Fear of change is really nothing new, and is still with us now(and may always be): today, climate deniers tell us that if we continue our efforts to mitigate AGW, that we will be doomed to live in a global Stalinist police state, etc., similar, in some ways, to how many ontological materialists fear that if, or rather, when, certain types of "alternative" scientific research, such as into Near/After Death Experiences or various branches of quantum-related theories, such as "Many Worlds", etc. become accepted, that the world will plunge into a scientific "Dark Age", and America will become a theocracy dominated by Young Earth Creationists, etc.
But then again, the worst fears about the future have never really come true, no matter the age. 
Edit history
= new reply since forum marked as read
