Post #2458749

2026-05-11 12:30 UTC

@Landa@graz.social @futurebird@sauropods.win @cabel@social.panic.com I think the industrial revolution comparison is fair. The industrial revolution impoverished millions over generations, globally destroyed a class of artisan specialists, and most (India & China notably) have barely caught up to their relative standard of living before it. IMO, the IR gets an undeservedly good reputation because of the labour movement's victories in spreading the benefits of industry to the general population in the 20th century west.

Replies (3)

@Landa@graz.social 2026-05-11 13:29

@eswag@dju.social Yes, large parts of the benefits usually attributed to the industrial revolution should be credited to the labour movement instead. Alas, that's not how the topic is taught or even written about most of the time. @futurebird@sauropods.win @cabel@social.panic.com

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@sabrina@fedi01.unicornsparkle.club 2026-05-11 14:32

@eswag@dju.social @Landa@graz.social @futurebird@sauropods.win @cabel@social.panic.com I agree that it’s a good comparison in that we should be highly skeptical. The Industrial Revolution has wrought numerous harms on human beings, possibly including our eventual extinction. If this really is a revolution on the same scale (which I doubt), maybe this time we should give some thought to the harms and risks before reshaping everything around it.

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@hllizi@hespere.de 2026-05-11 15:17

@eswag@dju.social @Landa@graz.social @futurebird@sauropods.win @cabel@social.panic.com that's a great point. But at least the steam engine and the machines it enabled did what they were supposed to do well and reliably instead of randomly exploding or running backwards or whatever. One can hardly count AI among "means of production" with a straight face.

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