The fear comes from the unknown. Appalachia in the United States is what people dread. High unemployment, jobs never coming back, addiction to pain killers killing you in your 30s and 40s. Really, I suggest anyone on Hacker News to take 2-3 days and drive through parts of West Virginia, during the daylight only, to see, physically see, what the commotion is about. [1]
If we had solid safety nets, this wouldn't happen. People wouldn't be worried about being homeless, hungry, and without a support system. People would embrace automation.
But that's the problem. The Technologist's Libertarian Outlook. Disruption is okay, just help yourself to some bootstraps, and if you die in the street you weren't valuable enough.
Protect against the unknown, and people will be less anxious about rapid change. Don't protect them, and risk social instability. This is what government, social programs, and taxes are for. Or we can wait for the 21st century equivalent of the guillotines to come out.
[1] http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2015/05/31/Littleto...
If we had solid safety nets, this wouldn't happen. People wouldn't be worried about being homeless, hungry, and without a support system. People would embrace automation.
But that's the problem. The Technologist's Libertarian Outlook. Disruption is okay, just help yourself to some bootstraps, and if you die in the street you weren't valuable enough.
Protect against the unknown, and people will be less anxious about rapid change. Don't protect them, and risk social instability. This is what government, social programs, and taxes are for. Or we can wait for the 21st century equivalent of the guillotines to come out.
[1] http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2015/05/31/Littleto...