My small home town of 9000 people could afford to support a man who did only shoe repair. The shoes cost 50$, so paying him $30 to repair them was an acceptabl

My small home town of 9000 people could afford to support a man who did only shoe repair. The shoes cost 50$, so paying him $30 to repair them was an acceptable purchase. Now the shoes cost $100, but nobody can afford to spend even the original $30 to repair them because they have no money. Also the shoe repair man can't run a business anymore because the shoes are borderline unrepairable, such that even if you replace the sole or any other part, the rest of the shoe is just as worn out and useless. Most engineering effort the past 30 years has been in making things out of materials that are just barely adequate. "It takes an engineer to put together a bridge that just barely stays up" also means it takes a department of engineers to shave one cent off the BOM of these shoes that also happens to make them last half as long.