[extropy-chat] When Did (or Do) People Start Locking Doors?

[BillK]

On 12/15/06, Robert Bradbury wrote:
>
> It will be interesting to see what happens as society transitions from the
> physical reality to the virtual one.  The reason one starts locking doors is
> presumably because there is something of "value" behind them.  If one
> abstains from accumulating things of value then one need not worry about
> locking ones door.  Equivalently if the nanoera makes "things" of equal or
> better value available to everyone then there will be no point to robbery,
> burglery, car jackings, etc.  There will be no point to locking ones door.
> It is only if one has something of value on the open market that people
> might desire to take it from you.
>


An interesting point is that before the Industrial Revolution, locks
were very expensive, hand-crafted items in their own right. Only rich
people could afford locks.

In the good ol' days poor people left their doors unlocked because
they didn't have anything of value *and* they couldn't afford the
locks anyway.

>From the 1960's onward what you are talking about is inner city decay,
urban decline and 'White Flight' out to the suburbs.

BillK