Our economy was affected, the landscape was altered, our cities were rebuilt to accommodate the new technology, settlement patterns were changed, the very way we live and work was irrevocably altered. And then there is the effect on the environment. But most of these changes were unanticipated, indeed, we call them "unforeseen consequences". There's a lot of people that can be blamed for how things turned out, but no one planned it that way.

And its mostly an American phenomenon; Europe and Asia have cars too but their effect has not been as total there as it has been here. They still have livable cities, decent mass transport, and much less in the way of vast, low-density suburban wastelands. Still, rightly or wrongly, I believe most people feel the price we had to pay for the family car was worth it.

But nobody in the world has the gun problem we've got. Not even close.

For better or worse, the automobile changed this country, and the world, profoundly. The firearms epidemic has given America nothing but heartbreak.