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van
@vanathema.bsky.social
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ironcircuscomics.bsky.social
Looking to read more of Failure to Launch? You can get a copy here!: store.ironcircus.com/products/fai... Take your breaks at work, people worked for those!
I bet you're wondering: "how did Harry trick Iron Circus into letting him write a pro-luddite story for their anthology about technology?" Well, I'll tell you. Because the Luddites weren't against technology! They were for a world where this technology improved people's lives. A new machine replacing thousands of jobs should be a good thing! A world where people are freed to do more and better! Instead, it's mostly good for whoever saved money firing all those workers. The Luddites simply observe earlier than most that it doesn't have to be this way. We didn't even make the work holding the world together less back breaking, we just exported that work somewhere else. This is the capitalist version of progress: people doing shitty jobs for no money. But elsewhere where you don't see it. When people question the way technology is being used - feel their opportunities and autonomy getting smaller - the world luddite gets dusted off for reuse. When the used states took Microsoft to court for being a monopoly and illegally crushing their competition, Microsoft's lead attorney John Warren called it: "Not really an antitrust case but a return of the luddites, 19th century reactionaries who... went around smashing machines with sledgehammers." Microsoft lost incidentally. But the sentiment is clear: criticism of the future modern tech giants are building, even their crimes, is opposing progress itself. But the reality is people are still being looted by factory-masters. The industrial revolution massively increased productivity, but the profit from doing so went directly to the hands of the Owners. Take the same measurements of the 20th century's innovations and what do you get? The extremely simple truth - that it doesn't have to be this way - is terrifying if you benefit from the way things are now. An old ghost starts to feel close at hand. So have a little sympathy for the owners of the world. It's a scary time for them too. They're really panicking. (listed is several headlines of Union-targeting actions by multi-billionaires and their accessories) Companies the world over have spent hundreds of millions trying to stop unionization efforts. Soon it might even be cheaper to just pay people more. Amazon even tried to ban words like 'injustice', 'compensation', and yes, 'UNION', from their internal apps. They must be vigilant - the old ghost cannot be killed. Only kept at bay. Looming over Elon Musk, who the writer of this alt text truly hates, Ludd brandishes his sledgehammer with glowing red eyes. Elon looks like he doesn't know what to do without hundreds of thousands of people willing to get hurt for his money or acknowledgement. "--We used to shoot these people in the dick." Thank you for reading this comic! Be sure to always take your scheduled breaks. Do not let some 50+ year old slug tell you that you aren't "a team player" because you are not letting them take just a little more. Each break and benefit you get to take is written in blood, and you're only pissing off those who came before you and making someone who isn't paying you smile by doing extra. Want to read more of Failure to Launch? we've got that here: https://store.ironcircus.com/products/failure-to-launch
September 1, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by van
ironcircuscomics.bsky.social
Be sure to follow @hbomberguy.bsky.social and @skutchdraws.bsky.social ‬if you enjoyed this comic!
In the early days of the movement when machines were found destroyed, people would joke "Ned Ludd is back! The secret union ran with it, now they were the Luddites. I don't think people recognize how fucking FUNNY it is a massively popular social movement named themselves after a joke. FUN FACT!: There's recorded instances of the police actually searching for 'Ned Ludd', criminal leader of the Luddites, in Sherwood forest. Some even claimed to have glimpsed him. Cops were really smart back then. In Ludd's sights was Enoch Taylor of Marsden, West Yorkshire. The Taylors built machines for the textile mills that abused their workers. Luckily, the Taylors also made Sledgehammers. "Enoch made them, and Enoch shall break them!" I sweat this stuff writes itself. William Horsfall, a Marsden factory owner, once boasted that he would love to "ride up to my saddle in luddite blood!", Horsfall was later assassinated by Luddites, during an altercation in which he reportedly received a "groin injury". In history's greatest L, a rich guy talked shit about murdering Luddites, until they shot him in the dick to death. Mills were being stormed by hundreds or sometimes thousands of protestors, the movement was GROWING. A spectre haunted England - the spirit of Ned Ludd. To the rich the answer was clear- kill all the luddites you can before people figure out they have a point. In 1812 Parliament found the time to pass an 'emergency measure": the Frame Breaking Act which made smashing machines punishable by death. The tens of thousands of soldiers were sent to deal with Luddites in mills and factories across the country. This was a sizable amount considering Britain was CURRENTLY FIGHTING NAPOLEON. Parliament happily went to war against British Luddites when they were supposed to be fighting actual wars. In 1813 17 luddites were hanged in a day, with more than 14 sentenced to be transported to Australia which was even worse than that. Historians view this as the point major Luddite activity started to die down. A portrait of goofy, crown wearing Ned Ludd, covered in weaponry used upon him in a 1700s art style. "But here's the problem: they couldn't kill Ned. You can't kill people's ability to question how the benefits of automation have been distributed. He's still out there. And One day he'll be BACK."
September 1, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by van
ironcircuscomics.bsky.social
Happy Labor Day!

Today we're bringing you The First Union, as told by HBomberguy (@hbomberguy.bsky.social) and illustrated by Skutch (@skutchdraws.bsky.social) It's the dawn of the industrial revolution, and of the way many of us work...

Have you ever heard of the term "Luddite" from an elder?
Stanhill, Lancashire, 1764. Wear and carpenter James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny, the first practical spinning-frame, to make the tedious task of producing cloth a little bit faster. He doesn't know it yet, but this will destroy the world. Spurred by inventions like his, the industrial revolution will transform everything -- work power, the wealth of nations. Society as we know it began here, and it wasn't great for everyone. But a group of weavers and textile workers saw this future coming. And did their best to prevent it. "Curse you spinning jenny, you ruined everything!" The standard narrative does that LUDDITES were foolish lunatics who, in fear of technology, decided progress was bad, and started hitting it with sticks. But the truth is entire ways of life were being destroyed. Previously, skilled craftsmen were respected for the time and effort it took to do their work. The entire family usit would form a cottage industry - creating something valuable, and command a decent living. But when a machine can work 10 times faster its owner can charge less for the prodcts- craftsmen couldn't compete and were left out of work almost overnight. And as factories became a fixture of the british landscape, these now unemployed labourers often ended up working the factories that had just destroyed their way of life. Britain was the most prosperous nation in history, factory owners became extremely wealthy and influential. But the people doing the actual work saw almost none of it. Factory work paid little, since "the machines" did "the real work" human labourers were deemed unimportant and replaceable. FUN FACT!: Factory owners preferred to hire ORPHANS since less people would notice if they were maimed or killed on the job! Now the owners quickly realized the workers might notice they did all the work for almost no pay. If they went on STRIKE or ARGUED FOR HGHER WAGES, this would threaten their tremendous wealth. In 1799, Parliament passed the Combination Act, which made FORMING TRADE UNIONS, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, AND GOING ON STRIKE ILLEGAL. Organizing against the rich became a crime. If you were living through it, opposing the industrial revolution wasn't techno-phobia. It was SELF-DEFENSE. The combination act forced unions underground into secret societies. And the greatest secret of all was their leader - Ned Ludd. Ned had been a folk character for years. In one version after being whipped by his master, he smashed two knitting frames in a rage. In more fanciful versions, he then escaped to the Sherwood forest, here he lived among the animals as their king. Some versions specifically call him 'Much Better Than Robin Hood'.
September 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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feefal.bsky.social
Ugh, does anyone have an ibuprofen?
March 4, 2025 at 7:40 PM
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sonnyross.bsky.social
Someone's gotta do it I guess
New print here!
www.sonnyross.com/shop/together
A marching style band illustration of woodland creatures carrying weapons with a banner that says " We Will Just Have To Kill Him" in a childrens book style.
February 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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koyamori.bsky.social
Happy Lunar New Year!! 🐍
#art
gingko spirit wrapped by a snake shawl
January 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM