Disposable Lives, II

Last night, I was talking to a friend about our "disposable lives." One of the things I do is design ceramic gifts and dining ware, that are manufactured in China and sold at low price points in big-box stores and gift shops. Lately, I've been questioning the merit of this work. In the age of Target and WalMart, we can afford to change our dishes, get new tchotchkes, sell old ones or put them up for adoption on freecycle.org, without a second thought. In contrast to our grandparents' treasured heirlooms that were revered, cared for, and passed down with a sense of history and folklore, now we have a never-ending supply of disposable trinkets. In our climate of cheap consumerism, are we loosing our appreciation of fine cratsmanship, and our veneration of objects that tell a story and connect us to our past? This may be the great, hidden cost of cheap goods.