"Capitalism does three things. Prices go down, quality goes up, and more people have more things." -Charlie Kirk
Capitalism, as exemplified by planned obsolescence, fails to decrease prices while enhancing product quality. To assert that it's economically viable to replace tools or labor-saving machines more frequently due to intentional design flaws is a disregard for our collective intelligence. The need for more frequent replacements, orchestrated by products designed to fail, hardly signifies an improvement in quality.
How can one believe in the promise that more people will possess more things under capitalism when they are consistently compelled to replace items due to planned obsolescence? Charlie Kirk's assertion that more people will accumulate more possessions contradicts the reality that the working conditions of the proletariat have remained stagnant for over a century. For this promise to materialize, working hours should decrease while pay increases.
In an enlightening interview by Albert R. Parsons from the Chicago Daily News in March 1886, he stated, "Reduced hours, or eight-hours, is the peace-offering. Fewer hours mean more pay." This historical perspective emphasizes the connection between reduced working hours and improved living standards, acknowledging the need for economic reform that benefits laborers as consumers.
Given this insight, it's challenging not to view Mr. Kirk's statements as, at best, disingenuous and, at worst, a deliberate attempt to mislead. His narrative seems disconnected from the historical struggles for workers' rights and economic reforms that genuinely improve the quality of life for the producers.
P.S.
The following is part of an interview by Albert R. Parsons printed in the Chicago Daily News, March 13, 1886 “The movement to reduce the work-hours is intended by its projectors to give a peaceful solution to the difficulties between the capitalists and laborers. I have always held that there were two ways to settle this trouble, either by peaceable means or violent methods. Reduced hours, or eight-hours, is the peace-offering. Fewer hours mean more pay. Reduced hours is the only measure of economic reform which consults the interests of the laborers as consumers. Now, this means a higher standard of living for the producers, which can only be acquired by possessing and consuming a larger share of their own product. This would diminish the profits of the labor exploiters.”