Luddites with a difference :)

Channeling yellow

This pix, even though manipulated by tech, highlights the beauty of nature, in this case, wild black-eyed Susan's residing in a large field near where yours truly lives. I can honestly say social media and the cell phone do not hold me captive save for the use of the camera as video and photography are biggies without question. With that in mind, reading the NYTimes piece titled ‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes resonates in a good way after reading what these kids read in their pursuit of unfettered reality sans the ubiquitous noise of the net and all things relating to social media. 

“When I got my flip phone, things instantly changed,” a Luddite Club member said. “I started using my brain.”Credit...Scott Rossi for The New York Times

“It’s a little frowned on if someone doesn’t show up,” Odille said. “We’re here every Sunday, rain or shine, even snow. We don’t keep in touch with each other, so you have to show up.”

After the club members gathered logs to form a circle, they sat and withdrew into a bubble of serenity.

Some drew in sketchbooks. Others painted with a watercolor kit. One of them closed their eyes to listen to the wind. Many read intently — the books in their satchels included Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” Art Spiegelman’s “Maus II” and “The Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius. The club members cite libertine writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac as heroes, and they have a fondness for works condemning technology, like “Player Piano” by Kurt Vonnegut. Arthur, the bespectacled PBS aardvark, is their mascot.

Luddites with a difference indeed. :)

The Leader of the Luddites, 1812. Hand-coloured etching.