First, I will digress with a bit of Ford history. The Ford Model T was the most popular car of its time (1909–1926). Mass production techniques got the price down to where average people could afford to buy it. It was fairly repairable, often requiring a bit of mechanical sense coupled with string and chewing gum.
In 1927, the Ford Model T gave way to the Ford Model A, a model which was in production until 1931.
I was visiting my sister in Terrace, British Columbia. We stopped to visit one of her church friends. This fellow’s hobby was restoring Ford Model A’s.
He was restoring two Model A’s. One a pickup truck; the other a coupe. He got some of his parts from machine shops who specialize in classic cars. These shops have the original blueprints from Ford and can make anything from crankshafts to door handles.
The fellow also had two fully restored Model A sedans. It would have been nice to take a little ride in one of these cars, but the owner was not that generous. But I got to sit in a driving seat.
My first impressions were not good. It literally felt like I was in a tin can: a low-speed collision was likely to cause injury. The seats were uncomfortable. The doors were flimsy. I sensed inferior braking and handling. I could not imagine this car cruising comfortably at 100 km/hr.
This car was good for car shows and parades. That’s it. Only a foolish person would trade their day-to-day driving from a Ford Escape to a Ford Model A. I have a hard time imagining someone from 1930 taking the 575-km trip from Terrace to Prince George, BC — on a gravel road — in a Model A. The good old days with the good old cars weren’t really all that good.
The Turning Point
I recently posted an article with the 1982 book called “The Turning Point” as a sub-arc.
This book describes how we change from one model of thinking to a better model. The book describes how many sciences and humanities were improved with better models of understanding. And today’s understanding will eventually be replaced with a better understanding (and maybe many of those 1982 theories have already been replaced). In other words, we should expect whatever we know today to be obsolete.
Except for one field of human achievement.
The author did not or could not mention any improvement to democracy. He more or less kept democracy in the same state as he found it in 1982. There was no possible way to improve this “social engineering” — despite him showing us how at least 25 other fields improved themselves better by discarding previous theories.
If the automobile is a metaphor for democracy, we would still be driving Ford Model A’s.
It was a great car. It was better than the Model T. But we didn’t stop improving cars after 1931.
Yet we continue with a system of governance from long ago.
So have fun with your Ford Model A as you commute to work, make daily errands, visit friends and relatives, and go on road trips. Clang! Bang! Rattle! Break down! As you are driving this great car, you can wonder why life is not getting better.
Published on Medium 2024
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