31 Comments
User's avatar
terangimarie speight's avatar

Can you please design a T-shirt with 'summoning Ned Ludd' on it?

Ron Hogan's avatar

You’d sell at least two!

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Let's put that patai out to the Hivemind!

Mountain Tūī's avatar

So beautiful, so magical. Thanks Rosie

Alan's avatar

"I banish thee, demon, in the name of Ludd!..."

Ok Rosie, just let me finish reading your post.

Aidan's avatar

This one I found particularly fine. Thank you.

Ron Hogan's avatar

I love it when you do the deep dive! And this is a subject that rewards the research, over and over.

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Thanks Ron. I learnt a lot writing it. Always more to learn... my friend Sam said 'This should be a book!'

Ron Hogan's avatar

Sam is right. 😀

Margaret Bennett's avatar

So much to think about thanks Rosie.

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Alison Ross, a weaver friend, says re. twisting in: "The weavers knot done fast looks like a twisting movement? Can't see warp under tension holding with less than a knot."

So maybe twisting in is a weft thing, not a warp thing. [Edit: I checked with Kev, he said twisting in is definitely a warp technique]

Leon S's avatar

My Mum is a spinner, we had sheep and she'd make us all these horrible jumpers (cardigans) when we were 6 years olds and now I realise how much of an influence they were.

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Itchy jumpers of the past... Modern wool seems way less itchy?!

Dr Sea's avatar

Loved this #longread, Rosie! Who did the Wizard of Wellington graffiti? Did they know you? And I hope that if you’d ever come into some serious cash, we’d get to host you and Kev on the farm for a few days / weeks!! 😘

Cause we miss you, and could do with both your wisdom, farm-related counsel, and Luddite folk songs around the fire under the stars xxxxx

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Thanks! I have no idea who did that graf, I think it's a case of purely convergent evolution. I'd love to come visit some time. (I saw your neighbour Kim Hill at an art show the other day, she bought a piece by my friend's friend Victoria.) Miss you too!

Dr Sea's avatar

Kim is usually here over the Christmas period if you want to visit us both! 😘😘😘

Prairie Librarian's avatar

What a beautiful, wide-ranging, and deeply good essay.

CansaFis Foote's avatar

…dense and interesting…thanks…

Leon S's avatar

Shit this was good. I started thinking do I want to read another essay about the Luddites (been many lately!) but it's written by Rosie and you took it to so many different places, the songs especially. So good Rosie, you put a heck of a lot of work into this one and it shows. Thank you for this. I've been thinking so much about these things lately, and getting more and more angry at my old tech which I love because if you don't upgrade things you don't get these new shittier features that the tech overloads hope will addict us more, but I hate because it suddenly gets harder and harder to do simple things like ummm pay a bill, or ummm, access my money WTF.

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Thanks Leon! It's funny how things coalesce. Morphic resonance I guess, or what I call twinning: so often when I'm writing something I see other people are writing about the same thing, sometimes uncanny similarities. Luddism is perennially relevant but particularly resonant right now, I'd say. Yeah on principle I still try to extend the life of my old tech, throw another shovelful of coal on the old computer ya know

Leon S's avatar

It's a good thing though, all this talk of Ludd, very pertinent, and important that us people start to learn the real truth and maybe feel empowered. Can we win where the Luddites didn't succeed? I hope so. Have you seen much (and no blame if you haven't, first world media is pretty choosy in what it shows) of the people rising up in a few places in Asia? Even here in the Philippines the other day. I keep thinking about the enormous efforts that the elites make to convince us that they're "necessary".

Rosie Whinray's avatar

I haven't, I'm fairly news-averse these days. As Byron's mate Shelley said "Ye are many— they are few!"

sally's avatar

Thankyou for this essay, it has been my trusty companion over several days, dipping in during snatched moments. Recently went to see a Three Acres and a Cow show , if anyone is in England would recommend seeing it if you can. So I'd been trying again to memorize the verses for the World Turned Upside Down, a lifelong pursuit, for campfire indoctrination purposes. Anyway thanks !

The resources bit of their website has a lot of good songs :

https://threeacresandacow.co.uk/

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Ah yes, thanks for the link! I have heard about Three Acres & a Cow, likely through Jennifer who I mentioned in the essay. I once made a friend by a campfire at 3 a.m. when it turned out we knew all the same songs, including The World Turned Upside Down (I wrote about that here: https://rosiewhinray.substack.com/p/on-being-galvanised-not-paralysed)

sally's avatar

Ooh ! look forward to delving into that one - thanks :)

Maddy Maine's avatar

This is exactly what everyone needs to read right now

Maddy Maine's avatar

Also, the bibliography of this essay is going to keep me so well fed for sometime.

Maddy Maine's avatar

Its funny that Orwell specifically talks about pregnancy and coal mining - I will definitely read that essay - it’s funny because Josh and I had a very long “would-you-rather” conversation specifically pitting carrying a child against coal mining. It was prompted by discussion of surrogacy, and how insane I find that choice. At four months pregnant myself it’s still a tough call; if I could just get up everyday and work in a shitty mine instead of growing this person in my belly…? Hard to say. I know that’s not what Orwell is suggesting. I know he’s talking about me growing this human AND mining for coal; it made me imagine a scenario in which pregnant women were uniquely able to mine fossil fuels. Physical autonomy and reproductive rights would be further eroded if they ever existed at all. It would be framed as a “natural and important” part of the “magical journey of motherhood”. Deep sigh.

Rosie Whinray's avatar

Ha ha yes, it is necessary to mine coal whilst pregnant so the baby's limbs form correctly. DO YOU WANT YOUR BABY TO BE A WEAKLING? DO YOU? Get down pit

Rosie Whinray's avatar

A re-recommendation & an explanation of how I didn't crib this entire essay off Brian Merchant without properly crediting him LOL

https://substack.com/@rosiewhinray/note/c-166374222?