“because we gotta work more to pay for all this stuff.”
Let’s get real, it may be true for gadgets (like TV sets or patio heaters) but it’s terribly false for most things.
A washing machine and a dishwasher would spare me at least 10 hours per month. Given the cost of labour, they pay for themselves in a month. And electricity, compared to labour cost, is ‘too cheap to meter’. Labor cost is also why we scrap everything and repair nothing now.
I think the point is to get the audience thinking about the question, evaluating their own lives, etc...