Built-in Obsolescence
There’s an in-built obsolescent
At the heart of everything,
Waiting to expire
by the time we count to ten.
It is placed there by design
And is created by the clever
To induce us to replace
The model for another.
We too have a built in obsolescence
That is counting down the years
Wearing out our parts
With the sagging of our leers.
It leads to our expiry date
When we must move out the way
To allow a younger generation
To have the room to play.
Societies have a built in obsolescence
They begin and flourish, then decay.
The corruption and the inequality
Are acid at their heart
So that they become rotten
And collapse
To give a brand new start.
The planet has an in-built obsolescence
It will not always be this way.
The sun will eat it up, into its own bright new day.
Its tenuous existence will last a billion years or two
And then it will cease
And perhaps another world
Will give birth to life anew.
Opher 16.1.2016
Built in Obsolescence
Much as we like to believe that things will go on much as they are, will follow the same familiar pattern, we know that is not true. Change is the order of the universe.
Manufacturers build in weak links in their products so that they have a limited lifetime. When they fail they are replaced with the latest, trendy model. That ensures a constant market and stream of profit.
It was said that Henry Ford ordered a review of his cars to see when different parts were failing. Rather than address the weaker parts he ordered that the specs of the others parts be reduced to fall into line with the weakest aspects. He did not see the point of wasting money.
Our bodies have a genetic predisposition to age and die. It is necessary. Evolution has devised this solution. We shall not compete for space, food or water with our offspring. When our reproductive roles are completed we are dead space; we are moved out the way. Aging and death are our built-in obsolescence.
Our planet, our solar system and our universe itself has a limited life. It might be measured in billions but measured it is. Our sun will age and expand into a red giant that incorporates the bulk of the planets. The earth will be eaten up. We will shine. And as we shine all evidence of life and human civilisation will be eradicated. No fossil will remain. Likewise the universe will wind down as expansion and entropy change the complex to simple. The stars will flicker out and darkness, heat and hydrogen will continue to expand into nothing.
But when something dies something else is usually born.