On the automation thing decades before that....Ran across this looking for something else that I couldn't find (something JFK once said about poverty & diet, for your other news thread on poverty being based on 1955 stats) Opening statement of JFK in the West Virginia presidential primary debate with Humphrey, Feb. 1960, only the second televised debate in history. sorry it's in all caps, that's the way C-SPAN has the transcript. My underlining, you can skip down to the underlining to get my point:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY AFTER 18 YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 4 YEARS IN THE NAVY, AND 14 YEARS IN THE CONGRESS BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE PRESIDENCY IS THE KEY OFFICE. IT IS THE CENTER OF ACTION AND BECAUSE I BELIEVE STRONGLY IN MY COUNTRY AND ITS DESTINY AND BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE POWER AND INFLUENCE OF THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND HIS VITALITY AND FORCE ARE GOING TO BE THE GREAT FACTOR IN MEETING THE RESPONSIBILITIES WE ARE GOING TO FACE AND SO I RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY AND BECAUSE THE PRESIDENCY IS THE KEY OFFICE AS NOT OTHER OFFICE IS, IT IS MY JUDGMENT THAT ANY CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY SHOULD BE WILLING TO SUBMIT THEIR NAME, THEIR FORTUNES, THEIR RECORD, AND THEIR VIEW TO PEOPLE IN PRIMARIES ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES.

WEST VIRGINIA HAS SUCH A PRIMARY AND THAT IS THE REASON I AM HERE. I DID NOT HAVE TO COME, I CAME OF MY OWN FREE WILL. THERE ARE NO DELEGATES INVOLVED. A SETBACK HERE IN DEFEAT WILL BE A MAJOR ONE, BUT NEVERTHELESS I CAME AND I MUST SAY I AM EXTREMELY GLAD I CAME. I THINK THIS IS THE BEST EXPERIENCE AND THE BEST EDUCATION THAT AN AMERICAN POLITICAL LEADER CAN HAVE, WHETHER HE SERVES IN THE PRESIDENCY OR SERVES IN THE SENATE. MANY OF YOU WHO MAY BE WATCHING TELEVISION IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN SEEING A GOOD DEAL OF WEST VIRGINIA THROUGH YOUR TV, AND I WONDER WHETHER YOU REALIZE WHAT A VARYING STATE IT IS AND HOW UNUSUAL IS ITS -- HOW UNUSUAL IT IS IN ITS PAST AND HOW BRIGHT IS ITS PROMISE. IF THERE IS ONE QUALITY WHICH I THINK THIS STATE CAN BE JUSTLY PROUD OF, IT IS THE QUALITY OF COURAGE. MORE MEN FROM WEST VIRGINIA LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE KOREAN WAR THAN FROM ANY STATE IN THE UNION OF ITS SIZE. MORE WEST VIRGINIANS SERVED IN WORLD WAR II THAN FOR ANY STATE OF ITS SIZE. I WAS IN HINTON THIS MORNING, WHICH IS THE HOME OF THE NAVIGATOR WHO FLEW WITH MY BROTHER BEFORE HE WAS KILLED.

THIS IS A STATE WHICH HAS SENT MEN TO DIE IN EVERY SECTION OF THE WORLD AND ALSO HERE IN THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA YOU HAVE TO HAVE COURAGE TO WORK IN THE BASIC INDUSTRY OF THIS STATE -- COAL MINING. EIGHT WEST VIRGINIANS DIE IN THE COAL MINES OF THIS STATE EVERY MONTH. THESE PEOPLE ARE TOUGH AND HARD. THEY HAVE LIVED IN THE MOUNTAINS.

THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE DESCENDENTS OF AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS HERE IN WEST VIRGINIA THAN IN ANY STATE IN THE COUNTRY. GEORGE WASHINGTON SAID MANY YEARS AGO, "LET ME PLAN A BANNER IN THOSE MOUNTAINS AND I WILL SET MEN FREE."

THIS IS A STATE THAT DESERVES AN OPPORTUNITY. IT DESERVES RECOGNITION FROM OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. LAST NIGHT I WAS IN MCDOWELL COUNTY. THAT COUNTY PRODUCES MORE COAL THAN ANY OTHER COUNTY IN THE WORLD. THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE ON RELIEF IN THAT COUNTY THAN IN ANY COUNTY IN THE COUNTRY.

NOW WHY SHOULD THERE BE 250,000 PEOPLE LIVING ON A SUBSISTENCE AND BELOW SUBSISTENCE DISTRIBUTION FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHO ONLY WANT TO WORK? 100,000 ABLE-BODIED MEN WANT A JOB AND CAN'T FIND IT, WHO HAVE SPENT THEIR LIVES IN THE COAL MINE, WHO HAVE SPENT THEIR LIVES UNDERGROUND WORKING IN 35 TO 40 INCHES AND WHO WANT TO GET A JOB AGAIN, WHO WANT TO WORK. THAT IS THE PROBLEM OF WEST VIRGINIA.

THIS STATE CAN REALLY DO A GOOD DEAL. I DON'T THINK I HAVE SEEN A MORE VIGOROUS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX THAN I HAVE SEEN ALONG THE OHIO VALLEY AND THE KANAWHA RIVER OF -- OR BETTER FARMS. THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE ONLY NEED A CHANCE AND I THINK THAT THEY ARE GOING TO GET IT.

I THINK THIS ELECTION IS PROBABLY AS IMPORTANT TO WEST VIRGINIA AS ANY STATE IN THE COUNTRY AND I HOPE THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY REGARD CAREFULLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE BECAUSE THE PROBLEM THAT WEST VIRGINIA IS FACING IS THE PROBLEM THAT ALL AMERICAN IS GOING TO FACE. THAT IS THE PROBLEM OF WHAT HAPPENS TO MEN WHEN MACHINES TAKE THEIR PLACES. WE PRODUCE MORE COAL THAN WE DID 20 YEARS AGO IN WEST VIRGINIA , BUT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF MEN WHO MINED IN 1940 WHO CAN'T FIND A JOB. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE COAL INDUSTRY IN THE LAST 10 YEARS IN WEST VIRGINIA IS GOING TO SPREAD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. WHEN A MACHINE TAKES THE JOB OF 10 MEN, WHERE DO THOSE 10 MEN GO? WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR FAMILIES?

THEY LIVE ON UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AND THAT RUNS OUT, THEY LIVE ON A SUBSISTENCE DIET DISTRIBUTED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHICH IS BEYOND THE LIVING STANDARD OF ANY AMERICAN AND THEN THEY WAIT FOR A CHANCE AT A JOB. I MUST SAY I AM GLAD THAT I CAME -- I MUST SAY I AM DELIGHTED I CAME HERE TO WEST VIRGINIA. I THINK EVERYONE WHO SEEKS THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY SHOULD BE WILLING TO COME. THE LESSON IS HARD, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL AMERICA.