Car of the future
July 3, 2010
(In response to the question “What will the car of the future look like?” at http://campaignprojects.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/what-will-the-car-of-the-future-look-like/ )
I would imagine the car of the future will be much like the car of the past. It may not run on petrol though and would have to be old-age friendly but will probably be the means for personal transport. We think otherwise only because of the present congestion on the roads and the rising population growth coupled with the oil crises etc. But as trends in most parts of the world show, population growth will level off in the next few decades and will decline thereafter as is happening in much of the western world. (Take a look at The Depopulation Problem by Philip Longman http://media.longnow.org/seminars/salt-0200408-longman/salt-0200408-longman.pdf ) We could be in a situation where public transport is the more expensive option with fewer people to distribute costs. Besides, public transport alone will never fulfill all transportation needs.
In a way aren’t we asking, ‘Would it be better to replace private enterprise with State alternatives?’ Well, so far such models of governance have not been satisfactory. Besides, Nature would prefer variety and difference to sameness?
