I think we should be careful attributing too much idealism to it. The Luddites were not a unified movement and people had much more urgent concerns than thinking about technological progress from a sociocentric perspective. Considering the time period with the Napoleonic Wars as backdrop I don't think anyone can blame them for simply being angry and wanting to smash the machines that made them lose their job.

I think the concern in this case is that, unlike before where machines were built for other people to use, we’re now building machines that may be able to use themselves.

Glad to see the Luddites getting a shout out here.

This is a new / recent book about the Luddite movement and it’s similarities to the direction we are headed due to LLMs:

https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-t...

Enjoyed the book and learned a lot from it!

There’s a difference between something and everything though

Somehow modern Luddite messaging doesn't communicate that clearly either. Instead of "where's my fair share of AI benefits?" we hear "AI is evil, pls don't replace us".

Would we be better off today if the Luddites had prevailed?

No?

Well, what's different this time?

Oh, wait, maybe they did prevail after all. I own my means of production, even though I'm by no means a powerful, filthy-rich capitalist or industrialist. So thanks, Ned -- I guess it all worked out for the best!