The economy clothes aren't great, but you can get a quality tailored suit for $4000. That's about 6 weeks pay for a PFC in the US Army. A roman legionnaire would pay about a gold ounce for a quality (at the time) set of clothing, however, at the cost of about 6 months pay.
They don't build 'em like they used to, but those of us in the rank and file are getting better off. We can't all be "I think I will just buy Hawaii" rich like Zuckerberg, but quality of life is, overall, improving.
I think there's a good point in-between a $4000 dollar tailored suit and a $0.13 tshirt made of plastic that is designed for the landfill.
I'm unsure why we default to extremes on that regard. A decent made T-Shirt should cost about $40, but right now the $40 shirt costs $.10 to make. Therein lies the self-consuming nature of how things are going right now.
The problem is that we are missing the proof of this supposed quality difference.
Price does not necessarily imply quality (branding is much more of a factor).
Even if price did imply quality for certain brands, the question would be how much more qualitative? Will it hold 10x more wash cycles or last 10x longer?
In which case a consumer could make an actually informed decision on quality vs. price.
They don't build 'em like they used to, but those of us in the rank and file are getting better off. We can't all be "I think I will just buy Hawaii" rich like Zuckerberg, but quality of life is, overall, improving.