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Quantity? Absolutely. Quality? That’s debatable; it’s highly dependent on the goods in question and how quality is measured.
by chimpanzee 2y ago
Quantity? Absolutely. Quality? That’s debatable; it’s highly dependent on the goods in question and how quality is measured.
- bawolff 2y agoJust because something is higher quality does not mean it has higher subjective value. E.g. i still think i come out ahead with cheap clothes and a laptop then someone 100 years ago with higher quality clothes.
- coffeebeqn 2y agoI’d rather have a house than shitty fast fashion but your mileage may vary
- edmundsauto 2y agoA better comparison would be this: would you rather have 3 suits that you wore everyday that cost a months wages, or 30 shirts and pants that cost a weeks wages but are lower quality. (Also, IMO, houses today are much higher quality than in the past as soon as you account for safety)
- ornornor 2y agoThe answer differs whether you answer it selfishly or with the greater good in mind (resource use/waste, pollution, etc)
- eru 2y agoIf you can find a neighbourhood that's as dangerous and unsafe as those a hundred years ago, the house would be very cheap compared to GDP per capita.
- astrange 2y agoProbably don't want a common house from 1924 with lead paint, an indoor wooden stove for heating and an outhouse.
- jhbadger 2y agoAlso average houses from that time period were tiny, with about ~1000 sq ft of livable space. That people were expected to raise families in. My apartment (which is just for me and my cat) is bigger than that! https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- throwup238 2y agoI think you're underestimating the technological development in the last 80 years to a comical degree. In 1944, half the country didn't have flush toilets!
- bombcar 2y agoAnyone who does serious work with ancient technologies knows both that the older stuff was much more repairable but also needed to be repaired much more often. Material and building science has advanced a mind boggling tremendous amount - even modern toilets are significantly better than an actual un-upgraded 40’s - if you can find it. At the same time we can mass manufacture endless cheap plastic shit.
- eru 2y ago> At the same time we can mass manufacture endless cheap plastic shit. You say it like that's a bad thing.
- amarant 2y agoGood or bad are subjective, but "endless cheap plastic shit" certainly does lower the average quality of goods available today.
- eru 2y agoWhat do you care about the overall average quality? You don't need to buy them. You only need to worry about perhaps the average of the things you buy.
- bombcar 2y agoExactly - what most people are really complaining about when they say everything is crap these days is that other people make different decisions about purchasing, or that they wish they were forced to buy the higher quality item. It is a bit annoying to have to search and find high-quality items, but it's still doable.