I know EU has the Right to Repair initiative and that’s a step to the right direction. Still I’m left to wonder, how did we end up in a situation where it’s often cheaper to just buy a new item than fix the old?
What can individuals, communities, countries and organizations do to encourage people to repair rather than replace with a new?
This is the cornerstone of a consumer economy. Planned obsolescence is also part of it, with the “next generation” of whatever becoming the “must have” thing. Consider the styling changes to cars, especially the tail fin wars of the 1950s, or the cell phone market today. My Pixel Pro 6 running Graphene OS completely fills my needs, though it’s 3 generations old.