Because Nobody wants quality anymore, THEY ALL want cheap, be it food, cars laptops or furniture.
Try buying something NOT made in the far east.
Primark don't make ANYTHING in the uk.
My last M&S lightweight suit, (not cheap either.. made in the subcontinent.
Electronic Chips for ecu's and car control systems, 2 makers in the far east....
Indeed - though I wouldn't say 'Far East', given that most of what we're discussing is really from China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other nations with a lot of VERY cheap labour and not much in the way of H&S rules.
Other than cars, I would find it difficult to name much that we buy in the UK that is actually 'made in Japan' these days. South Korea obviously has a base for cars, mobile phones, TVs and other electronics, but even they are slowly outsourcing the assembly to cheaper labour markets. They and Taiwan (and to some extent, Japan) still make a good deal of the top circuitry/computer chips used in other devices.
One of the problems with how the world works is that its mostly 'throw-away' stuff, often with a limited life compared to products designed/made up until about 15-20 years ago, longer in clothing.
I actually still have clothes (fortunately I haven't changed size in that time) made in the UK that I bought in the 1990s (M&S and a few others) that are still going strong, because they are high quality. Today's tat - even from the same shops - sourced and made in China, etc, doesn't last a third of the time.
I even still own a t-shirt bought in the late 80s (when I was a teenager) from the Co-Op (when they still had department stores - this one in Watford) that I use for grubbing around or (when working) on site visits - tough as old nails, but nice to wear, if getting a bit 'shiny' through all that washing!
I only throw away stuff that won't do the job any more and can't be repaired. My old mini hifi (Sony, made in Japan) from the early 90s lasted 15 years (the cost of fixing the tape and CD players was getting expensive, necessitating a train trip to London each time as there are no local repair outlets), my current Denon unit (made in China I'm sad to say) is still going fine after 14 years. Not sure what the next generation of stuff will last like.
I have to do so much more research these days to see how reliable/long-lasting products are. Most 'reviews' are a waste of time, given many are either shills by paid-for 'reviewers' (often staff) or rivals saying they are terrible just to get people to buy their product instead.
Furniture appears to be one of those things, like clothes, that are far lower in quality than used to be the case. probably why the likes of John Lewis have been in decline for a long time now - I started buying stufff from them after M&S went downhill 20+ years ago, now even they are often rubbish - as well as overpriced.
I was - nearly - forced into buying a new kitchen mixer tap from Amazon because alternative outlets either charged a fortune or sold tat (often not at cheap prices). I was lucky enough to source a decent product via a local plumbers' merchant without breaking the bank.
Ironically the pandemic has shown the advantage of making a lot more products in your own country, or at least nearer and sourcing from friendly nations. It would also mean a lesser reliance on Amazon and other near monoplies for certain products that have or could have too much power over markets and nations/people.
The problems over our new generation of nuclear power stations have the same flavour, given our long time expertise in their design has now effectively gone, having to rely on France and again, China.
Something to be fixed at governmental/international level as well as contributions by each of us.
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