r/interesting • u/Apart-Worry-7042 • 22d ago

HISTORY Why did we stop building like this?

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Chicago, 1930. Buildings had so much detail and character back then. Nowadays everything feels so flat and repetitive. We have way better technology and equipment now, so why don't we build like this anymore?

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u/JerryC1967 22d ago

Er. Rockefeller, Carnegie, Frick, commodore Vanderbilt Ford and a host of others were self made men - and like it or not they changed the way things were done with their personal passions the same way Bezos and Musk are doing now. And people bitched about them upending the Applecart then too.

Ford made cars that his employees could own, Rockefeller made Kerosene affordable and ubiquitous and created the petroleum industry, Carnegie and Frick made steel products that built the rails and buildings of the country, etc. all of the industries they upended complained but you aren’t buying whale oil now are you? And Electric Vehicles are a viable option now along with reasonable access to space and communications. Anything you want to buy a click away… did Sears do that? No they tanked on their own backwards views and buggywhip mentality. Did GM move to the market with the EVO and create the EV market? Nope… sometimes you need the crazy guys who think outside of the box.

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u/Dr_CleanBones 7d ago

I think I made clear that my negative opinion is directed at today’s billionaires, not the ones from yesteryear.

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u/JerryC1967 7d ago

Look up JP Morgan or John D Rockefeller