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A review by cavalary
Deteriorare garantată by Serge Latouche
informative
medium-paced
3.0
[EN: (RO below)]
The small size of this book makes it clear that it doesn’t go in depth, but it does a good enough job of pointing out not just the problems generated by planned obsolescence, which are all too obvious, but also that the concepts and practices that it’s based on are hardly new, some having existed throughout human civilization and only becoming worse and more widespread as more methods became available to those who stood to gain from them and the general public became more complicit. It also stresses the undeniably harmful role of marketing and advertising in general, points out the impossibility of endless growth and that environmental limits will soon put a stop to humanity’s current production and consumption patterns, and eventually, in the conclusion, presents some solutions.
However, I’m actually tempted to say that the author tried too hard to be balanced when presenting the matter from the point of view of the economy, and even let those economic considerations cloud the attempt to discuss the ethical aspects of these practices, to the point that I found that entire section more or less meaningless. There was also far too little emphasis on the environmental aspects, at least in my view. But perhaps the biggest problem is that the proposed solutions come too late, are presented too briefly and, despite complaining that some of the quoted works and authors don’t go far enough with their proposals, may be guilty of the same thing. Yes, at the end it is stated that the solutions will need to be imposed through regulations and require overhauling the economy and even society, reducing consumption most preferably without reducing the standard or quality of life, but some of the specifics are only briefly mentioned at the very end and the intermediate steps that are presented in more detail tend to bother me, especially when it comes to renting.
[RO:]
Dimensiunile reduse ale acestei carti fac sa fie clar ca nu ajunge in profunzime, insa face o treaba destul de buna in a prezenta nu doar problemele generate de obsolescenta programata, care sunt doar prea evidente, ci si ca practicile si conceptele pe care se bazeaza nu-s deloc noi, unele existand pe parcursul intregii civilizatii umane si doar inrautatindu-se si raspandindu-se pe masura ce mai multe metode au devenit disponibile pentru cei care aveau de castigat din ele si publicul larg a devenit mai complice. Subliniaza de asemenea si rolul incontestabil negativ al marketingului si publicitatii in general, arata imposibilitatea cresterii continue si ca limitele ecologice vor stopa in curand tiparele curente de productie si consum ale omenirii, si pana la urma, in concluzie, prezinta niste solutii.
Insa, chiar sunt tentat sa spun ca autorul a incercat prea mult sa fie echidistant cand a prezentat problema din punctul de vedere al economiei, si chiar a lasat aceste consideratii economice sa umbreasca incercarea de a discuta aspectele etice ale acestor practici, atat de mult incat am considerat acea sectiune mai mult sau mai putin fara sens. S-a pus de asemenea prea putin accent pe aspectele ecologice, cel putin din punctul meu de vedere. Dar probabil cea mai mare problema este ca solutiile propuse apar prea tarziu, sunt prezentate prea pe scurt si, in ciuda plangerilor ca unele dintre lucrarile si autorii citati nu au mers suficient de departe cu propunerile lor, pot sa fie vinovate de acelasi lucru. Da, la final se spune ca solutiile vor trebui sa fie impuse prin reglementari si vor necesita schimbarea din temelii a economiei si chiar a societatii, reducand consumul foarte preferabil fara a reduce standardul sau calitatea vietii, insa unele dintre specificatii sunt doar mentionate pe scurt chiar la final iar pasii intermediari care sunt prezentati mai in detaliu tind sa ma deranjeze, in special cand vine vorba de inchiriere.
The small size of this book makes it clear that it doesn’t go in depth, but it does a good enough job of pointing out not just the problems generated by planned obsolescence, which are all too obvious, but also that the concepts and practices that it’s based on are hardly new, some having existed throughout human civilization and only becoming worse and more widespread as more methods became available to those who stood to gain from them and the general public became more complicit. It also stresses the undeniably harmful role of marketing and advertising in general, points out the impossibility of endless growth and that environmental limits will soon put a stop to humanity’s current production and consumption patterns, and eventually, in the conclusion, presents some solutions.
However, I’m actually tempted to say that the author tried too hard to be balanced when presenting the matter from the point of view of the economy, and even let those economic considerations cloud the attempt to discuss the ethical aspects of these practices, to the point that I found that entire section more or less meaningless. There was also far too little emphasis on the environmental aspects, at least in my view. But perhaps the biggest problem is that the proposed solutions come too late, are presented too briefly and, despite complaining that some of the quoted works and authors don’t go far enough with their proposals, may be guilty of the same thing. Yes, at the end it is stated that the solutions will need to be imposed through regulations and require overhauling the economy and even society, reducing consumption most preferably without reducing the standard or quality of life, but some of the specifics are only briefly mentioned at the very end and the intermediate steps that are presented in more detail tend to bother me, especially when it comes to renting.
[RO:]
Dimensiunile reduse ale acestei carti fac sa fie clar ca nu ajunge in profunzime, insa face o treaba destul de buna in a prezenta nu doar problemele generate de obsolescenta programata, care sunt doar prea evidente, ci si ca practicile si conceptele pe care se bazeaza nu-s deloc noi, unele existand pe parcursul intregii civilizatii umane si doar inrautatindu-se si raspandindu-se pe masura ce mai multe metode au devenit disponibile pentru cei care aveau de castigat din ele si publicul larg a devenit mai complice. Subliniaza de asemenea si rolul incontestabil negativ al marketingului si publicitatii in general, arata imposibilitatea cresterii continue si ca limitele ecologice vor stopa in curand tiparele curente de productie si consum ale omenirii, si pana la urma, in concluzie, prezinta niste solutii.
Insa, chiar sunt tentat sa spun ca autorul a incercat prea mult sa fie echidistant cand a prezentat problema din punctul de vedere al economiei, si chiar a lasat aceste consideratii economice sa umbreasca incercarea de a discuta aspectele etice ale acestor practici, atat de mult incat am considerat acea sectiune mai mult sau mai putin fara sens. S-a pus de asemenea prea putin accent pe aspectele ecologice, cel putin din punctul meu de vedere. Dar probabil cea mai mare problema este ca solutiile propuse apar prea tarziu, sunt prezentate prea pe scurt si, in ciuda plangerilor ca unele dintre lucrarile si autorii citati nu au mers suficient de departe cu propunerile lor, pot sa fie vinovate de acelasi lucru. Da, la final se spune ca solutiile vor trebui sa fie impuse prin reglementari si vor necesita schimbarea din temelii a economiei si chiar a societatii, reducand consumul foarte preferabil fara a reduce standardul sau calitatea vietii, insa unele dintre specificatii sunt doar mentionate pe scurt chiar la final iar pasii intermediari care sunt prezentati mai in detaliu tind sa ma deranjeze, in special cand vine vorba de inchiriere.