Boon or Bane?

The Ford model T - the first mega successful production car was produced in 1908. Since then, in the last hundred years, we have built millions of cars, each more powerful than the other. Cars provide the means for man to reach faraway places that took far greater time before. That also means greater de-forestation, as people now needs roads to reach those places. As distance is not a problem, more forest lands are reclaimed for urbanization. More petroleum is needed every year to meet the global demands of automobiles pushing oil prices to an all time high. Since all other commodities' price, including food, is directly linked with petroleum price, there is a global inflation. Cars also produce active pollutants, which directly affects people - more people have asthma and other breathing problems than ever before.

So, is it a boon or a bane? Or like many other scientific things (remember atomic energy and atomic bomb?), we have managed to turn a boon in to a bane?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

a boon turned into bane by lack of foresight of automobile industry....they kept on looking for more power and lower priced cars instead of alternative sources of the fuel (mostly in west)

R said...

Which is why I don't have a car :P

Subhadip said...

@Deeps
True. With all the technological achievements in these years, we should have got pollution free cars by now!

@Rohit
I know you bugger! Mark my words: The day you have half the down payment money and a half decent girl ready to be your girlfriend, you will buy a car.