worker a huge salary, you would want to pay him as little as possible.

The self-employed artisan was obviously in a better position than the proletarian in a factory.

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PhilosophusFuturum t1_j6egh12 wrote

The “average Englishman” who got a bump in salary is the average Englishman. Their salary did increase during that time. Sure hindsight is 20/20 and they probably didn’t care about the fact that industrialization would end up being one of the best things to ever happen to humanity. They just wanted to keep their jobs, and valued that over progress. But even back then they would become growingly unpopular. That’s why they’re now synonymous with backwards people like the Dunses.

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rogert2 t1_j6gbqkt wrote

I'm sure all my friends who are artists, writers, and programmers will be glad to hear that "progress" is the reason their careers have been forcibly ended, and they've had to get "jobs" as Uber drivers and Walmart greeters.

And if any of them is selfish enough to say that's not a good thing, I'll make a point of telling them they are "backwards."

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