This photo is of asphalt. Specifically, it’s part of the street in front of my house in Virginia. As I explained recently in this column, asphalt is under-appreciated stuff. Asphalt is yet another way in which our modern lives are made cleaner by capitalism. For example, unlike the case with unpaved roads, because of inexpensive road paving made possible by asphalt, very little road dust is stirred up into our breathable air each time a vehicle passes.
