this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
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They're not in use most of the time when everyone has one, so we're overproducing washing machines just so people can have them privately in their homes.
You could say that about most things in peoples homes...
I'm not using my chefs knife most of the time either, but I sure as fuck am not going to walk to the community chef knife repository every time I want to use one.
My shower only sees 10 minutes of use a day, do I need to remove half of my bathroom and share with a dozen people so we aren't over producing fiberglass showers?
How about my vacuum? I only use that about once a week, probably shouldn't even own one of those either. I'll just pop on down to grab a vacuum when someone else isn't using it, maybe make a schedule for who gets to use one and when for max efficiency, like a vacuum library.
It's not like they wear out sitting there for a week, they wear out when they get used. I would agree that the race to the bottom in quality is bad, and more people should have durable repairable machines that don't hook up to the wifi, but I don't think that a non-consumable utility like a washing machine is bad for people to own and use.
It's not about good or bad, it's about efficiency. I get being skeptical about Americans currently being able to come up with a reliable system of sharing, but we desperately need to curtail consumption and durable shared goods is one way to get there. If I had the extra time afforded by reasonable production levels to go to collective repositories for a vacuum I wouldn't mind that. It's a drag right now because I alternate shifts with my partner to afford to live, but in a more reasonable society a little exercise and planning wouldn't hurt me.
Westerners live an unsustainable lifestyle. Things will have to change to coexist with everyone on a planet we can sustain.