Assignment 7- Jessica Nelson

October 7th has never before had any significance to me. However now I have to reconsider this because as I think about how much affect the first use if any assembly line, which occurred on this date, has affected my life and everyone it. If you were to look around you right now I’d be willing to bet at least 90% of the objects in the room were made on an assembly line, and if the assembly line had not been created all you’d really have left of it is that quilt your grandmother sewed you that you haven’t taken out of your closet in 4 years. Assembly lines have allowed for a lot of progression and growth. Now we can quickly produce cars to transport us, beds to sleep in, and computers for you to read this blog post on (or if you're me to put off writing it and watch Netflix on, but then again that probably holds some truth for you too). It has made our society able to have access to many more things and support many people. But is that really a good thing? Rising populations means overcrowding in schools (which in turn lowers the quality of the education received in many cases, easier spread of disease, and more trash polluting our planet (in addition to the smog and gases released from the power sources of these assembly lines). And being able to have more things has made many people materialistic, therefore lessening the value of relationships and the like. My family has a tradition of working with Ford seeing as we are from Michigan but even though the assembly line was a great economic tool at first look at it’s effects, it has left many employees laid off and in financial trouble, a city in ruins, and a polluted planet, so in the long run I think this event has hurt us more than it helped us (although I must admit I still do enjoy my machine assembled granola bar every morning).