The Modern Luddite

Paraphrasing Wikipedia’s entry on the Luddites:

The Luddites were a social movement of English textile workers in the early 1800s who protested against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt threatened their jobs. The movement was named after mythical leader Ned Ludd, who is believed to have destroyed two large stocking frames that produced inexpensive stockings, undercutting those produced by skilled knitters. His signature appears on a “workers’ manifesto” of the time. The character seems to be based on a local folk tale about someone whose motives were probably quite different (frustration, and not anti-technology zealotry).

This website will document my attempts to live with less reliance on technology. I am not really a Luddite, nor a neo-luddite; my views on introducing a free market are not relevant to this project; and I don’t particularly object to the advancement of technology per se. But it’s a catchy name, the Modern Luddite, and so it’s stuck.

And so having explained what this website is not about, what is it about?

For various reasons - budgetary, moral, idealistic and plain stupid - I wish to reduce my reliance on technology, specifically technology which I feel wastes my time and money. I also wish to live a relatively “normal” life, so I don’t (currently) have any plans to smash industrial machinery or move out of my nice comfy flat. But maybe all that will change. I shall record my experiments and ideas here, as well as my plans for the future. It is my hope that people will find this useful and/or amusing. Feel free to let me know.

Regards,

The Modern Luddite.