Planned Obsolescence For Products And Even For Nations!

Planned Obsolescence For Products And Even For Nations!

Monday, 13 December 2004

Planned obsolescence is a concept that has just been introduced to me, it is peculiar terminology used by those who seek to manipulate and retard the interest, growth and development of other persons and even nations, doing things, other than for the interests and developments of the targeted persons or nations.

Planned obsolescence, used in connection with products, it means the manufacture of products, deliberately timed to become useless, just so, the purchaser or consumer is compelled to return frequently, for the purchase of other products of the same type from same manufacturer, who had created intentional inefficacy… Essentially, it means a particular manufacturer may maliciously produce an inferior quality product, in order to stay in continues business, by making repeat purchasers, out of consumers, as if they were some sorts of addicts; This arises, as consumers are compelled, in a guaranteed way, to repurchase another and another, of such products items and such products, could be anything at all.

Agricultural companies may therefore genetically alter seeds, such as rice or beans etc for consumptions and not capable of being planted, as it will not bear offspring, the seeds are therefore programmed to be sterile or barren, as it is made incapable of reproducing offspring in the next planting season or thereafter.

This also means, that the manipulating agricultural company, expect the poor farmer, who relies on the malicious, fraudulent and mischievious company in all good faith, to return to spend her life’s savings, for more of the same barren/sterile seeds! The poor farmer who relies on the imported corn, rice or beans seedlings, blames the weather, her witch neighbor or poor soil, these farmers are simply out of luck!

As the companies create perpetual dependency, as the farmer/planter is compelled to return again and again, to use her meager resources to patronize these companies endlessly and we soon learn how our people are dependent nuisance who cannot farm and feed themselves; This, after they have spent their limited funds to enrich these companies, farmers with their very meager resources, as we know subsistence farmers and planters are, and to think that these companies that "we all" implicitly and explicitly trust, because Oyinbo, operate in straight forward manners!We are never suspicious of Oyinbo, they mean well, ask recipient of Pfizer drug experiments in Kano.

At some point, it has become cheaper to buy "Uncle Ben’s Rice" type imported Rice, a la Umaru Dikko’s Presidential Task Force on Rice, and farming is completed neglected to the benefits, profits and delight of the seeds selling companies?In the pharmaceutical industry, planned obsolescence practice is undertaken, when medicines are manufactured with less efficacious strengths, which of course means that a given patient, would have to take the low dose, less effective medicines longer and return frequently for more, for an extended period of time, until healed or disease many develop a resistant strain, like the die-hard malaria in Nigeria and mosquitoes that are resistant to every Shelltox a k a insecticides and repellants.

Before relief is found, if at all, the so much money and agonies would have passed.. in fact, some patients are actually not cured of whatever ailed them, but instead, they may soon fall ill again or become dependent on the not-so-good, not-so-efficacious or not-so-reliable medicines! Health in America is zillion dollar industry, shall we import medicines from Canada, or not….

It is not safe, says Food and Drugs Administration and it just so happens, that most pharmaceutical companies in America are major donor to political parties and political candidates, it’s a co-incident?The "rationale", for planned obsolescence, as I am informed, is to keep the customer coming back to buy what he already paid for in the past! So that, a car manufacturer believes that it is in its best interests to make the most solid and most durable car there is..as the only best interests, is remaining in business and remaining profitable, using the best technology to product the strongest or best car, could mean, a suicide or bankruptcy pact by the company.Why, they ask would a car company make a car that last a life time or for a span of a hundred years?

The cynical logic, as it is explained, goes like this, why make a car that last Bola, a life time plus one day, this will guarantee that Bola never returns to buy another car! He never needs to purchase another car!For restaurants operators, planned obsolescence would mean, it is better, to serve good food, but in very small servings or portions, so that the customer, who desire more food, would have to pay for more servings or portions!When it comes to nations? Departing colonial powers install illiterates and local traitors who act for the benefits, the whims and caprices of the departing colonial powers, "systems" and "divide and rule" are put in place, which in turn guarantees schisms and discontents and the cycle recycle itself and countries, with "independence" remain so in name only.

Planned obsolescence, financially means, the World Bank and the IMF encourages and mandate countries in financial quagmire, to accede to financial facilities, with strings attached and national policies mortgaged.. financial facilities that are clearly counter intuitive and doomed to failure, but, the pursuit of such mandated policies, keeps the countries, that are recipients of such facilities or aid, tied to the apron-strings of these Breton Woods Institutions ad infinitum! And who control the World Bank and IMF, the same neocolonialists!

Such countries, such as Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil etc, are soon to become dependent and subjugated perpetually to manipulations by??? Debt over-hang and local development is dictated. Planned obsolescence takes similar modus operandi, it is used by our neighborhood financial institutions, your bank and mine, that may offer loans and credits and are happier when debtors pay in perpetuity, as opposed to ahead of schedule.. One hundred dollars or Naira, borrowed and paid with interest over 10 years, brings more profits, compared with prompt payments… the spread payments with interests, pulverize the debtor as we have 32 billion dollars foreign debt by Nigeria continues to increase, as only the interests are continually service, on pain of death!

Hence it is more beneficial, to pay off all your credit cards if can afford it, as soon as the bills arrive, according to financial planners.But suppose the debts and subsequent policies were dictated by others, instead of yourself? Suppose you were the simple farmer from my village who trust imported seedlings, suppose you are the patients, unsuspecting patients who were the victims of these vicious experiments by Pfizer in Kano or the AIDS experimental drugs in Southern Africa, unsuspecting victims, end up being blamed for their fates in the end...
Perhaps we should become more questioning, careful or circumspect in what we receive as donations, test the drugs or foods first, this is also why some of us, were opposed to genetically modified foods, during our debate last year.

And it now also appears, that our people who were skeptical or suspicious of foreign donated vacines, were right in demanding "testing" to ensure the safety and efficacy. We certainly do not want a repeat of Pfizer type incidents or Tuskeegee malevolent actions. Are Africans too trusting, in almost very naive ways, very trusting of non-Africans, as if such other people are always seeking the best interests of Africans? All this, despite painful, very recent experiences of Slavery and Colonialism?

The more that I ruminate about this vexatious concept of "Planned Obsolescence" the more clarity with which I now want to examine many more actions undertaken by some and consequences of such actions, for others...Or is shall we say, it is the way the world works?