Why on earth do we carpet floorboards?

Back in the 1960's my parents covered the beautiful hardwood floors in their new home with carpet. Yuk! In the 1970's they put deep pile carpet in the bathroom of a cattle ranch house. Gross! In the 1980's (or before) my father's ranch pick-up trucks started being delivered with wall-to-wall interior carpet. We could no longer sweep out the dust, gravel, and cow manure from the previously rubber covered floorboards. My spouse's Jeep Cherokee removable floor mats are carpeted! This means a dust magnet covering another dust magnet. Why, why, why I ask myself? Has anyone else recognized the folly of this carpeting our automobiles and returned to common sense good old-fashioned rubber floor covering during a restoration? How many have replaced floorboards due to wet carpeting having provided the perfect environment for rust and rot? How many more complaints will I read about someone here trying to get their reproduction "custom fit" carpet to lay down flat? I thought I heard somewhere that the original 1968 Road Runner had a practical rubber floor material. I say, down with dirty, impossible to ever clean, "luxurious" carpet everywhere. What are my alternatives? Please tell me.