[chii]

> 200 years of government regulating to make the transition less painful.

i find that hard to believe - what was done in the last 200 years to lessen the pain of any transition?

[onion2k]

Here in the UK there were a number of Factory Acts passed between 1802 and 1961 that were designed to limit the impact of the industrial revolution on workers, lessening the pain of transition from agriculture and cottage industry to the modern mechanised factories. The one closest to 200 years ago did such progressive things as limiting the working hours a 9 year old child could do to 12 hours a day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_Acts

[ambicapter]

How is that easing the transition? Sounds more like making sure the current working environment doesn't suck, and that the benefits of technology are actually passed on to those who are using it.

[allendoerfer]

Pensions, accident insurance, and medical care. Not 200 years, but 150-175 years [0]. Universal unemployment insurance came only in 1927.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state#Germany