In a message dated 7/22/01 12:32:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>>You're looking at that with hindsight. It was built with the
techniques and technology of the time. I suspect the
designers and builders were not aware of the changes that
would take place. But yet, the building and equipment stands,
and they have given you some satisfaction and pleasure
(perhaps even some good photographs) and a sense of what
things were like in our past.<<
In the past, things were built with ~one~ thought only: "this should outlast
~me~, since life expectancy was only about 47 years for white males, less for
others.
>>I believe that preservation of the past, through buildings,
and the objects we use on a daily basis, whether currently
useful or obsolete, are an important part of our culture and
heritage.<<
But today, they only show our profligacy (the Concorde) and our technical
arrogance more than demonstrating that we were caring or thoughtful people or
even worse, that we even had ~souls~.
*Who would erect a monument to a NOKIA cellphone?**
**Though Coke did build a "monument" to their own product down in Atlanta.
>>By making everything disposable, and planning on
obsolescence, what will remain of our culture, history, and
heritage in 100 or 200 years?<<
>>I was watching a show about ancient Rome, and there were some
scenes of buildings that were built in those days that are
still being used today. Pretty amazing. Can't imagine why
the Italians didn't just bulldoze 'em into the ground.<<
They will someday, if not in our lifetimes. Old buildings (or anything), no
matter what their importance, will be torn down because today, and probably
more so in the future, taxpayers won't tolerate spending money on things that
do ~nothing~ but suck up resources.
>>The world is filled with buildings that are 400 or 500 years old,
or older, some of which stand as reminders of the past and
others, while serving that purpose, are also being used today,
some in their original states and others having been
modernized and upgraded with contemporary amenities. I do not
see that as a waste of resources.<<
Using whose tax money? Shepherding the past will soon become too expensive.
>>Using your argument one can argue that the Inca and Mayan
temples and buildings were over built and were a waste of
resources. I don't think anyone who has been to Machu Pichu
would take that position.<<
But... but, without the ever-expanding needs of archeologists to find things,
(to keep themselves in business), Machu Pichu would still be under 8 feet of
dirt, its treasures still buried from prying eyes. It was western
archeologist who prompted the restoration of the Sphinx.
The Coliseum in Rome, an outrageous, ~obscene~ monument to human butchery on
a scale and variety not even the killing fields of Cambodia match, ought to
be torn down. But no! Tearing the Coliseum down would offend too many
people's sensibilities.
We need to do to some of the "monuments" what the allies did to Nazi
monuments, tear them down, especially the "Temples" where literally millions
died just to salve some ritual or ego or worse, some "God."
For me, though the Eiffel Tower is another erection due to vanity, I think
maybe it, among a few others, the Statue of Liberty being one, represents art
or philosophy more than vanity or cruelty or victory-etc.
*Using my somewhat eclectic standards then, the Gateway Arch at St. Louis,
another obscene monument to white vanity, would be torn down and a monument
to the native peoples displaced (exterminated) by Europeans erected.
We ~must remember that all man-made monuments, including the Pyramids, will
crumble into dust. In 500,000 years, even the Pyramids will have been worn
down to nondescript mounds, remembered by no one... on the assumption that
humankind itself will still be around. In any case, they will be too busy
~surviving~ to invest time or especially money in foolishness like monument
keeping. Remember, the now storied "Valley of the Kings" was nearly invisible
when first found. Western archeology found then raped the monuments of Egypt,
their booty resting in museums and private collections.
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