The need for government or direction is seen not so much in the pencil's ancestors or antecedents, as in all its offspring, which curiously go totally unmention

The need for government or direction is seen not so much in the pencil's ancestors or antecedents, as in all its offspring, which curiously go totally unmentioned. The pencil's family tree might have a lot of roots but it has a lot of branches too. Example from Ceylon: toxic mine tailings, leading to soil pollution, leading to either poisonings/cancers/deaths when attempting to grow food locally, or to having to import it from afar, or move away. Broken homes/families. Strains on the social safety net if there is one. Example from Oregon: clearcuts, leading to soil instability, leading to landslides, leading to deaths and destruction of property, and also to the silting/sedimentation of streams & rivers, destroying salmon spawning habitat, leading to decline of the fishery, unemployed fishermen, broken families/alcoholism/crime/strains on society. Technology metes out equal parts punishment and convenience; this site's audience should know that better than anyone, or they'll learn it soon.