Rationing

I suspect that people are not as much irrationally concerned with technology as they are rationally concerned that they live in a society where their fellow citizens, driven by a sense of their own poverty, will mumble regrets while watching them starve if it means getting something for slightly less than it would have cost them otherwise. Technology is not the threat, it is the tool that actualizes the threat that a perceived need for thrift poses to those whose employability is tied to other people's willingness to make discretionary purchases.

Specialization, brought on by technological advancement, has allowed people to become very good at skills that are required neither for society to function, nor for people to care for themselves. This puts them at risk of losing their livelihoods when other people feel straited.