I think it has been this way for quite a while now, it’s just that ‘obsolescence’ is occurring at a much more rapid pace. At some point, for some things, it might not really matter. If autonomous ride-share becomes ‘affordable’ and ubiquitous, do you really need to ‘own’ a car? For that matter, do you really need sound throughout your house? It’s when the bare essentials are forcibly taken from us with no alternatives that the real revolution will begin.
While we may be externally compelled to upgrade all parts of our lives, we have largely been willing to do so. Not many are moving to remote cabins and living off of the land in response!
This was a very thoughtful piece on that which we need to be reminded of now and then!
I predict that as soon as legal, car sales will plummet and eventually there will be 70% less cars on the road and a host of other knock-on changes. Can't wait.
It is a process of degrees and it will quicken fast as like you say, it has become more rapid.
I wonder what a disaster the world would be in if 7 billion people tried to live self-sufficiently. Imagine the billions of minor conflicts over resources when 10 million New Yorkers move into a forest :)