Why does a car only last 10 years (I think this is average) – we might be on the cusp of a revolution here, but with an electric car there are few things to wear out, so it should last for decades. This might mean that we need a new model for business that does not require growth all the time. Is it true that Hoover nearly went bust because their single tub washing machine never went wrong? Or that the first light bulb invented still works.
My brother whom I still have disputes with pointed out a few years ago that Felixstowe and Tilbury has container ships coming in from China with plastic tat, and then 2 months later were taking the same stuff – broken or unloved – back again. No sense and environmentally criminal.
We should be teaching infants craft skills as well as the 3 R’s. How many people buy a Christmas wreath and then throw it away? Society needs to move away from disposable consumerism. China will find an equilibrium, as will chop manufacturers and clothes manufacturers. The false world that has been created by economists has to fail? Not because I want it to, but because it is non-sensical. The world is better, or at least tastier, due to globalisation. But do we need strawberries at Xmas? Or just like summer itself should we enjoy it when it occurs.