Oh great. We can all live the life of a North Korean peasant. What a bequest for my children and grandchildren that will be.
Ya, nobody ever purchases stuff at garage sales, antique stores, 2nd hand and consignment shops, or buys stuff on eBay. Who would ever buy used goods?
And those that do clearly are living like North Koreans.
The used goods economy is not what makes America the world's economic powerhouse. We are the world's sole superpower because of the way the economy is currently structured, and it is a consumer economy. You mess with it at your peril. If you want to make America into a used goods economy then you need to look to other countries where that is the case and see how they live. The world's foremost example of such an economy is Cuba. They have been repairing old machinery, mending old clothes, and growing their own food since the U.S. economic sanctions were implemented. I don't want to live in a an economy that imitates the Cuban one.