So why don’t we start making concrete like this again?
Discussion
Because we've improved and it costs less
If the old concrete lasted only 2X as long (instead of 100sX as long) that would apply.
The answer is it's cheaper upfront.
In a money system that puts MORE value on doing things cheap upfront instead of building for the future, this is what you get.
When you look back in history, the best art and architecture was done/built during HARD MONEY times - when money had value.
We are headed back to those times once the US$ system fails and we go back to Gold, but ultimately we will end up on a #Bitcoin standard driving time preference to zero - meaning we will build everything for the future to last as long as technically possible.
We will also make decisions to do something based on future value - instead of as cheap as possible upfront to get by at the expense of the future. If you study history, this all becomes very clear over 1000s of years.
Very good question.
Before answering I leave here this little text fragment about Roman cement.
“Roman cement, made primarily from volcanic ash (pozzolana) and lime, reacted with seawater to create tobermorite, a mineral that improves durability and allows for self-repair of cracks. In contrast, modern cement, usually Portland cement made from limestone and clay, does not naturally form tobermorite and is designed to be inert, lacking these self-repairing properties. Although modern cement can be improved with pozzolanic materials, standard formulations do not match the inherent durability of Roman cement.”
Why it is not used is a question inherent in our new way of life. The first incandescent light bulb still works and change in your house lasted just years, everything is built to be ethereal to last a short time, you want to pay little for products and what you get are perishable products, and you want to pay little because your purchasing power is detrimental with every passing second.
It's for the same reason that now you have shitty music like Taylor Swift and before you had Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed for god, an entity you can't fool, an all-seeing entity that will be there after your death, an entity that transcends your existence. Now who/what do musicians compose for? They don't even compose for the court or the king like Mozart, they compose to make money, worthless fake money to consume perishable goods and services without any kind of transcendental spirituality.
The same happens with architects, cathedrals were built for god, the Romans themselves built for their gods and the existence of the building should transcend human life itself. For whom do architects build or why do they build today?
Not everything is cost/benefit, if you want to transcend human existence you must move your goals away from the divine, if you want to go to the moon you have to consider going further, if you only consider climbing 100 meters you will never reach the moon.
With weak money that loses its value, saving is meaningless, and without saving you can not undertake divine works, there are many millionaires, but millionaires on paper, they really have no liquidity, and without liquidity you can not build cathedrals or ships that take you to Mars.
#Bitcoin