Rough Roman Memes

Come gather round kids and listen to granma Alcaran tell story.

A long time ago, around the 1920s, some people made the first asphalt roads. It was great stuff, could be endlessly recycled, was smooth yet grippy and just amazing for the modern cars that were becoming more popular.

So engineers figured they should build these things to last. They made roads that would, at the foundation, last hundreds of years. There are hundred year old roads today that will structally outlast your grandkids (not counting the massive potholes in the top few centimeters).

But then something happened. More people were born, new towns were started, and we got smarter too. We realized stuff needed to change. Wider roads, different curves and exits, other angles and wider spaces for safety, all sorts of things. And we ripped up roads that would last hundreds of years after only a few decades, to replace them with something better.

And every time someone says "why don't we build to last", the answer will be the same. We can't predict the needs of the future. The romans could be sure that people would be walking the Via Aurelia for a thousand years. We're not even sure we still want that overpass there by 2030.