I agree with that to a point. I disagree with the car part. Toyota and Honda are doing a booming buisness selling what are mostly well built and dependable cars. So there must be something left of the desire to own quality. But alot of our daily life is spent using things that don't need a long life as you say. On the other hand, my previous computer was a Compaq. It wasn't dependable, so I didn't buy another one when the time came to upgrade. I dunno. I guess I was brainwashed by a dad that demanded quality and dependability in everything he bought. Maybe each generation has a diluted sense of what that is though.
BTW, he was a Boeing engineer that saw all that TQM and ISO9000 stuff as B.S. For him, what it was all trying to achieve was a part of his way of doing things already. "If you're going to do something, do it right, or don't do it at all" was pounded into my skull growing up.

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)