@vivtek

The environmental angle is critical, but so is the way that not being able to fix things, or have them fixed by people we know robs us of a certain opportunity for dignity. There is a young person walking the Bronx who could have been learning to fix shoes, who could have had a future doing something that people would thank them for. And there are several hundred people who will have shoes that make them sad as they toss them in the trash one after the other. Seems like a bad trade.

@vivtek for all the environmental problems they cause, one thing which does regularly get repaired and reused are cars - but even here there's a problem where all the garages want to hire /trained/ mechanics but none of them want to invest in training the new generation (and often won't even hire those just out of college, they want experienced staff only, and apprentice wages are only sufficient for teenagers living with parents, which discourages older people who might want a career change).

Also many workplaces have a fairly stressful or even toxic environment..

This is something that is a problem across all skilled trades (at least here in UK, but could be across the entire "Western" world), and needs to change quickly.

@vivtek as for the Austrian telephone in the article, pretty much every European country in the 20th century had a similar telephone set, easily repairable with a modular design - but they were often only available for rental via a nationalised telephone provider, who commissioned the devices to a strict technical standard (they were usually built by a number of private companies, but it didn't matter which one the telephone came from as it would always be the same specification and compatible with all the others).

(this is one of the British equivalents, a 700 series telephone)