{"id":469,"date":"2023-12-19T17:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/?p=469"},"modified":"2026-09-12T09:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T09:55:27","slug":"blood-in-the-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/?p=469","title":{"rendered":"Blood in the machine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcda Just finished reading &#8220;BLOOD IN THE MACHINE&#8221; by Brian Merchant, a compelling journey into the past that serves as a poignant reflection of our present. Merchant&#8217;s vivid portrayal of the 19th-century LUDDITE movement profoundly resonates with the CHALLENGES WE CONFRONT IN THE ERA OF TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION.<br><br>\ud83e\udd16 Merchant (technology columnist at the &#8220;Los Angeles Times&#8221;) masterfully connects the plight of LUDDITE weavers to the gig economy of today, painting them not as destructive revolutionaries but as PROTO-UNIONIST REFORMERS. The STRIKING PARALLELS between the Luddites&#8217; resistance against machine-driven industrialization and OUR CONTEMPORARY STRUGGLES FOR FAIR TREATMENT in the tech-driven workplace are truly eye-opening.\ud83d\udc4d\ud83c\udffb<br><br>\ud83c\udfed He draws intriguing COMPARISONS BETWEEN HISTORICAL EVENTS and current terminology, labeling factory owners as &#8220;tech titans&#8221; disrupting industries and likening Luddites to current movements like Occupy Wall Street. The evocative term &#8220;PSYCHIC FACTORY&#8221; for platforms like Amazon or Uber is both thought-provoking and apt.\ud83e\udd14<br><br>\u2696\ufe0f In our pursuit of equitable treatment within the gig economy, Merchant encourages us to REFRAME OUR PERCEPTION of the Luddites as individuals driven by a JUST CAUSE in the face of technological encroachment. As gig workers today strive for regulation and FAIR TREATMENT, Merchant&#8217;s question resonates: \u275dCan we draw inspiration from the Luddites&#8217; unwavering determination and demand change with the same fervor?\u275e<br><br>\u2699\ufe0f &#8220;BLOOD IN THE MACHINE&#8221; invites us to re-evaluate our stance on technology, labor, and progress.<br><br>Are we on the precipice of a new Luddite-inspired movement, demanding DIGNITY AND JUSTICE in the face of technology&#8217;s relentless march forward\u2049\ufe0f<br><br>\ud83c\udf8b Let&#8217;s engage in MEANINGFUL DISCOURSE and collectively shape the future we desire&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udcda Just finished reading &#8220;BLOOD IN THE MACHINE&#8221; by Brian Merchant, a compelling journey into the past that serves as a poignant reflection of our present. Merchant&#8217;s vivid portrayal of the 19th-century LUDDITE movement profoundly resonates with the CHALLENGES WE CONFRONT IN THE ERA OF TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION. \ud83e\udd16 Merchant (technology columnist at the &#8220;Los Angeles Times&#8221;) masterfully connects the plight of LUDDITE weavers to the gig economy of today, painting them not as destructive revolutionaries but as PROTO-UNIONIST REFORMERS. The STRIKING PARALLELS between the Luddites&#8217; resistance against machine-driven industrialization and OUR CONTEMPORARY STRUGGLES FOR FAIR TREATMENT in the tech-driven workplace are truly eye-opening.\ud83d\udc4d\ud83c\udffb \ud83c\udfed He draws intriguing COMPARISONS BETWEEN HISTORICAL EVENTS and current terminology, labeling factory owners as &#8220;tech titans&#8221; disrupting industries and likening Luddites to current movements like Occupy Wall Street. The evocative term &#8220;PSYCHIC FACTORY&#8221; for platforms like Amazon or Uber is both thought-provoking and apt.\ud83e\udd14 \u2696\ufe0f In our pursuit of equitable treatment within the gig economy, Merchant encourages us to REFRAME OUR PERCEPTION of the Luddites as individuals driven by a JUST CAUSE in the face of technological encroachment. As gig workers today strive for regulation and FAIR TREATMENT, Merchant&#8217;s question resonates: \u275dCan we draw inspiration from the Luddites&#8217; unwavering determination and demand change with the same fervor?\u275e \u2699\ufe0f &#8220;BLOOD IN THE MACHINE&#8221; invites us to re-evaluate our stance on technology, labor, and progress. Are we on the precipice of a new Luddite-inspired movement, demanding DIGNITY AND JUSTICE in the face of technology&#8217;s relentless march forward\u2049\ufe0f \ud83c\udf8b Let&#8217;s engage in MEANINGFUL DISCOURSE and collectively shape the future we desire&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaguilarc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}