Transition Edge - A Merry Luddite Christmas

Published: Wed, 12/22/21

Transition Edge

December 2021 - Year two of the disrupted decade

A Merry Luddite Christmas

Thank you for being a reader of Transition Edge. Please feel free to forward it to friends who you think might enjoy it too.

I’m Grant Symons. I convene Transition Edge to help us understand how we can transition to a low carbon sustainable world using leading thinking and practices.

While chatting with a colleague today, he made a comment about being a bit of a 'Luddite' when it comes to some of the social media platforms available now.

In modern times we use the term to describe people that are slow on the uptake of technology, but perhaps it might be worth temporarily being a Luddite over the holiday break?

So what is, and who were, the original Luddites?... some fun facts...

The name Luddite originated in England and was given to the movement of protesting workers that selectively destroyed machines that were putting people out of jobs in the 1800's. Apparently it originated from Ned Ludd, a young apprentice who was rumored to have wrecked a textile apparatus in 1879. There is no evidence that Ned Ludd really existed, but the name was used as the mythical leader of the protesting workers.
Luddites were intentional about which machines they smashed. They targeted those owned by manufacturers who were known to pay low wages, disregard workers’ safety, and/or speed up the pace of work.
The movement gained such strength that the government made certain related offences punishable by death.
Smashing machines was not a knee jerk reaction to new technology, but a tactical response by workers based on their understanding of how owners were using those machines to make labour conditions more exploitative.
Today's Luddites get a bad rap... but maybe they are on to something...maybe we should all be pulling back a bit from technology? The evidence is mounting about the negative aspects of it, especially on young people.

OK! So, we aren't suggesting putting a hammer through your partner's laptop at the dinner table or dropping their mobile phone over the side of the boat the next time it beeps, while you are enjoying a peaceful moment... but maybe these holidays are a good time to unplug. Totally unplug that is!

A very Merry Christmas to you all, thanks for being an Edge reader and we look forward to serving you in 2022.

This week's quote

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S

And for those that happen to switch their laptop on, here are a couple of Edge articles that should have had better titles and are worth a read:

The Yoga Mat and the Locomotive (You can't get partly out of the way of a Loco)

Balance (There is a great diagram in this one)

And the all time 'most read' for the year was: And your part in the next wonderful Performance is? ... (maybe 2022 is your year?)

Grant Symons - The Transition Guy

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