4 ms·
Nice idea, doesn't match reality though. We do indeed have too much stuff, but too much stuff being produced. With no sign it's stopping. In fact it's accelera
by NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Nice idea, doesn't match reality though.
We do indeed have too much stuff, but too much stuff being produced. With no sign it's stopping. In fact it's accelerating.
Instead of getting what we need, we're getting what we need, in excess packaging, and having to replace it every year or two as structural components, hinges, gears and bearings are made of plastic. If that's not enough we build far larger and heavier cars, we buy far more food than we eat, fridges and freezers get ever bigger. Clothes that lasted years are now made to wear out after a few months or if lucky, a year and the rubbish bin is now a wheelie bin with 2-3x the volume, and a recycling bin or 3. Today we struggle to get all the crap in the huge bin as it's full. So is the recycling. In 1980 the old school trashcan was rarely filled, except maybe the week after Xmas.
Meanwhile industry is convincing us that some other standard bit of being human is a source of failure and sells a cream, perfume or product to mask it, or a pill or service to avoid it. Or selling us a subscription to some simple thing made complex - e.g. fruit juice, bottled water, coffee pods. Even those of us who still try to be old-school and not buy into every fad, or replace a kitchen because they fancy a new colour, end up buying far more than we did in the 80s or 90s as the world is now built to make it unavoidable.
I'd love to see the merest hint that people are even thinking about not wanting more stuff...
- daxfohl 7y agoYeah and it's not only that. I didn't think it through. We're not at peak stuff ownership either. If we were, then we'd see wealthy people living in average-size houses. As is, however, wealthy still live in bigger houses, presumably buy more stuff to fill them, than those without the money to do so. This all implies if/when average income rises, stuff ownership will continue to rise with it.
- benj111 7y agoThis is all starting to be addressed. France I believe is introducing a law forcing manufacturers to show the expected lifetime of their goods, various laws on packaging are in the works. Yesterday for example Burger King announced they were no longer including plastic toys with their kids meals (could be uk only). I don't know what country you're from, but this is already happening in western Europe. Slowly, but it is happening.
- CalRobert 7y agoMaybe everyone's trying to fill the hole caused by the modern loneliness epidemic (itself a complex phenomenon) with more stupid shit.
- bigred100 7y agoI fill it with PlayStation