Comment by noonespecial | Hacker News Reader

Comment by noonespecial | Hacker News Reader

Its a bit of a two edged sword. Walmart-ism democratized stuff.

Just before my grandfather died he gave me a circular saw he got in the late 50's. It cost him a months salary. Its a monster. 100% metal right down to the trigger you pull to switch it on. It works as well as the day it was made. Its a piece of fantastic quality engineering... that my grandfather couldn't afford until he was middle aged.

The existence of plastic throwaway circular saws at Home Depot is a good thing. It means that some people who would never have had them at all can now have one, albeit a poor one. The trouble is, it makes it harder to find a saw like my grandfather's when you decide that its what you want.

And it is what you want in the end. Carefully buying top quality things as you can afford them is brutal at the beginning, but as you build up a cache of high quality things, you can stop buying the cheap garbage over and over again and begin to enjoy the things you have, even as they save you money, time and hassle in the end.

As usual, the capitalist view has it in terms of the individual (as opposed to the collectivity or even the whole planet). One can think about the (perceived) benefits of buying (allegedly) cheap products. But like many things, the figure on that price tag is not the real price. It leaves out externalities.

Indeed, there was both a human (e.g. low salary for those workers, incredibly long working days for those Asians manufacturing the cheap product) and an environmental cost (e.g. pollution in countries where the anti-pollution laws are non existent, carbon emitted during transport). Those costs are not factored into the figure one can see on that price tag.

"Indeed, there was both a human (e.g. low salary for those workers, incredibly long working days for those Asians manufacturing the cheap product)"

They may work for a low salary, but in those countries, it's low salary or their family starves.

"(e.g. pollution in countries where the anti-pollution laws are non existent, carbon emitted during transport)."

Blame the government. They are the gatekeepers that choose to allow this type of pollution.

Blame the government. They are the gatekeepers that choose to allow this type of pollution.

It is Walmart – not the government – which pollutes in somebody else's garden. And North American consumers are certainly to blame as well for shopping at Walmart and thus contributing to increase its clout.

If consumers could see the details of the whole supply chain (from collecting the raw materials all the way to putting the product on the shelf), companies with no concerns other than maximizing profits – like Walmart – would lose their customers in no time.

If only the illegal drug users in the US saw it the same way, the cartels would be out of business. Maybe a solution to stop the violence?

"The trouble is, it makes it harder to find a saw like my grandfather's when you decide that its what you want."

There is plenty of high end gear available. Items that are used by professionals. As only one product category (video) contains consumer, pro-sumer and professional equipment.

On this page you can buy a circular saw made by Makita which costs $879 or buy a re manufactured Makita for $69

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_power-tools+...?

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