Allow me to rewrite that first paragraph:<p>> If I could, I would repeal the assembly line. It is the technological marvel of the age, but it is not — as most people imagine — a symbol of progress. Just the opposite. We would be better off without it. I grant its astonishing capabilities: the instant production of inexpensive goods and the pleasure of knowing your parts are no longer hand-crafted and thus can be replaced with identical parts. But the benefits are relatively modest compared with previous transformative technologies, and it brings with it a terrifying danger: job loss. Amid the controversy over artisans no longer being able to dominate their craft and tightly controlling who can and cannot become an apprentice, this threat to the established, time-honored way of doing things cannot stand!<p>Lather, rinse, repeat with: the printing press, radio, robotics, or any other new technology. There are ups and downs, but trying to stop progress is like shoveling back the ocean with a fork. You can move with the tides or drown.
After the stock market crash of 1929, op-ed pieces were written calling for an end to the telephone as it "must" have caused the collapse. Fear of technology and a general misunderstanding of its uses and implications will always create great storylines and fuel populist campaigns.
This is rather silly. You could repeal the internet but it still wouldn't stop "cyber warfare". Viruses and data leaks both happened without the help of the internet.