Community Chat

[Mindy D]

If everything we buy only lasts for a short while due to shoddy quality; how are we going to prosper here in the future? How can people get ahead if they have to keep paying for things they have already paid for? 

[Alison Wonderland]

I haven't really run into this issue. Replacing broken items hasn't been something I've been scrambling to do in an endless loop and it hasn't really kept me from getting ahead. My car needs more maintenance now, but it's almost 10 years old.

More people are kept from getting ahead because of student loans, medical debt, stagnant wages, increased housing costs, or spending above their means. None of the economists I follow or whose books I've read have mentioned people not being able to get ahead because they keep paying to replace things.

[sidsmom]

Use it up

wear it out

make it do

or do without.

I believe a lot of people have no idea what this means.

And yes, it doesn't get past me I'm expressing this thought

on a shopping channel forum. 

[Q4u]

A very interesting book published (I think) in the 60's called "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard about planned obsolescence.  Unfortunately it isn't our prosperous future the manufacturers are concerned with, but theirs.....  

[reiki604]

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@Q4u wrote:

A very interesting book published (I think) in the 60's called "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard about planned obsolescence.  Unfortunately it isn't our prosperous future the manufacturers are concerned with, but theirs.....  

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Exactly! We are seeing a shrinking middle class and the focus is on maintaining or increasing the wealth of the wealthiest among us. Yes, I am very pleased with my stocks and have prospered after harsh losses during Bush's recession, but I learned from it. Both my financial advisers are positioning me for a recession or correction in the market and are reconfiguring my investments. Planned obsolescence has been in effect since the rise of the middle class because they could afford to replace with 'better' replacements. Not so much anymore, perhaps the impetus for the rise of minimalism in the younger generations. 

[Kachina624]

There are other aspects of our future that worry me.

[Mindy D]

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@Alison Wonderland wrote:

I haven't really run into this issue. Replacing broken items hasn't been something I've been scrambling to do in an endless loop and it hasn't really kept me from getting ahead. My car needs more maintenance now, but it's almost 10 years old.

More people are kept from getting ahead because of student loans, medical debt, stagnant wages, increased housing costs, or spending above their means. None of the economists I follow or whose books I've read have mentioned people not being able to get ahead because they keep paying to replace things.

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The lack of people discussing this is the reason I’m bringing it up. Just one example, last night I was looking at floor fans online. I have a great Holmes fun that is 14 years old and it stopped working on one of the speeds. I thought I’d order a new one since mine had been so reliable and works great. I checked reviews for Holmes fans on a few web sites and reviewers were complaining that their fans only last from a few months to a year. I checked other brands and found the same problem with those fans. It’s as if everything bought has such a short life expectancy that items are expected to not last anymore. When things keep breaking the replacement costs will add up. That’s not a good thing. It’s throwing money away. 

[pigletsmom]

Well things used to last a long time but of course they were also super expensive. I had a microwave for 25 years but I remember how expensive that thing was back then. Of course a lot of people went without stuff because of cost too. Not sure there's any inbetween options.

[Anonymous032819]

It's great if one can afford to buy top of the line, top quality product but also keep in mind, that not everyone can.

Prices keep going up, but wages for the most part, have stayed stagnant.

One buys what they can afford.

[Mindy D]

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@Anonymous032819 wrote:

It's great if one can afford to buy top of the line, top quality product but also keep in mind, that not everyone can.

Prices keep going up, but wages for the most part, have stayed stagnant.

One buys what they can afford.

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There’s rarely a top quality product anymore. Price doesn’t indicate quality anymore either. Very expensive things just fall apart or are made obsolete very quickly.