In 1829, Martin Van Buren of Kinderhook, New York early opponent of the Erie Canal, last minute supporter of it and future President of the United States – 1837 to 1841 the only President whose life touched both the Revolutionary and Civil War, declared, Railroads are causing serious unemployment among captains, cooks, drivers, hostlers, repairmen and lock tenders . . not to mention farmers supplying hay for horses . . Worst of all railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of fifteen miles per hour by engines which . . . (endanger) life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring livestock and frightening our women and children.The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.

What a Luddite, what a pessimist, what a futurist! Everyone now knows that every technological innovation always brings enormous benefits to humanity when it is bigger, smaller, cleaner, cheaper, more attractive and especially, faster than all its predecessors.

Technology Rules! Blessings Abound!

However, surely some people suffer significantly in the short run or even perhaps for their lifetimes.

Source of quote: "Wedding of the Waters - The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation" by Peter L. Bernstein, 2005