Dear Editor,
At first glance I thought that the front page photograph of the April 16, 2008 Stabroek News issue depicting a motorcycle and its driver being hauled by a horse-cart was not newsworthy. But upon some reflection, I saw the appositeness of the picture.
First, the caption should have been “Horse power”, not “Cart power.” A cart by itself has no power.
Second, the horse has been an orthodox form of transport for humankind for a far much longer time than mechanized forms of transport.
Third, if the predictions of global warming were to come to pass, the horse might once more become an orthodox form of transport by the year 2108.
Passing a rusted, weed-covered derelict of an ancient gas-guzzler, a child of the future riding in a horse and buggy besides his parents might ask, “Mummy, what’s that?” The mother of the future might reply, “That’s from a time when people were very ignorant and superstitious. They thought they could have used all the resources of the Earth without any consequences.”
So a prophetic caption for the front page image could be, “Future form of transport – a grass-guzzler.”
Yours faithfully,
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett
