LONDON -- Ned Ludd was the leader of a mob, circa 1815, who went around smashing up new textile machinery in factories. Ludd calculated, correctly, that traditional jobs would be lost and familiar ways of life destroyed for thousands, even millions of British workers if the machines prevailed.
And of course, within the narrow limits of his world, he was right. The argument that new technology would open up new jobs and better living standards on an unimaginable scale cut no ice with the Luddites. Others might benefit, but their particular lives and livelihoods were being destroyed.
For the governments of the time, the Luddite tendency caused enormous political problems -- not just in Britain, although the first wave began there. All around the industrializing world, riots ensued and political stability was undermined. Powerful interests who felt threatened organized disruption and political opposition. In some countries, revolutions followed and rulers were overthrown. In other cases, including Britain, ruthless measures crushed opposition and protest in the name of inevitable progress.