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A Sunday Morning Thought - A Very Short Rant
Reading the Sunday papers and reading the news on CNN's website I was struck by a recurring thought I 've had since I was a kid prowling the streets of Brooklyn, New York.
We produce a wide range of goods and services in this country and in the industrialized world. We have access to the finest minds on the planet. I am mystified, for example, that we cannot produce a subway system in NYC that does not make everyone deaf (over time) caused by the screeching of metal on metal. Or why we allow automobiles and trucks to produce and release so much pollution into the atmosphere.
Put concisely, why don't we design products in a manner that helps the world population live more in harmony with nature. Please don't tell me its the profit motive of business executive like the asshat VP currently in office. That is too easy an answer.
I know that my blood plasma has not yet been fully replaced by coffee yet, so I haven't expressed this so well. But, I would be willing to contact my elected representatives and ask them THE question if we could articulate it properly.
Please have at it, whatcha think?
We produce a wide range of goods and services in this country and in the industrialized world. We have access to the finest minds on the planet. I am mystified, for example, that we cannot produce a subway system in NYC that does not make everyone deaf (over time) caused by the screeching of metal on metal. Or why we allow automobiles and trucks to produce and release so much pollution into the atmosphere.
Put concisely, why don't we design products in a manner that helps the world population live more in harmony with nature. Please don't tell me its the profit motive of business executive like the asshat VP currently in office. That is too easy an answer.
I know that my blood plasma has not yet been fully replaced by coffee yet, so I haven't expressed this so well. But, I would be willing to contact my elected representatives and ask them THE question if we could articulate it properly.
Please have at it, whatcha think?
Not-so-easy profit motive
In my Into to Environmental Sciences class, they talked about something called "full cost pricing." Essentially, manufacturers and designers aren't required to consider the full cost of their products - how much will they cost to dispose of, how much pollution was generated in their manufacture, what potential health hazards do they pose and how much will taking care of them cost.
Because they aren't required to look at the full impact of their actions, it certainly serves the bottom line better to take as narrow a view as possible of what costs the company / designers are responsible for. It's easier, and thus (usually) quicker and cheaper. And our culture is nothing if not impatient for the next big improvement to our (post-)modern lives.
That's my three cents, at least.