I just noticed the one sentence about Wegmans' product sourcing, included almost as an afterthought: "The company also buys a large percentage of its produce from small, local farmers, and has been doing so for 20 years."

That's certainly commendable, but my point still stands. You can't pick and choose ethical practices. The Wegmans near me has one "feelgood" side of the store (reminiscent of Whole Foods), which is likely where one can find the local produce, and one "Wal-mart-esque" side with tons of cheaply-produced mainstream and generic-brand groceries. None of these companies are saints; not by a long shot.

"My answer, and this is just my own opinion based on their actions, is that yes, I honestly think most gadget-makers thought credit-based "disposable" income WOULD last forever."

*snort* I dunno what's worse--people who have no sense of historical precedent (in this case, the 1920's credit boom and bust) or who can't think beyond the next quarter.

"...I think their perception of endless disposable income, coupled with an extreme hubris regarding their own importance to the average consumer has knocked them back on their heels."

Agreed. That latter attitude is one of the reasons so many retail businesses have come to be seen as consumer-hostile. Until the recession his, these folks saw themselves as indispensable, and if you didn't like it, you were uncool, poor, or both. One of my pet peeves in this regard are online stores who will either only take credit cards or gift cards (Amazon.) (I don't do credit cards--I'm paying down a cc debt I incurred ages ago, so it's cash/check-'n-carry for me. :)) Since when do businesses get off virtually telling you what way to buy something? And do places like Amazon realize what a hassle it is if you don't use credit cards and live in an area where their gift cards can't be sold by state law? When it gets to the place you have to go out of your way to get someone to take your money because they don't want to be inconvenienced in keeping your business, that's going too far.

"They are finding out the hard way that maybe the PERCEIVED norm used to be for practically everyone to have a game console, a cell phone, a computer, cable TV, digital camera, Ipod, CDs, a good CD player and so on, but now many people have to make choices as to which they will hang onto and/or replace."

Yep. Back in the 20's and 60's when gadgetry became available to the masses, the number of entertainment choices used to be more manageable--as well as comparatively cheaper. A family had a TV/radio a record player, a camera, a tape recorder, a transistor radio...and that was it. And they didn't come with a plethora of expensive long-contract plans, either. ;)

>A couple of posters, prompted by my original post, have assured me that Blue Rays give superior quality and picture, etc. and so forth. Maybe true, but so what? That's really cool, but means nothing if you can't afford it. It's like the summation of the Depression a relative of mine used to say: "You could buy rolls at two for a nickel, but nobody had a nickel."<

*snort* Hey, I love the sound that Bose speakers give. But I don't live or die by perfect sound quality, so I don't _need_ to own these. And coolness means nothing if you can barely afford to make a living--and that is the cold equation that the consumer industry is getting smacked between the eyes with.

It's much more complex than this. If you are a discriminating shopper Ikea makes well-designed pieces that last. There can be genuine value. You simply must use your brains. This writer seems to believe we don't have them. The people are far smarter than given credit for. We're not out here covering everything in cheese. We're thinking, rational beings trying to survive.

Just say no -- to shopping as a hobby. One small solution to this problem of overconsumption is to avoid the big box stores entirely. So much of their merchandise is sourced in China and other regions where labor is cheap. Another reason to avoid consumeritis is the tons of fuel required to ship all that stuff to our shores. I hate the thought of freighters chugging across the ocean, spewing diesel exhaust, filled with cardboard boxes full of pointless items that will soon clog our landfills, basements, and psyches. Think hard about whether you want to be a part of this nasty system.

On the other hand, I have the privilege of living in Wegmans realm and am a loyal shopper. Wegmans makes it easier for me, a CA native, to live in Syracuse. Although the prices can be a tad higher than Price Chopper, the quality is tops, the employees are helpful and don't seem unhappy. I can purchase locally grown food, then cook it myself in pots and pans I inherited from my mother (Farberware). That's my outlet for craftsmanship -- real food. Life is good.

I am self recycling.

No one cares if you think your cheap shitty furniture from Ikea is the bomb diggity. By buying it, you are feeding into a culture which values disposability above all else: You are buying a product that has paid virtually nothing to its makers, you will toss and add to the dump in the next couple years, and worst of all, you think it is quality furniture. Apparently many of you missed the bit about Ikea harvesting in envionmentally vulnerable areas with little or no oversight. The issue, therefore, is not simply about whether you think cheap and trashy furnishings are convenient or not.

This is no different than the way Americans treat shoes. Instead of polishing and cleaning them ourselves and taking them to get fixed when they are beyond our help, we simply toss them and buy a new pair. This only encourages shoe makers to cut costs on quality and especially labor on their products, putting the squeeze on foreign laborers in unprotected conditions simply so that we can enjoy our laziness and get our consumer fix.

The things we are building today are of much lower quality and durability than the things we used to make. By not bothering to care about things like craftsmanship we are committting a triple sin: We are adding ever more rapidly to our already overflowing wastefills, we are encouraging corporations to seek out the cheapest labor possible, and we are destroying the notion that anything we use, from our shoes to our houses, ought to be built to last or take any factor other than cost and convenience into consideration.