It's the Stupid Economy, Stupid

We have it all wrong about the Luddites. They've come to be associated with opposition to any kind of technological advancement in favor of a simpler, less complicated life style. We look on modern-day Luddites who eschew the computer and microwave ovens with a certain bemused and sympathetic tolerance. In reality the original Luddites back at the beginning of the 19th century had it right. Their enemy was the Industrial Revolution, specifically the mechanical looms that replaced them with unskilled, lower paid workers. What they perceived was the beginning of the end, and we're paying the price today, with an economy that's run amok, or better still, that's like an elephant getting bigger and bigger until it can no longer support it's own weight and must croak.