Having grown up without a dishwasher and gotten one in my late 20s I can not go back. The thing with these machines is that they are actually more efficient than humans, using less water and less soap. If you had to drive to get to a river you would also use more energy as well...

I grew up in Brazil and I remember the news stories about soap pollution in the Tiete river in São Paulo city. The people who lived next to that river were some of the poorest people in the country (the river often flooded the surrounding areas), the amount of laundry soap they were dropping in the river directly without treatment was causing huge environmental problems.

(note a lot of them did have washing machines, they didn't have proper sewage treatment)

I also once stayed in a remote village in India for a few weeks, I had the exact same conclusion. Washing machines are enormously valuable, a huge win for society.

This is so true. If I was only allowed to keep a single electrical device at home, it would be my washing machine. If I want to exercise, I'll go for a walk while the machine magically washes my clothes, thank you very much.