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Originally Posted by oldsinner111
Not only Mercedes,but everything. Even refridgerators don't last like the ones made in the 60s.
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You would need a large sample to determine durability of those fridges. As for ones ( few ) still working in peoples basements, they are at the far end of the failure bell curve. If these 60's fridges lasted so long, why are there not more of them still in use?
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Originally Posted by oldsinner111
It all boils down to greed.Shareholders,CEO's want to increase profit so they can have cash to spend now.They don't care about their children or future generations.Its all about what I can get now,or who I can crush.
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That has long been the rallying cry of those that are not in control of their destiny ( or at least make an effort to affect the trajectory ) Do you shop at Wall mart? If so, I bet you go there for low prices correct? Who's greedy now? Why are you not a CEO of some company? Do you have any retirement investments are they in the stock market? If so, do you want the stock market to do well?
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Originally Posted by oldsinner111
It used to be when you worked for a company,you had job security.Now they can up and move to another country,or cut you back to part time.
The only stable employment now is burying the dead,or maybe healthcare.But they will probably part time those jobs too,to prevent benifits.
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Technology is ever changing requiring less and less labor to produce. Take a TV with a glass picture tube, it required vast factories and much equipment to make a tube. An LCD screen takes much less space and equipment. A company can't keep the former CRT people working and not earning their keep so they have to let them go. And what drove the switch from CRT to LCD? I'd say is the customer in the store wanting a large screen TV that didn't weigh 400 Lb. Companies more or less build what people are willing to buy new and often pay the least for.
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Originally Posted by oldsinner111
So buying new products today is really a gamble,for one cars are so expensive you need a mortgage,second they are made cheap.
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Don't bet on it, go here
CPI Inflation Calculator and type in what a car cost in the day and convert it to today's money. Now compare what is in the new car and how many miles it is expected to last. Do the same for tires and other things you bought in the day. Some went up due to increased costs to produce but most goods went down.
I recently saw a U tube vid from GE talking about automation, it stated the a home light bulb cost $ 0.25 in 1955 , that would be $ 2.24 today. A quick web search shows a 2,500 HR life 60W bulb for $ 0.40 . Still think things were cheaper in real dollars in the old days?
It wasn't that long ago that a car with 100,000 was unheard of let alone being offered for sale at a reputable dealers lot as is today.
When you take into consideration the actual cost per mile for an older car in the day and newer one today I'm thinking the actual cost nor a newer one is lower.
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Originally Posted by oldsinner111
I will continue to keep my older cars going,far cheaper than payments,insurance.
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Well sure, fixing an older car is always less expensive per mile than buying a new one ( unless you pile miles on the need a 100% reliable car with near zero down time. ) However, what would you have said about your current car back in the day when it was new and a then 20 year old car?