Coming out of World War Two we had a serious glut of manufacturing capacity. Planned obsolescence gave us a bottomless pit to throw that capacity at.
If instead we’d had a glut of skilled labor, we’d have had people making intricate customizations to durable goods to adapt them to the owners.
But... not only didn’t we have that glut of skilled labor, but skilled labor is beneath a lot of people. It’s déclassé. And I’m starting to think that if we don’t get over that we’re going to be in for a world of hurt, not just from overconsumption but also from underemployment.
If instead we’d had a glut of skilled labor, we’d have had people making intricate customizations to durable goods to adapt them to the owners.
But... not only didn’t we have that glut of skilled labor, but skilled labor is beneath a lot of people. It’s déclassé. And I’m starting to think that if we don’t get over that we’re going to be in for a world of hurt, not just from overconsumption but also from underemployment.