--- Steven Bissell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> (snip)
> Nancy wrote***"I'm not talking about an "everlasting" product -- I'm
> only
> talking about
> products, such as cars and trucks, that are built so that parts have to
> be
> replaced more often, instead of building them to last? As was done in
> the
> old
> Soviet Union?"
>
> As *what* was done in the old Soviet Union? Have you ever seen any of
> the
> soviet built cars? I drive a 30+ year old car built in West Germany, the
> pinnacle of capitalism. It has 160,000+ miles on it and is going strong.
> From what I've read, soviet built cars often didn't run right out of the
> factory. I'm not sure what you point is, and further, what has it to do
> with
> environmental ethics? You seem to want to make the point that
> capitalism, an
> economic system, is incompatible with environmental protection. The
> point is
> that any economic system can be adapted to strong environmental policy
> or
> bad environmental policy; I'm not sure why you think there is a robust
> connection between any given economic system and environmental
> policy/ethics. Can you explain that point. . .rather than beat up on
> capitalism. . .a bit more?
>
> By the way, I'm not much of a capitalist, I buy and sell pocket knives
> as a
> hobby, but I don't do it for profit: I just like doing it.
Good point Steven. My wife drives a car, a Honda, that has over 130,000
miles on it. If you take care of the car and replace the parts that
periodically need replacing due to wear and tear they can last a long
time. Some parts need replacing periodically, this is just an annoying
fact.
As for purposefully engineering a product to need more frequent
replacement, I suppose this is possible, but there would be market forces
that would also opperate to the contrary. For example, I hate changing
the oil on our cars so I spend more money buying synthetic oil so I have
to do it less frequently.
Steve
=====
"In a nutshell, he [Steve] is 100% unadulterated evil. I do not believe in a 'Satan', but this man is as close to 'the real McCoy' as they come."
--Jamey Lee West
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