OK, I give up...

Bought a new printer, today. The ink cartridges will cost more each time than the printer, itself, because that's how the profit is made. Still, I will be able to scan in my accounts and avoid a £100 fine for late filing, now...
I hate Friedmanite, Thatcherite, Reaganite, post-human capitalism, where the planned death of your consumer goods is somehow to be accepted and you are supposed to throw viable stuff away becuse there's more profit in getting some Chinese slave to make a new one than in fixing the old one. It won't last more than another 20 years and our children and grandchildren will spit on our memories for falling for the con-trick that will allow less than 1% of the world's population to do quite nicely, while everyone else will be living in intolerable conditions.
As I understand it, the earth can sustain everybody at the level of the average Portuguese. That sounds perfectly fine to me; it would raise all the people living at less than $2 a day up to a fine level of comfort.Not too shocking a drop in living standards for most "western" citizens. If we tried to raise everyone to the level of the Australians or the USanians, we would need 7 or 5 planets more (respectively). It is childish to think we're going to get those extra planets