Race Against the Machines
Does automation destroy jobs? Sabots from Brittany. Photo: Thesupermat. Source: Wikipedia The concern that new technology will put people out of work has been around at least since 18th-century French peasants threw their wooden shoes, or “sabots,” into industrial machines to destroy them – thus becoming the first “saboteurs.” In the early days of the industrial revolution the Luddites in England broke weaving equipment out of fear that the new contraptions would destroy their jobs. At one point, the British had more soldiers fighting [...]