Skip navigation

Daily Archives: October 10th, 2012

Luddites or Not?


During 17th century England industrial revolution there several uprisings against the machines there were put in place to replace the workers or at least some of them as the machines were more efficient on producing the work. The uprising workers were called “Luddites” after Ned Ludd,  a real person  who was as romanticized as “Robin Hood”. This folk hero was supposed to have wrecked several machines in rebellion against the machine age. In modern times we have not had a situation such as this but we have had strikes against company’s for layoffs, moving out of States and the United States. these workers could hardly be considered “Luddites” yet the resemblance could be construed as the same. The difference is that any outsourced, downsized or laid off worker can obtain other training if they want it and if it is available. The jobs picture in the U.S. is not rosy and has not been for sometime but the available jobs are geared toward learning a new, different or improving on existing skills. The only additional education required is usually what is needed for the new position and many States have local agencies  available to provide what is needed to achieve that end.  With such resources available why is unemployment still high? part of the equation is location, part of it is “luddism”, part of it is age and health. Another factor is that many have stopped looking for employment.  It may not be a stretch to say part of it is a narrow focus on one’s abilities and lack of flexibility in the search. What else can be done except to inform, train and educate ?

Darrell E. Issa


Darrell Edward Issa (/ˈaɪsə/; Arabic: عيسى‎; born November 1, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for California’s 49th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. His district consists of portions of southern Riverside County and northern San Diego County. The district was numbered as the 48th District during his first term and was renumbered the 49th after the 2000 Census. Since January 2011, he has served as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa is a self-made millionaire with a net worth estimated at as much as $450 million,[1] making him the wealthiest currently serving member of Congress.[

Mr. Issa has spent a lot of our (voters) money publicly pursuing  unproven issues against the Obama administration, first it was Attorney General Eric Holder to the point of issuing a contempt of Congress and finding that it was a waste of time as the AG was not aware of the failures in the gun running scam that went south. Now this representative is pursuing the tragedy in Syria where the ambassador and others were killed in what appears to be a planned attack under the cover of the anti government Syrian uprising. Now a military person has stepped up to say that more military back up was requested but was not given. Unfortunately there is no good information readily available on this but it seems that Mr. Issa is bent on castigating the current administration for what may end up as another witch hunt. It is really convenient to issue information like this that is not fully vetted in an election year, since Mr. Issa with his impressive fortune is backing a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. Issa is no doubt one of ardent detractors of the current administration and probably a dissenter on many of current President’s policies. I would think that Mr. Issa would be more in favor of what is right for the American voters as  his family background is rooted in the Arabian peninsula. The issue I have with these types of representatives is that they have no interest in good government if it does not further their own ambitions and personal agendas. Remember Joe McCarthy, Sara Palin and Newt Gingrich?