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text from Terry Pratchett; art by Higgs who's tumblr i've linked
i can't rember which book this is from -- i wanna say it's Men at Arms but it could even be Guards Guards. Higgs seems to think it's Night Watch, but I'm pretty sure it happened before that...
in the post here
In my opinion, this theory is categorically wrong. The overwhelming majority of rich people got rich by chance, not by a string of good long-term decisions.
They buy the same low quality shoes that break just as fast as that of the poor, but they spend a lot more money on these shoes, and think that they are superior because of the high price point.
The only difference is that these people are so unbelievably, obscenely rich that no amount of bad choices could ever threaten their wealth. They can buy hundreds, thousands of overly expensive shoes and never feel any consequences for their choices.
The theory isn't explaining why some people are rich, it's explaining how expensive it is to be poor by showing that the rich can end up spending less on things that everyone needs over time.
It's a real phenomena, but passage is couched in the perspective of a fictional character in a fictional world. This isn't "the only reason", it's just one that stands out to the character.
to complicate things even more the setting is late medieval semi victorian
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The theory doesn't explain why the rich get richer but why the poor get poorer.
I'm gonna disagree with you there and say that expensive shoes are a lot more well-made than the crap you get at Wal-mart.
How do you know if a man is rich? Ask if he has a cobbler. The rich all do.
I bought $20 shoes for my restaurant job that lasted less than a month and made my knees hurt. I bought $200 shoes after that which lasted for years. I don't know if that applies to many other commodities, but in this case it was definitely worth it.
I think because shoes and footwear are used regularly and subject to constant wear and tear it's probably a place where quality really continues to matter. Walmart shoes are made out of shit materials and glued together. But a good pair of boots are made from quality leather, they have a good year welt, they've probably got a vibram sole. A lot of industries have stringent requirements on safety features like flame resistant, chemical resistant, puncture resistance, and steel toe caps that put a floor on how cheap manufacturer's can go before their product can no longer be used by a lot of workers.
It doesn't stop enshittification - Doc Marten's got sold a while ago and the post-sale boots are shit compared to the old ones, but you can only cheat so much with boots.
It depends. Some of the expensive stuff really is high quality, but yes a lot of that is equally trash and just being spent because they can. Honestly though for a lot of products as long as you don't go for the cheapest of cheap, they will be more than good enough for most.