History offers plenty of examples. In early nineteenth-century England, the increasing use of mechanized looms made woven cloth so much more cheaply than by traditional manual means that an entire class of craftsmen, both expert and mediocre weavers, lost their independent livelihoods and were forced to work as unskilled laborers in the mills. The rise of the automobile threw harnessmakers, both good and bad, out of work. Today, small farmers are struggling to retain their economic viability against competition from agricultural conglomerates.
