- Banned
- #1
Somebody asked me why there have been so few oceanliners that sailed the Pacific and so many that sailed the Atlantic.
I told her that its the case for a few reasons.
Firstly, when you're talking about oceanliners, you're talking about times before airplanes, and in those days the Americas and Asia have had very little business with each other and Asia was not as well developed.
You can't just look at modern day Japan and say that, that was always how Asia was.
It wasn't that way until the very end of the industrial age.
Secondly, Europe has the industry, and the Americas have historically had a great deal of business with Europe because it was settled by Europeans.
Thirdly, the Pacific is a lot bigger than the Atlantic and steamships take a lot of fuel...
Just to cross the Atlantic, worker absenteeism was a major issue for those who loaded coal onto the ships because nobody wanted the job.
I told her that its the case for a few reasons.
Firstly, when you're talking about oceanliners, you're talking about times before airplanes, and in those days the Americas and Asia have had very little business with each other and Asia was not as well developed.
You can't just look at modern day Japan and say that, that was always how Asia was.
It wasn't that way until the very end of the industrial age.
Secondly, Europe has the industry, and the Americas have historically had a great deal of business with Europe because it was settled by Europeans.
Thirdly, the Pacific is a lot bigger than the Atlantic and steamships take a lot of fuel...
Just to cross the Atlantic, worker absenteeism was a major issue for those who loaded coal onto the ships because nobody wanted the job.
