Capitalism & Consumers
I had a perfectly nice desk chair a month or two ago. Real nice, comfortable. And it broke. One of the pieces used to attach the seat to the wheelbase was this hard plastic clip. Which, being plastic, inevitably broke. And that one little piece breaking made the whole chair worthless. Honestly, why that piece of plastic couldn't have been made of metal instead is beyond me. But not really. See, this is how shit works in this day and age. Quality products quit being a selling point decades ago. Now it's about making your products as cheaply as possible, and selling them for as much as you can get away with it. Oh no, it broke 4 months later? "Oh well, they can just buy a new one! From us! More money in our pocket!" It pisses me off.
Yesterday, I had to pick up a standing fan for the living room. The old one finally died, after a couple of years. (Now that's product quality I miss.) So I picked up a $20 fan at Walmart and got back home to get it out of the box and put together. And lo and behold, 50% of it is made out of cheap plastic. The little clip that goes on the front of the fan cage with the brand logo on it was broken right out of the box. That pissed me off, too. It's not an integral part of the fan, granted. But the fact that I can't even buy new products in pristine condition is pretty sad. And aggravating.
Fucking Capitalism.
And sure, I know... "Well what do you expect for $20?" But honestly? Alot more than that. It just disgusts me. Cheaply made products sold at semi-fair prices that break or need replaced a couple months down the road. Even my new Nike shoes were made in a Vietnam sweatshop. Brand name doesn't even mean shit anymore.
Yesterday, I had to pick up a standing fan for the living room. The old one finally died, after a couple of years. (Now that's product quality I miss.) So I picked up a $20 fan at Walmart and got back home to get it out of the box and put together. And lo and behold, 50% of it is made out of cheap plastic. The little clip that goes on the front of the fan cage with the brand logo on it was broken right out of the box. That pissed me off, too. It's not an integral part of the fan, granted. But the fact that I can't even buy new products in pristine condition is pretty sad. And aggravating.
Fucking Capitalism.
And sure, I know... "Well what do you expect for $20?" But honestly? Alot more than that. It just disgusts me. Cheaply made products sold at semi-fair prices that break or need replaced a couple months down the road. Even my new Nike shoes were made in a Vietnam sweatshop. Brand name doesn't even mean shit anymore.