One of the most telling...
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One of the most telling books about our wasteful American society is David Halberstam's study titled, The Reckoning. Our crisis is that we have permitted our industrial supremacy to slip away from us. That was not by accident. Back in the fifties we created the disposable society. We were so prosperous we could afford to create products with built-in obsolescence. Our manufacturers did not improve their products or the factories for making them. They could count on the American public to replace their disposable products with new ones.
However, during the short space of twenty-five years the disposable products were replaced with quality and durable goods from overseas manufacturers who sold them at cheaper prices. The fault was not simply with the smokestack industries who were prompted by greed to make disposable goods. Nor was it only the unions who were prompted by greed to push their demands for higher pay and greater benefits. The fault was just as much with the American consumers who greedily bought up disposable items and just as quickly turned to overseas products. Now both American manufacturers and consumers want durable goods of quality. American industry learned the hard way that we reap what we sow.
However, during the short space of twenty-five years the disposable products were replaced with quality and durable goods from overseas manufacturers who sold them at cheaper prices. The fault was not simply with the smokestack industries who were prompted by greed to make disposable goods. Nor was it only the unions who were prompted by greed to push their demands for higher pay and greater benefits. The fault was just as much with the American consumers who greedily bought up disposable items and just as quickly turned to overseas products. Now both American manufacturers and consumers want durable goods of quality. American industry learned the hard way that we reap what we sow.
