When the car came around it lead to an apparent decline in demand for horses. As a result, a lot of jobs were on the line. Stable boys, Coachmen, Saddlemakers, and Blacksmiths, just to name a few. An entire horse-related industry that had grown over centuries shrunk to almost nothing in a few decades.
From the very beginning, people complained about cars, the noise they made, the danger they posed and the unhealthy gases they expelled.
And of course, people wanted to keep their jobs. But there was no going back. Convenience eventually won.
As jobs were lost, the car also helped create jobs. A lot of jobs; much more jobs than were lost.
The advent of the computer had an even faster and more profound effect as it quickly affected every single person. No industry remained untouched. Jobs were lost, and jobs were created.
Again there is no going back to pre-computer times. And again convenience has won.
We have the internet and smartphones. And yes, jobs were lost and jobs were created. No going back. Convenience wins again.
Getting back to the car:
Its energy source hasn’t changed much over the last 100 years. And apart from some nuclear power plants neither has how we generate the majority of our electrical power.
The burning of fossil fuels like crude oil and coal is dirty. And although cars are much cleaner now than the first cars there are much cleaner alternatives. And again many jobs are on the line, but renewable energies like solar, wind, water power, biofuels, etc also create a lot of new jobs. Without the need to transport crude oil around the world, the risk of big environmental disasters is clearly reduced. The air quality in cities is better and not to forget, we won’t run out of energy.
However, does that improve the need for convenience of the individual?
It doesn’t. A destroyed environment may inconvenience our kids, sure. But why should we care? Such thoughts are not convenient.
And suddenly people have voted to be anti-progress. To promote the oil and gas industry even more and to roll back environmental regulation that benefits the newly created industries. Now, these jobs are on the line as well.
I am having a hard time understanding why people are so short-sighted. Maybe because it is an American tradition to keep destroying the environment to our detriment despite better knowledge.
A few examples if you dare to care:
Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone (NOAA | Nature Conservancy)
The Dust Bowl (History Channel | Livinghistoryfarm)
Love Canal Tragedy (EPA | Damn Interesting)
Libby Asbestos Contamination (Asbestos.com | The Guardian)
Picher Lead Contamination (Ghosts of North America | Oklahoma Historical Society)
Tennessee coal ash spill (Scientific American | USA Today)
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (Exxon Mobil | Time Magazine)