Luddites HWSM 04 006

2024-11-10T00:00:00Z

Luddites "Robin [Hood] had famously robbed the rich to give to the poor and defended the weak against arbitrary baronial power. But Ned Ludd epitomized the right of the poor to earn their own livelihood and to defend the customs of their trade against dishonorable capitalist depredators. While Robin, a displaced gentleman, signified paternal protection, Ned Ludd evidenced the sturdy self-reliance of a community prepared to resist for itself the notion that market forces rather than moral values should shape the fate of labor. Ned Ludd was not only a symbol of plebeian resistance; he was an ideological figure as well, one who reflected the deep sense of history that underpinned the customary values of working communities" (p. xiv). Binfield, Kevin. "Forward." Writings of the Luddites . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. https://archive.org/details/writingsofluddit0000unse