History Main / LuddWasRight

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' takes place in the blighted realm of Valisthea, where the aristocracy depends on the blessing of Mothercrystals to provide for their people and consolidate their rule. As the blight continues to spread, kingdoms constantly go to war with one another in order to claim more Mothercrystals for themselves, causing no end of bloodshed and despair. Cid, and later Clive, make it their mission to destroy the Mothercrystals entirely, both to end this cycle of war and because they believe the Mothercrystals' magic itself is causing the blight. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that the true cause of the blight is not just the Mothercrystals, but magic itself, as Ultima, humanity's precursors, had also destroyed their own homeworld through overuse of magic, and created humanity to be obedient vessels they could use to repopulate Valisthea, the new world they'd travelled to. However, thanks to going into slumber instead of guiding humanity on their plans, humanity developed their own will, something that Ultima does ''not take well''. After vanquishing Ultima to save humanity from their tyranny, Clive proceeds to destroy the last Mothercrystal, Origin, to completely remove magic from the world and force humanity to evolve without it, and as a result, the epilogue shows that the existence of magic has faded into the realm of myths and fairytales.]]

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': The finale veers in this direction. ''Veers''? [[spoiler: They abandoned their technology entirely to become hunter-gatherers... and then ''[[InferredHolocaust died]]!'']]

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' ends with the entire fleet [[spoiler:spontaneously deciding that Ludd Was Right and it's time to throw away all their advanced technology, hand the Cylon basestar over to the Centurions, launch the rest of their fleet into the sun, and embark on a [[InferredHolocaust primitive existence on a totally unfamiliar world]]. This was unfortunately a result of the need for the fleet to become us as shown in the coda to the finale, and flew right in the face of the lessons learned by the characters over the series. Lee actually said they needed to grow before they could attempt to live as they had done, ignoring that they had ''done just that'' over the series, even coming together with the artificially created Cylons (some of them), and the point had never been "technology is bad", merely the societal problems ''they had just overcome!'']] The sad part is that it could easily have been tweaked so that [[spoiler:the colonials founded Atlantis, then destroyed themselves and their advanced technology a few generations down the line]]. Same Aesop, fits the real-world timeline, and it ''makes sense''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'': In one episode, Lemon Meringue gets a [[ThingOMatic Salon-o-matic]] that styles hair and gives perfect manicures and pedicures. Unfortunately, this puts her out of a job, and while she tries to find a new calling in Berry Bitty City, she soon feels the need to leave. Though her friends try to convince her to stay, it isn't until Strawberry Shortcake points out that the Salon-o-matic doesn't have the human touch that she decides to stay (and send back the offending machine). Amusingly, as Strawberry adds that she sent back the Wonder Waffler that she ordered from the same magazine Lemon got her Salon-o-matic for being too perfect, Blueberry Muffin worries that this means she'll have to send back her [[RobotMaid Clean-o-matic]], also from the same magazine.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': In one episode, Brainy enchants a needle to sew clothing faster than Tailor Smurf. But the clothing is cheap and even Baby Smurf can detect the lack of tender loving care sewn into his diapers. To finally drop the Anvil, attempts to disable the magic needle turn it evil, and it attacks the villagers.

-->'''Spooner:''' Can a robot write a symphony or paint a masterpiece?"\\

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Quarantine", 80% of Earth's population were killed in the [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]] of 2043 and the survivors made the decision to rid themselves of all forms of advanced machinery out of fear that it would happen again. However, they still use genetic engineering in order to achieve BioAugmentation.

Very often, this trope is reliant on the AppealToTradition and AppealToNature fallacies. See also ArtisticLicenseEconomics, GreenAesop. May be the ({{s|caleOfScientificSins}}inful) Discipline in HarmonyVersusDiscipline. May be enforced by StatusQuoIsGod (and in extreme cases, a ResetButton). Compare IndustrializedEvil, where evil itself uses the scientific method and/or efficient methods of "production" (not necessarily machines, but that's popular too) and {{Technophobia}}, a mild version of this trope, mostly a SubTrope. Contrast EvilLuddite, for when being against technology is portrayed in a negative light.

* ''Series/ManhuntUnabomber'': This is Ted Kaczynski's view in a nutshell, as noted in more detail under RealLife below.

[[AC: RealLife]]
* The Amish tend to avoid certain forms of modern technology in the belief that doing so will damage their way of life, particularly if it connects them to "the world".

[[AC:RealLife]]
* In real life, new technology frequently makes old jobs obsolete -- in the 1800s, 70% of the population was involved in agriculture. In the 21st century, only 1% of the population was involved in agriculture. However, what actually ends up happening is new jobs appear in ''greater numbers'' than the ones replaced, because the overall rise in productivity means that people can produce even more stuff, and more importantly, ''afford'' more stuff. The net result is that even though each person produces more stuff, they have more ability to buy more stuff as well, meaning that more people are needed to make more things for each person.
** Nonetheless, there are numerous challenges to that notion. One such argument is detailed in ''The Lights in the Tunnel'', a free ebook by Martin Ford, available at http://www.thelightsinthetunnel.com/.
** C.G.P.Grey posted a Website/YouTube video, "''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU Humans Need Not Apply]]''", which theorizes that much of the human workforce will be made unemployable by robots, in the same way the horse was made unemployable by the motor vehicle.
** Two articles from The Economist, "[[http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21621156-first-two-industrial-revolutions-inflicted-plenty-pain-ultimately-benefited The third great wave]]", and "[[http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21621800-digital-revolution-bringing-sweeping-change-labour-markets-both-rich-and-poor Wealth without workers, workers without wealth]]", have observed that the digital boom could be far more disruptive to labor markets than the two Industrial Revolutions were.
** [[http://www.computerworld.com/article/2485706/emerging-technology/as-the-digital-revolution-kills-jobs--social-unrest-will-rise.html This report published by the Gartner Group]].
** The technologist Jaron Lanier has written that [[http://www.salon.com/2013/05/12/jaron_lanier_the_internet_destroyed_the_middle_class/ the Internet has destroyed the American middle class]].
** [[http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/dont-fear-the-robots-taking-your-job-blame-the-monopolies-behind-them One article]] has a variation of the argument: that it's not robots stealing jobs, but the [[MegaCorp corporate monopolies that majority-own the robots]].
* Subverted with the advent of drum machines. When the Linn LM-1 first came out in the early 1980s, it was initially feared that it would put every session drummer in Los Angeles out of work, with a number of them purchasing it to offer 'drum programming services'. Such fears proved unfounded, as drum machines became a complement to session drummers, instead of a competitor. Additionally, the LM-1 quickly became outdated as competitors entered the market, and electronic drum kits that could be played like acoustic kits were developed.
** Another musical example being [[http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/02/musicians-wage-war-against-evil-robots/ this]] ill-fated ad campaign in the 1930s by the American Federation of Musicians protesting the use of recorded music in theatres, having you believe this trope is true. Played straight in that recorded music has taken over in this setting and that many musicians struggle to make a living, whilst cynics claim the industry reaps all the rewards; subverted in that recording has not taken away the enjoyment of live music altogether, and the fact that many modern commentators basically see it as the dying throes of a doomed industry, with parallels to more modern developments.
** More recently, Music/EltonJohn remarked, "I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span." Surprisingly for a musician, he wasn't necessarily referring to [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil online piracy]], but more that he felt that the Internet was making people emotionally detached and over-reliant on technology, and that it allowed {{Dreadful Musician}}s to [[SturgeonsLaw flood the market with poorly produced material]].
* Long-time UAW president Walter Reuther anecdotally had [[http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/16/robots-buy-cars/ the following conversation]] with a Ford company manager in the 1950s:
-->Ford manager: Walter, how are you going to get those robots to pay your union dues?\\
Walter Reuther: How are you going to get them to buy your cars?
* This is the central argument behind Marx's (and in the 21st century, Piketty's) argument in ''The Capital''. Technology can be bought with money, which enhances both the returns to capital and the bargaining power of the capital relative to the labor. More money, therefore, begets more money as the diminishing returns to capital are delayed in presence of superior production technology. The resulting inequality in wealth subverts the basis of free markets and capitalism as well as the political bases of democratic rule. However, in the long run Marx was in ''favor'' of technology being used to replace menial labor, if the people otherwise displaced were taken care of (which he thought would happen by establishing communism). They would then be freed up to do what they wanted and have more leisure time, although the details were left vague.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* The "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski believed this, as noted above. In his {{manifesto|MakingMalcontent}}, ''Industrial Society and Its Future'', Kacynski argued that humans had evolved for a way of life that industrial civilization and modern technology had destroyed, which he blamed for all of modern humanity's cultural and psychological problems, and argued that, if humanity did not revert to a primitive way of life, it faced a future in which [[AIIsACrapshoot malevolent AI]] and {{genetic engineering|IsTheNewNuke}} would lead to the complete enslavement of the entire human race. He also had a [[TheSocialDarwinist social Darwinist]] streak, arguing that the guardrails of modernity were having a dysgenic effect on humanity by favoring maladaptive traits and removing the pressure of natural selection that, in the past, had weeded out genetic ailments. This was the motive for his [[MadBomber bombing attacks]], targeting people making, working with, or selling the latest technology. Despite popular belief, his motives were not rooted in protecting the environment, which he only mentioned in passing as one of many positive side effects of freedom from "technological slavery". If anything, he hated the environmental movement (and left-wing politics in general) as merely a symptom of the pathologies of industrial modernity. The view of him as an EcoTerrorist came largely from a private investigator hired by the Washington Contract Loggers Association who connected him to Earth First! on fairly spurious grounds.

* ''Franchise/FateSeries'': {{Inverted}} in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/FateZero''. This is how almost every magus views the situation, preferring to rely on magecraft and completely ignoring the technological side of things. 'As science moves towards the future, magic moves towards the past' is seen as the perfect summation, and that regressing and falling behind is perfectly okay. In LightNovel/FateZero, Kiritsugu exploits the hell out of this ''because'' magi are so rooted in tradition.\\

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** The farmer/researchers in "This Side of Paradise" -- although their contentment with being isolated and living with minimal technology seems to stem as much from the spores as from anything else.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The episode ''"The Ultimate Computer"'': A new computer has been developed that can control an entire star-ship by itself, making crews and captains obsolete. For the entire episode, Kirk, Bones and at one point (briefly) even Spock make speeches about how terrible it is that people will be replaced by machines, how the computer will take something of what it is to be a "man" away from humanity, how computers just ''can't'' do the job with the same "heart" as people, etc. Bones evokes the trope explicitly at one point, noting how hard it is to lose one's job to automation. Of course, just to drive the point home, it turns out that AIIsACrapshoot, and the computer's designer was insane, to boot. [[BrokenAesop Which of course]] ''proves'' that Ludd Was Right... even though it's made clear that if the designer was more psychologically stable, the computer might have worked just fine.
%%** Kirk's attorney, [[MeaningfulName Samuel T. Cogley]], in [[Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial "Court Martial"]].

** [[AuthorTract Any episode by Ben Steed]] has characters who either distrust technology or run afoul of it. In "The Harvest of Kairos", Jarvik waxes lyrical over the GoodOldWays in preference to the soulless machines that Servalan has surrounded herself with, and even smashes a computer at the end of his speech.
** In "Powerplay", a society has split into two factions, the Primitives who wanted to live the simple life, and the High-Techs. It's no guess who turn out to be the villains. [[spoiler:The High-Techs are capturing the Primitives for OrganTheft.]]
** ZigzaggedTrope generally. In the pilot episode the Terran Federation is shown to use all the sinister tools of an Orwellian dystopia to enforce their rule -- GovernmentDrugEnforcement, SinisterSurveillance, {{Brainwash|ed}}ing and FakeMemories. However a [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha couple of episodes later]] our heroes end up on a prison planet where a cult leader holds sway without any technology whatsoever, showing that oppression comes from people, not machines. Indeed the Seven always includes one or two artificially-intelligent computers.

** Played straight in several episodes where the crew encounters either a supposedly primitive, happy society that is either secretly rather advanced (such as the Organians), or long ago had once been advanced, but [[SpaceAmish gave up a high tech lifestyle for a simple one]], or a post-industrial revolution society that is really a paper {{Utopia}} hiding a [[{{Dystopia}} dark secret]].

* UsefulNotes/RPGMaker: Appears as a possible outcome in a certain game. While all aspects of society become automatized, this makes the majority of the population "superfluous" and without employment (everyone except the owners of the machines, presumably, and even those are hinted to have been "terminated" by their automatons at some point). The masses of former workers and employees are forced to re-create a new parallel society on a much more primitive technological level, contending for resources with the machines. Depending on the actions of the player, the machines could either be convinced to provide their production to humanity for free (which is the "good" ending), or else, they can be convinced that their existence is no longer "required", as their entire point was to perfect the efficient production for consumption and in their own perfection they have defeated their own purpose as nobody benefits from their production. This will convince the machines to shut down (the "bad ending"), allowing humanity (as is implied in the ending) to rebuild on the remnants of the terminated machine civilization and eventually re-create a primitive society.%%Which game?

* ''Franchise/FateSeries'': Inverted in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/FateZero''. This is how almost every magus views the situation, preferring to rely on magecraft and completely ignoring the technological side of things. 'As science moves towards the future, magic moves towards the past' is seen as the perfect summation, and that regressing and falling behind is perfectly okay. In LightNovel/FateZero, Kiritsugu exploits the hell out of this ''because'' magi are so rooted in tradition.\\

* In ''Literature/ManAfterMan'', the "memory people" have perfect recall of their human ancestors' technology, but refuse to use it because they also remember how human civilization collapsed and nearly took the planet down with it. Ironically, their Luddite attitude means they don't even consider recreating humanity's ''sustainable'' technologies, even though their own descendants would share the very same memories to warn them away from untenable courses of development.

* ''Anime/{{Metropolis}}'': The underground rebellion is motivated by human workers being [[JobStealingRobot displaced by robots]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'': The good wizard Avatar uses magic, while the evil wizard Blackwolf uses technology. Averted at the end when [[spoiler: [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Avatar pulls out a gun and shoots Blackwolf]] ]].

Movements like this generally gained less traction in the United States as the Industrial Revolution coincided with one of the periods of westward expansion, giving the laid off workers somewhere to go, but that leads into a whole different discussion about ManifestDestiny.