What items AREN’T better than they used to be?
There is absolutely an abundance of cheap crap options out there but almost everything has a much better equivalent available today.
What? Like all appliances break easier and are un-repairable while only performing the same or marginally better than their old counterparts.
Also clothes are way less hardy (though I concede they are cheaper, often softer and don’t bleed in the washer as much) I don’t know that I’d call them better.
Cheap clothes are crappy. More on this story at 11.
You can still buy well made clothes that’ll outlast the person wearing them, they just cost more.
For a lot of things that “they don’t make like they used to,” a few companies still do make things that way, but everyone else has gone with way cheaper methods and materials. You get used to this lower price, and grumble about lower quality.
People in the past used to have way less stuff, because it was all more expensive. For example: old houses don’t have closets because you could fit all your clothes in a single dresser. When you’re forced to buy/make expensive stuff, it had better damn well last.
Planned obsolescence is definitely a thing, but it’s not always the sole reason cheap stuff sucks.
