re: #217 Sherlock Hound

I know about the real Ned Ludd. He was a victim of abusive labor practices rather than of technology. After 200+ years of common use, the term has little if anything to do with him and his actual complaints. It is a common, and very useful, designator for an eternally present class of resisters. Sometimes this is not a bad thing. It is easy to think of examples where someone should have said “Hey, let’s think this through a little more.” It is also a reflex of the conservative and fearful, one that is easily exploited by vested interest (Big Oil and alternate energy, for example).