It would help if we could buy quality items. Things that have a high labour content, but are made well.
I have been fed up for a long time with the crap that we have to buy, that doesn't last. All the good stuff that we have is fifty or a hundred years old. Some of my tools are mid nineteenth century. Kitchen implements are my parents' wedding presents in 1955 (the knives have been sharpened once). The Ercol dining suite. All these things are in daily use (well, not the tools every day) and don't even show signs of wear. The bloke who sharpened and reset my saws a few years ago marvelled over the quality of the steel.
Cars: someone said to me that Holdens and Fords are designed to only last seven years, five years for the lease plus two. I can believe it. We recently bought a 1999 Peugeot with 170k on the clock. Drives better than a new Astra and the Pug has more gizmos (usually a -ve in my eyes, but they all still work), for $4,800.
Houses: built to be rebuilt.
Over time my parents built the number of "things" they had because they weren't always replacing them. Stove, washing machine, TV, beds, dining suite, lounge - never or rarely replaced. A new carpet was an event almost akin to a wedding!
