Looking at technology's influences alone strikes me as a shallow viewpoint. You can find other important factors if you look a bit deeper: "The British weaver

Looking at technology's influences alone strikes me as a shallow viewpoint. You can find other important factors if you look a bit deeper: "The British weavers known as Luddites, who destroyed looms precisely 200 years ago, thought rising unemployment within their ranks was due to machinery. But there’s a case to be made that inflation, money supply expansion, budget deficits and trade barriers were equally to blame. ... [The] overall picture was of cheap money leading to labor-saving capital investment, while wages were eroded by inflation and economic activity was dampened by restrictions and excessive government deficits. The Luddites have been mocked for attacking the productivity-enhancing machinery that was to improve living standards unprecedentedly. But given the economic policies of the time, which bear an uncomfortable resemblance to some of our own, the Luddites were right to believe that only higher unemployment, with no discernible improvement in conditions on the horizon, was their fate." http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2011/03/11/were-luddites-the-victims-of-2011-style-finances/ http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2011/03/11/were-luddi... Were Luddites the victims of 2011-style finances? | By Martin Hutchinson | March 11, 2011