Shouldnt we get real to avoid the crazy building of tallest buildings, largest and longest bridges, etc???

Question

...largest aircrafts or passenger liners, fastest trains,etc? Vain projects just to out-do another country, year by year, with enormous funds spent, may well make millions of the ordinary citizens poor. Instead why cant we re-direct the money towards developing the best educational, health, old-age welfare or police institutions in the world? Or the best Rescue And Natural Disaster System?

Your positive comments are appreciated!

Answer 1

Because with a larger ship or aircraft you get greater economies of scale.  This means that a larger ship or aircraft can move more people/cargo for less cost.  

Taller buildings also benefit from these economies of scale.  These buildings allow fore greater while occupying only the same amount of acreage.  This saves land for other uses - such as housing and food production.

Bridges are built because a bridge is needed in that location.  If it takes the 'worlds longest' bridge to span a particular body of water, you have a choice - build the bridge or do without.

Something you need to consider is that the things we are discussing are infrastructure items that grow your economy.

Those tall buildings provide jobs.

Those large ships mean you can import and export more goods.

Those large airplanes mean more people can afford to travel.

Those large bridges mean that good and people can move faster and less expensively from place to place.

In summary - all of the things you describes create wealth.

Answer 2

This trend has by and large ended in the united states, and indeed in most western nations.  Most of these new "super" structures are being built in emerging powers, or those who wish to be seen as such.  In some cases, it is somewhat understandable, as in China's truly massive dam projects, where much of the underlying motivation is to provide power to the rapidly modernizing industry.  But cases like Dubai, and the UAE in general, do seem to be primarily vanity projects, built with little foresight on the shifting sands of the Persian Gulf.  

The trend in technologically advanced countries seems to be towards the ever smaller.  Tiny is the new gigantic.  But to get to what i think is your real question, (why isn't this money being spent on social betterment?)  for the most part, the money that builds the massive and develops the tiny is private, not public, money.  And do we want to put better education, police, or public health in the hands of private money?  I do not.  Better that we de-fund the bloated military budgets of governments to a sane level, and use this public money to enrich the public, rather than to line the pockets of Boeing, Lockheed, Halliburton, et. al.

Answer 3

Dams are a good example. We build dams to give a politician immortality. Same goes for the giant engineering structures.

The Romans deified their emperors. The Catholics deify their saints. We deify our politicians.

Answer 4

I do agree with you.  The arrogance of mankind has been our downfall.  Look at

the Titanic.  Need I say more.  Yes, I think more should be done for the humanities.

However, part of helping humanity is also

building more efficient and safe transportation.  But yes, by far education, rescue and natural disasters need our full

attention.  I have always believed that our

teachers, rescuers, policemen and firemen

(and policwomen and firewomen) should

get paid more than sports players.  Look

at all the arrogance there.  They are being

paid like they are gods or something. This

country is out of focus regarding priorities.

Let's let the sports players play for the sport and not the money!!  Then there would be no abuse of steroids, etc.  That money should be going to helping people that help humanity!!!!

Answer 5

If everyone lived in super tall buildings, less materials would be required to build that, than individual homes for each.  This saves money and valueable resources.

Nobody builds the longest bridge for the heck of it.  It needs to connect 2 points that have a need for interaction.  Most of the projects are not started with the purpose of being the biggest/longest/highest, they are mostly meeting a need.  Usually advances in technology have allowed these structures to be built, whereas before they were impossible.