[Porsche-O-Phile]

The only thing that’s going to “fix” this problem is a radical change in how we think and what our priorities are as a society. We are trained from birth to think in terms of consumption… “More is better”, “bigger is better”, etc.

A large part of our economy is built on sales, getting people to spend their money on things whether or not they need them and ideally getting them to spend it multiple times because things are designed to have a very limited life span (engineered obsolescence).

We necessarily need to think in terms of buying things for the long haul, and only what we actually need. That’s a radical departure and more like the European model where purchases seem to be more thoughtfully made and with an eye more towards quality - everything is expensive and this forces more deliberate choices.

Will it ever catch on here? I don’t know. I’d like to think so but there are an awful lot of people that seem unable to break themselves of the Walmart / Costco / Sam’s Club mindset - more, more, more and bigger, bigger, bigger.

We have ridiculously large houses, vehicles and spending habits and to contract to something more sustainable and sensible will cut against the grain of that entrenched way of thinking that won’t come easily (or at all) for many - “it’s mah gawd-damn right to own a 32’ fishin’ boat and pickup that gets 8mpg and a 3,500 sq. ft. house”. And that’s not necessarily wrong - it SHOULD be up to them. The hope is people will say, “nah... I’m good... pass” on their own and / or say “if I get that, how long will it last for and how much will I really enjoy or benefit from it?”, not just “go git it cause the box in the living room tells me I need it”.

We need to demand better quality - and be willing to pay more for it. Is it better to spend “X” and get something that lasts 5 years or 1.5X to get something that lasts 10? Depends on the item but that thought process is likely totally absent from most purchases, leading inevitably to the creation of China-made, throwaway junk.