Ludd Was Right: Difference between revisions

 

This trope manifests itself as follows:

# If a community that traditionally has [[Item Crafting|made everything painstakingly by hand]] switches to [[Killer Robot|robots]], [[Magitek|magic]], [[New Technology Is Evil|machines]], etc. to make goods, expect trouble. In all likelihood, either the goods produced [[Our Product Sucks|will turn out to be unusable]], or the robots, machines, etc. [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot|will become dangerous]], and the characters will be forced to return to the old ways with [[An Aesop]] about the value of tender loving care. Ironically, an actual economic problem will result from the hordes of people who have no jobs and will no longer have the power to purchase the goods produced. It is called a consumption crash. It is also never brought up in these scenarios.

# If a society used to having everything done with magic, technology, etc. is [[Decade Dissonance|compared]] to [[Noble Savage|another]] [[Arcadia|society]] which [[Medieval Stasis|does everything]] [[Good Old Ways|the old-fashioned way]], the [[Society Is to Blame|more advanced society]] will be portrayed as a [[Dystopia]] of [[Aesoptinum|some kind]].

=== [[Literature]] ===

* Characters in S.M. Stirling's ''[[Emberverse]]'' series of books seem perfectly happy being thrown back into pre-industrial state. A mysterious force disables all electricity, gunpowder, and steam power. This reults in most of humanity dying from starvation and the survivors reverting to agrarian communities. Although a few can be heard pining for modern conveniences (most commonly deoderant and birth control), more often than not you'll hear them say how much happier they are and that this was the way humans were meant to live. Of course, it must be pointed out that those who survived tended to be Renn Faire patrons, ranchers, history professors, survivalists, and the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]].

 

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* Hilarious lampooned in ''[[Helluva Boss]]'', where it's clear that the reason [[The Men in Black| the D.H.O.R.K.S.]] aren't doing so well against [[Villain Protagonist| the I.M.P.s]] is due to their reliance on archaic weapons:

{{quote|'''Agent One:''' Good god why are we only using weapons from Japan's Edo Period!

:* Although, to be completely fair, the D.H.O.R.K.S. did a pretty decent job and would clearly have won the fight had Stolas not appeared to give the I.M.P.s backup.

 

*** That does show up. A poor old woman who runs a one-woman laundry service to make ends meet asks the inventor, "And what 'appens to me and my little bit o' washing' when there's no washing' to be done?"

* In the 1977 Ralph Bakshi movie ''[[Wizards]]'' the good wizard Avatar uses magic, while the evil wizard Blackwolf uses technology. Somewhat averted at the end when {{spoiler|Avatar pulls out a gun and shoots Blackwolf}}

 

=== [[Literature]] ===

** To be fair, while Tolkein made no secret of his opinion, Saruman wasn't trying to industrialize the Shire. He was trying to destroy it. Lotho began the industrialization process before Saruman showed up on the scene, and while its effects weren't beneficial, they weren't terrible either; it was when Saruman arrived and took over that he switched from "build more and better machines" to "knock down buildings, cut down trees, pour filth on everything just for the hell of it." As one of the hobbits who lived through it remarked, Lotho's machines didn't really improve matters, but "since Sharkey arrived it's been plain ruination."

*** [[Word of God]] though is that the perils of industrialisation and the destruction of beauty is the one theme Mr Tolkien will admit to.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* In the ''[[Codex Alera]]'', the Alerans have become so dependent on magic that they have abandoned most technology as inferior. Alera is on the brink of destruction when Bernard (at his nephew's request) rebuilds an ancient device that, combined with Aleran magic, becomes the most potent weapon in existence. The device? A catapult.

{{quote|"Think of what they could do for the city!" said Mr. Cowslick of the Artificer's Guild.

"Well, yes. To begin with, they would put one hundred and twenty thousand men out of work," said Hubert, "but that would be only the start. They do not require food, clothing, or shelter.... The demand for many things would drop and further unemployment would result...." }}

** Although, unlike most examples on this page, he actually has a point: Introducing this much free labor into the labor pool actually ''would'' crash the economy. It'd be like the Industrialization in Europe during the late 19th century, only in fast forward. Pratchett, being a Brit himself, was probably quite aware of this.

 

== Technically advanced society as [[Dystopia]] ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-Intellectualism]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]