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A review by pineconek
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.25
Well, turns out I'm a luddite.
In recent years, I've gone from an embracer of modern tech to someone that's closer to just terrified. I'm sometimes using, but also sometimes half-heartedly resisting, tools like AI and smart-home personal assistants ("although not now, Siri" is my most common Siri command, said when I accidentally turn that function on).
Blood in the Machine walks us through the history of the luddite movement, or the workers' movement to resist unwanted automation. The base argument is simple enough: workers need jobs with living wages, and those are threatened by unregulated ahtomation. The book does an excellent job laying out the nuances and intricacies of that position, and grounds the reader both in Victorian society and in how it resonates with our current economy. After all, history rhymes.
The book is somewhat of a chonker and can be repetitive or dry at times, but that's also a testament to how well it's researched.
As a side note: I never realized how involved Mary and Percy Shelley, along with Lord Byron, were in these types of social issues. I also think reading this book prior to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell would have been fun (was the fictional Byron there written with luddite undertones that I wasn't attuned to?), but oh well.
Revommended if you're interested in labor rights, Victorian society and how it influenced our modern one (the Victorian to modern day split is about 90/10), and don't mind a meandering walkthrough of the subject. 3.25 stars rounded down.
In recent years, I've gone from an embracer of modern tech to someone that's closer to just terrified. I'm sometimes using, but also sometimes half-heartedly resisting, tools like AI and smart-home personal assistants ("although not now, Siri" is my most common Siri command, said when I accidentally turn that function on).
Blood in the Machine walks us through the history of the luddite movement, or the workers' movement to resist unwanted automation. The base argument is simple enough: workers need jobs with living wages, and those are threatened by unregulated ahtomation. The book does an excellent job laying out the nuances and intricacies of that position, and grounds the reader both in Victorian society and in how it resonates with our current economy. After all, history rhymes.
The book is somewhat of a chonker and can be repetitive or dry at times, but that's also a testament to how well it's researched.
As a side note: I never realized how involved Mary and Percy Shelley, along with Lord Byron, were in these types of social issues. I also think reading this book prior to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell would have been fun (was the fictional Byron there written with luddite undertones that I wasn't attuned to?), but oh well.
Revommended if you're interested in labor rights, Victorian society and how it influenced our modern one (the Victorian to modern day split is about 90/10), and don't mind a meandering walkthrough of the subject. 3.25 stars rounded down.