I wrote this on February 16, 2016 on heyheyrenee.
https://www.heyheyrenee.com/2016/02/16/my-moms-furnace-was-good-for-america/
So is where we are today really progress?
I miss the record store. Streaming isn't the same as looking at my albums. Computer algorithms can't tell me what the person in the record store used to. When I would ask the person in the record store, they just always seemed to know what I liked - because they got to know me.
I miss the hardware store. I could always go into the store and ask anyone this:
"I need a thingy that goes into my thingy". The hardware person would instantly say, "Yep, I know exactly what you need" and take me to it. I tried Googling "I need a thingy that goes into my thingy" - I got a porn site.
I miss the cool clothes store I used to go to. They always had jeans that fit, no matter what shape I was in. I miss talking to the people in the clothes store, the chatting with the cute sales people.
I'm sick and tired of products that don't last. Nothing I buy, seems to last. Our house is less than 15 years old. The furnace motor went out. It's 500 bucks to fix it. My Mom's house was built in 1950. She just replaced her furnace a few years ago. He furnace lasted 50+ years, ours lasted 15.
I'm so fucking sick of buying cheap shit that doesn't that last. I'm going back to paying more.
I admit, I did this to myself. Like the rest of America, I got hooked on this idea that free and cheap is good for us. I thought Amazon was great and now we're hooked. I thought it was better to download music than going out to buy it. I got tricked into thinking that if I never have to leave my house, if everything can be brought to me, that's great. It's not, I was wrong.
I'm going to start paying more. I'm going back to the record store. Amazon is proving hard to get rid of, I'm addicted. But if I can get off of drugs and booze, I can surely kick my consumerism habit.
Free and cheap is what's killing our country.
My mom's furnace was made in America, in the industrial age. It was made by Americans who worked for the factory - in America. They made enough money to buy a new car every 10 years, take a vacation, send their kids to college. My mom's furnace was made by people who took pride in their work, because they knew their neighbors would be using the furnace they helped make. My mom's furnace was good for our country.
Our furnace on the other hand, was made in some far away land. It was made by people who could care less about me. Hell I'm surprised it's lasted this long.
Think about all the time you spend dealing with shitty products that don't last. What about when you call your bank? You really think the person on the other end of the phone cares? I don't. But because there's only 3 banks now, they don't have to care - they got us by the balls. Think about all the software you use that doesn't work right. What about all the time you spend, trying to get it to work right? The software was written by people oversees. Why? Because they're cheaper. Why doesn't the software work right? Because it was made by people who don't care. Think about the phone calls for whatever, to call centers in India. Do you think they care? I don't.
So what happens is you eventually give up, which is exactly what the oligarchy wants -- because they've broken you to the point of apathy. Because when you're apathetic, they can go on with their scam of making stuff cheaper that lasts even less time. Why? Because you don't care. We lose, they win.
Our country is so hooked on free and cheap, we can't see the damage we're doing to ourselves. If the terrorists we're doing this to us we'd declare war. But when Amazon does it, they get on the cover of a magazine.
We are so lost. Most walk around all day with their heads up their...phone. When are people going to see what's happened? When are people going to get that we'd all be better off paying more? This isn't rocket science.
If we paid more, stuff would be made in the USA. If we paid more, computers would be made here in the USA. If we paid more, stuff would be made to last. Because it'd be made here by our neighbors, by people who care. If stuff was made here the American dream returns for those of us who aren't funded by Venture Capital, who didn't go to blue blood schools, who aren't insiders, and who can't afford higher education. If stuff was made here the American dream returns for the blue collar folks.
We are fucking ourselves and our neighbors with this twisted notion that free and cheap is good for us. Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple's biggest contribution isn't their tech. No, their biggest contribution is that they're killing businesses, American jobs and our economy. Again, if the terrorists were doing this to us we'd declare war.
Our country peaked in the industrial age.
Our country will return to greatness (is that a word?) when products and goods are built here in America, by Americans. Not just some goods and products, most. Our economy will be strong when my furnace is made by Americans, in America. The American dream returns when we ditch this bizarre notion that cost, likes and views are what matters most. Our country will be great again when we all get that by paying more we are investing in our neighbors, our soil, and the American dream.
Not until then.
Nope. We keep going on the way we are, we're fucked.
Well, the oligarchy isn't. But the rest of us including yours truly, are.
