20 years ago you'd pay a lot for a fridge that would last you 30 years. Now you pay 2 times less for one that will last you roughly 5 years. So you're going to buy 6 fridges in the space of 30 years for at least 2 times more money, which means that it's a net benefit for the "fridge industry" in every way to build cheaper.

Ethics? quality? nah, most people want cheap, they are living from pay check to pay check and their capacity to borrow have been greatly reduced since the 2007 crisis.