6 June

I often post about how only catastrophe brings meaningful social change. Cars are a good example. Until World War 1, horses were the dominant way people got around in their daily lives. 8 million horses died in that war, and the war caused rapid development of combustion-engine alternatives. That development led to widespread adoption of cars as an alternative to horses. Without the war the push for that shift would have been far slower, or not there at all. Most of our modern technologies had their origins in one or both of the world wars. And we’re doing it again, waiting for catastrophe now to really accelerate the shift to renewable energy. All avoidable, but humans won’t change their habits (relinquish status) without the threat of death.