A lot of people have benefited from the association of Luddism with irrational technophobia. But maybe instead of avoiding the specter of Luddism we should reclaim it. Asking good questions about how a technology will impact people isn’t unreasonable and it isn’t irrational; it’s right and appropriate and necessary.
Blood in the Machine is a new book about the Luddites that’s on my list to read. we need to reclaim the term and use it for exactly what it was originally used for. People that are trying to make sure they’re not exploited by new technology so that a very few people can get rich.
It’s these same people that are pushing Luddism as bad that want to use the copyrighted output of creators without paying them for it, then want to sell the product back to the same creators…or the employers of the creators putting the artists out of work.