How about the computers, the people who used to do math, at desks, with slide rules, before we replaced them with machines.
These are all white colar jobs that we replaced with "automation".
Amazon existed before, it was called Sears... it was a catalog so pictures, and printing, and mailing in checks, we replaced all of that with a website and CC processing.
The Luddites may have been wrong about society as a whole, but they were doing the things for which they are famous because of rampant unemployment at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
But think about it this way: software engineers have a job where they sit at a desk and think, then type a bit, and earn far more than most people. Given how apparently easy our jobs are, why don't more people "just" apply for our positions and drive down wages? Answer: skill mismatch, you can't (today) just pick it up in a weekend and start earning double.
What happened to all the {"unemployed draftsmen", "switchboard operators", "the computers, the people who used to do math, at desks, with slide rules"}?
They died in poverty. Or at least poorer than they'd been otherwise.
Or are you really saying that someone who's half-way through their career in one thing can just switch to another occupation without any major life impact?
Your senior-level salary in one industry doesn't automatically command a similar wage in another - your option is just competing for entry-level work with the younger generation.
