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"Our road infrastructure - mostly based on asphalt - is more similar to that of the Ancient Chinese and will disintegrate at a much faster rate if we lose our a

"Our road infrastructure - mostly based on asphalt - is more similar to that of the Ancient Chinese and will disintegrate at a much faster rate if we lose our ability to maintain it. The Chinese wheelbarrow - and with it many other forgotten low-tech transportation options - might one day come in very handy again." It's funny how such intelligent and thoughtful people can write a serious article topped off by this. At first I think it's tongue-in-cheek humour, but then I realize, no, they're half-serious. I should add - this is a great magazine, nice find!

upofadown 8y ago
What is the actual rebuttal here?
CydeWeys 8y ago
Every civilization that has existed prior to the modern age has fallen. And unlike them, we're now destroying the planet's very ability to support life as well. It's a deadly serious matter whether human civilization can continue in its present form, and if it does not, it's worth considering what it might fall back to. It's happened many times before.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  "Every civilization that has existed prior to the modern age has fallen" No. Though every political organization has fallen, a great deal of the social and local political infrastructure remained the same, moreover, almost every political organization ever founded is an evolution of the one previous to it. Do you really think that Sicily changed political hands prevented them from knowing how to 'build Roman roads' if they wanted to? "we're now destroying the planet's very ability to support life as well." Our roads will be fine, and no, we don't need to reconsider 1- wheeled carts, 'just in case'.
oftenwrong 8y ago
I don't think it's crazy to suggest that roads and the standard of living in some places could decline to the point that it becomes more common to use currently-outmoded methods to transport goods over land. What if the future sees: - Oil production decline to the point of significant scarcity - 20000km supply chains falling out of the profitability zone - Under-funded municipalities on the edges of civilization not able to maintain their roads. Some parts of the United States are already starting to un-pave their roads: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/26/the-un-paving-of-american-roads https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/26/the-un-paving-... - Large-scale decline in standard of living ...Et cetera. Given enough neglect and time, everything we have built will crumble. When "developed" places fail, they will start to look more like "developing" places. Dirt roads, bicycles, working animals, reduced conspicuous consumption, and maybe even wheelbarrows as a seriously-considered form of transportation - all of it could return in the long-term.
- stretchwithme 8y ago
  Venezuelas happen. Civilization rests on the ideas in our heads. If we lose the ideas that got us here, the roads will eventually follow.

upofadown 8y ago

What is the actual rebuttal here?

CydeWeys 8y ago

Every civilization that has existed prior to the modern age has fallen. And unlike them, we're now destroying the planet's very ability to support life as well. It's a deadly serious matter whether human civilization can continue in its present form, and if it does not, it's worth considering what it might fall back to. It's happened many times before.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
"Every civilization that has existed prior to the modern age has fallen" No. Though every political organization has fallen, a great deal of the social and local political infrastructure remained the same, moreover, almost every political organization ever founded is an evolution of the one previous to it. Do you really think that Sicily changed political hands prevented them from knowing how to 'build Roman roads' if they wanted to? "we're now destroying the planet's very ability to support life as well." Our roads will be fine, and no, we don't need to reconsider 1- wheeled carts, 'just in case'.

oftenwrong 8y ago

I don't think it's crazy to suggest that roads and the standard of living in some places could decline to the point that it becomes more common to use currently-outmoded methods to transport goods over land. What if the future sees: - Oil production decline to the point of significant scarcity - 20000km supply chains falling out of the profitability zone - Under-funded municipalities on the edges of civilization not able to maintain their roads. Some parts of the United States are already starting to un-pave their roads: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/26/the-un-paving-of-american-roads https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/26/the-un-paving-... - Large-scale decline in standard of living ...Et cetera. Given enough neglect and time, everything we have built will crumble. When "developed" places fail, they will start to look more like "developing" places. Dirt roads, bicycles, working animals, reduced conspicuous consumption, and maybe even wheelbarrows as a seriously-considered form of transportation - all of it could return in the long-term.

stretchwithme 8y ago
Venezuelas happen. Civilization rests on the ideas in our heads. If we lose the ideas that got us here, the roads will eventually follow.