A Rant from a Modern Day "Luddite" - by Sharon Flood Kasenberg

Luddite Rant

No cell phone do I carry round -
no Bluetooth in my ear
obliges me to take your call -
no ringing do I hear!
I don't like the computer much,
I google now and then;
but don't trust Wikipedia
to tell me what or when.
I didn't own a microwave
'til I was thirty-eight -
my television's not flat screen
but it still works just great!
I like my pencils and my ink,
and write notes in a book.
I sometimes wield a wooden spoon
when it is time to cook.
I have been known to fill the sink
and wash my plates by hand.
Obsessions with technology
I cannot understand.
I check my email twice a day -
who needs to check it more?
And when I type upon a screen
it seems a nasty chore.
The new remote for our TV
completely drives me mad,
and to be honest, ipads still
seem like a passing fad.
I think "tweeting" is for the birds,
I've never sent a text -
I spend days in astonishment -
what will they think of next?!

by Sharon Flood Kasenberg, February 2011

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love that Facebook allows me to connect with friends and family far away, and that it has given me a forum for sharing my poetry. I never shop online, but I do like to be able to "pre-shop" here. Looking over stock and sales online saves me both time and money when I shop in "real time". I love being able to "chat" online with my brother and sister out west while I read my news feed, and miss my son less because I know he and his father frequently text. When Todd sends Dan a photo of my latest batch of cinnamon rolls, or of another completed home improvement project, I feel secure in the knowledge that he remains connected to our current lives no matter how far away he is.

On the other hand, I hate how technology has so much of society enchained. Most shudder at the thought of going unplugged for a few days - what would they do without their telephone, laptop or tablet? How would they possibly survive? I have to say that I just don't get their near hysterical reactions to the mere thought of taking a sabbatical from technology.

Daily I see and hear people panicking because they misplaced or broke their cell phone and will have to survive without it for a day or two. I see couples technologically uncoupling as they sit in restaurants together, but apart - each staring at their telephones. I see teens choosing texts over conversation. I find it all a little disconcerting.

I don't like telephones much. I didn't even like them back in the day when they were all neatly affixed to the wall. The darn things were always ringing when I was in the bathroom - or just getting to the most exciting part of the book! If you talked too long your ear got sore, and inevitably as the call stretched on and on you wanted to pee so badly that pain ensued. I had a cell phone for a year or so in 2012 when I spent a lot of time going back and forth between our home in Kitchener and our son's apartment in Toronto. At first I tried to remember to carry it with me when I was out and about, but I always felt stupid talking on the phone in public. I quickly got into the habit of arranging calls ahead of time (with the half dozen people I'd given my number to) so that I could turn it off or leave it at home.

Some people wonder how I get by without a phone, but I love peace and quiet, and I enjoy taking long walks without ever having to worry about being pestered by someone on the phone. If I traveled a lot I'd get one, but for now I simply don't see the need. Some have asked what I'd do in an emergency without a cell phone, but when I'm alone I tend to stay pretty close to civilization, and I really do have enough faith in humanity to believe that if I found myself in dire straits I'd be able to get someone nearby to make a call for me.

The computer I use at home is hardwired into the wall - and I still waste too much time on it! I wouldn't want to have the internet with me everywhere I go. I'm happier paying attention to the people I'm with, the scenery, the weather, and the obstacles in my path. I think that people who spend their days staring at little screens miss way too much of that great big picture called life. Maybe I'm a bit of a Luddite at heart...

Luddites emerged about two hundred years ago when the Industrial Revolution was getting into full swing. Cotton and woolen mills in England began to use powered looms and machinery that made knitters and weavers nervous. The Napoleonic War had already left the working class tightening their belts, and many of theses mill workers feared they'd lose their jobs to machines. In 1811, British troops were called in to break up a protest of some mill workers who wanted better wages. The very next night a mill was broken into and the machinery was destroyed.

Mill after mill was broken into over the next several years - a few were set on fire, but for the most part these "Luddites" settled for smashing the machines that kept them overworked and underpaid. The attacks were supposedly masterminded by one Ned Ludd, who was rumoured to have been the instigator of one of the first mill attacks in the Nottingham area in 1811. "Ned" developed quite a reputation among mill workers, who adopted him as the leader of their movement. Some of his followers even protested in the streets dressed as women, calling themselves "General Ludd's wives"! However, "General" Ned Ludd didn't actually exist, and the real Ludd (or perhaps Ludham) was a young knitting apprentice who took a hammer to his knitting machine after being criticized by a mill boss for "knitting too loosely". As the initial protests took place in the Nottingham area, this fictionalized Ned Ludd was given a Robin Hood type persona - a man who gave to the poor by defending their right to jobs and fair wages.

Thus you can see that the Luddites didn't really hate technology - they just felt threatened by it. They saw their fight against industrialization as a quality of life issue, and worried that the value of human craftsmanship would dwindle as mechanization became ever more popular. If they had to work in mills to make money, they wanted to make enough of it to keep their families fed, housed and clothed.

I don't hate technology either. I've already mentioned the ways that computers have enriched my life, and as much as I don't like yakking on the phone, I'm glad they exist. I just think that we've somehow undervalued real human connections in favour of high tech gadgets and online personas. I'm not looking to smash up anyone's personal devices, but I do advocate turning them off and/or leaving them behind from time to time. It just seems that we've become so technology dependent that we're losing touch with our social skills. We're forgetting about the importance of manners. We're forgetting to be alert and aware of our surroundings. People text as they walk and as they drive, injuring themselves and others because they can't put down their phones for a few minutes.

Most of us crave electronic stimuli like alcoholics crave their next drink. Studies have shown that electronics stimulate the same parts of the brain, especially in young children, that crack does. Parents use electronic devices as cheap babysitters. Children don't play outside much anymore because they are all electronically addicted by the time they're old enough to play outside alone.  People socialize face to face a lot less often than they used to, and having people stop by just to say hello is almost unheard of today. I'm convinced that one of the primary reasons for this is that so many of us feel that we get our "social fix" online. (Even though social media offers superficial interactions at best.) I wish social calls were the norm again - our lives are missing something that made my parents' generation more socially stable and secure - an open door mentality that taught them how to be hospitable hosts and considerate guests.

Email created an environment where everyone is addicted to immediacy, and texting has only compounded the problem. In my cellphone days, one friend was totally confounded by the fact that I never answered her texts - and she was a little shocked when I explained that I just never bothered getting texting on my plan.

 When personal computers arrived on the scene they were hailed as the answer to our overstressed lives, pitched as time savers that would usher in shorter work weeks, and more time for friends, families, travel and hobbies. In reality the exact opposite has happened.

I think it's time for us to rail against the electronic machines that have diminished our quality of life! It's time to establish unplugged, no call zones in our lives - time to disconnect so that we can reconnect - with each other, and with the whole wide wonderful world that surrounds us.

Some of my happiest memories are of time in my youth spent at the family cabin on Lake Superior - days of playing in the water, exploring the shoreline and the back roads, and building forts in the woods behind us. There are no telephones in those memories, no televisions or screens of any kind. Heck, there aren't even any electric light switches, ovens, refrigerators or indoor toilets in those memories! (See my post called "Superior" if you'd like to hear more about my summers "at camp"). We spent evenings playing board games by lamplight.

The world needs more board games and less social media. It needs more laughter and human interaction. It needs more walking in the woods and less wandering into oncoming traffic while texting!

Technology has its place, but I think we'd be better off if we all became a little more "Luddite" - more aware of the societal ills that our increasing dependence on technology exacerbates. I'm ready to fight for a better quality of life by stepping away from technology more often, and more than willing to increase face time with friends and family.

That is, if any of them are willing to put down their own devices long enough to engage with me.