Wrong about the Wrights

Self-righteous neo-luddism rears its ugly head: The Guardian’s George Monbiot, favourite whipping boy for warbloggers, conservabloggers and bloggers who’d have called Darth Vader a “liberal nancy-boy”, has managed to get up my centrist nose with an op-ed piece titled A Weapon With Wings. In the article, Monbiot says that we should be mourning, not celebrating, the upcoming centenary of the Wright Brothers’ flight.

Really, George, if you want to talk about technological advances that have caused suffering, you might as well go back to first principles and blame hay (which enabled year-round horse travel), the wheel, fire or writing.

I haven’t got time to comment on the ridiculousness of his article. Unlike Monbiot, I have a real job. But go ahead: read it and take in the journo-guano, if you dare.

If George doesn’t want airplane blood on his hands, he can feel free to give me any frequent flyer points he’s accumulated. I’m sure I can put them to good use.