Throw Away Culture

Video: Captain Charles Moore on plastics and sailing the great garbage island in the Pacific.

"The market can do a lot of things, but one thing it cannot do is fix the natural system in the ocean that we have broken. All the kings horses and all the kings men can't gather up all the plastic and put the ocean back together again."

He also touches on post-war planned obsolescence. One reason why we have too much retail and big box floating around, because it is cheaper and easier to toss shit and get another. I imagine the world of shrinking retail will include a rise in pawn shops, after market stores, and fix-it/refurbishment shops, i.e. the people that give things a longer lifespan.

GM is done

...err Toast, according to Megan McArdle.

I previously suggested that they need a visionary plan to save them by reconfiguring their shop to build things we might need. You know, perhaps like the trains to go on the high speed rails that apparently we will be building.

Now? Since they clearly lack the leadership to do anything but "stay the course," it's time to let them go under and liquidate. Allow a new company to build those trains.

Here is where I would suggest that all the boomers should think about retiring and let us take a crack at running this thing we call society...but wouldn't you know if they ruined those retirement plans as well.