What in the heck is going on with toasters? And YES, this is an issue. Specifically the issue is planned obsolescence so

[PatrickforB]

Wall Street greed lizards and corporations can line their pockets with more PROFITS by making crummy products that don't last.

I hate this shit.

I've been shopping for toasters. Good whole grain bread that is actually healthy for you tends to require a toaster with a LONG SLOT because those loaves when baked are generally flatter and wider.

I have a crummy toaster already. It has lasted maybe three or four years because I made it last. I cleaned it. I nurtured it. I talked gently to it. But now that relationship is over because it BURNS my toast in the corners while leaving the center soft. Gotta get a new one, right?

So I went online. A bunch of cheap plastic ones that reviews say were defective from the get-go or stopped toasting evenly or even working after a short time. These cheap-shit toasters are generally around $25 to $45.

Well...no...I want a GOOD toaster that will last for years. Oh, gee...those babies go for $199 up. No shit. And I'm not paying over $200 for a toaster, but because of a little thing called 'planned obsolescence,' those are my choices. I can buy a crap toaster that might last a few months for $35. But if I want a GOOD, DEPENDABLE toaster that works for years I have to pay out the nose.

This is what happens when you let a bunch of Wall Street bean counters be the tail that wags the dog. We used to have manufacturers with good union workers who had pride in what they made. Now due to NAFTA and other factors, driven by Wall Street greed, many of those factories have been offshored to places where people are exploited for sub-living wages. And now, with the new AI panacea, so-called customer 'care' centers are soulless black holes where you end up screaming AGENT AGENT AGENT!!! just to get through the stupid AI, and then if you can't just give up and throw the defective product away and buy another overpriced, poor quality product in its place.

All the while Wall Street just roars with glee and ever higher profits, and billionaires continue lining their pockets.

We middle class bear the burden of paying out the nose, more and more and more, for less and less and less.

Tired of it? I sure am. By the way, look at pictures of some of these billionaires and Wall Street honchos and tell me they aren't reptilian!