The right to replace planned obsolescence

A capitalist weapon

Ella Polak Gilina Voon Kyan Wang

Lauren Wilson

Lia Yereslove

ARTISTS

Lyn Kang Dana Lim

Jude Tantawy Kenneth Yang

PHOTOGRAPHERS is the publicity and sensationalism surrounding the case.

Many influential people such as NBA star LeBron James urged the U.S. to negotiate for Griner’s release through social media. This put immense pressure on the U.S. to make the trade and boost public trust in the government. Contrarily, this trade also exposes government bias toward the well-known and Marc Fogel, an American arrested in Russia in August 2021 for possessing medicinal marijuana, the same crime that Griner committed. However, unlike Griner, his case did not receive widespread public attention or media coverage, and he was not classified as wrongly detained.

“While it was right for the United States government to push for Griner’s release, they should not have freed Bout. The government needs to help out its citizens, but not at such an expense,”

Sophomore Sophia DeRollo said.

The U.S. government should have instead pushed to trade for a Russian detainee who has committed a crime of similar severity to Griner rather than Bout. Instead, our government buckled to the pressure of publicity and media. To promote public trust in the government, fair and balanced prisoner swaps must be made in the future.

December issue corrections

The Charger Account Editorial Staff makes “old” fashion styles obsolete, typically replacing them in months— or even weeks—with new trends to increase consumption. Fast fashion behemoths Shein and Uniqlo often use cheap, synthetic fabrics and severely underpay their workers, maximizing profits.

Opinions:

“Pure Colour”:

• “Pure Color” should have been written as “Pure Colour” in the review box.

Feature School:

Plants: An unlikely feline foe:

• “who” should have been added after “avid cat lover.”

Hsi Lok Chan

William Huang Gilina Voon

MEDIA TEAM

Diya Boyapati

Our mission in the community is to inform, educate and investigate the events occurring within Leland’s community and beyond.

The ideas and opinions expressed in our articles represent over half of The Charger Account staff but do not represent the views and beliefs of any particular staff member.

The Charger Account invites submissions of signed letters of opinion. We reserve the right to edit submissions and pieces will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

Readers can notify The Charger Account to any errors in print by emailing us at lelandchargeraccount@gmail.com. We will acknowledge our mistakes in our next issue. For advertising information and pricing, please check out our website at thechargeraccount.com/advertise-with-us.

The Charger Account is distributed to the Leland community free of cost.

The Charger Account

Competition for customers and profits form the heart of capitalism, stimulating innovation and diversity in available products. However, in pursuit of victory in this rat race, manufacturers often employ deceptive tactics such as planned obsolescence—purposefully designing products to stay in style for only a limited amount of time—that ultimately harm consumers.

Planned obsolescence is a primary contributor to America’s problem of cyclical overconsumption. Decreasing the reliability of products so that customers are forced to replace them regularly, planned obsolescence can significantly boost profits. However, manufacturers are careful to make product lifespans reasonable for their price to maintain customer loyalty. Planned obsolescence also comes in the form of periodic product upgrades, as customers may feel pressured to always own the newest versions of products.

Fast fashion is a notorious example of planned obsolescence: It

In the technology industry, Apple is infamous for abusing planned obsolescence; in 2020, NPR reported that the company was accused of slowing down old iPhone batteries. In 2021, Apple faced further allegations that it had provided customers with low-quality, secondhand replacement devices instead of new parts during repairs, per The Verge.

Such instances of exploitation have prompted many to repair their existing belongings through third-party suppliers. In December 2022, New York enacted the most extensive “right to repair” law to date, requiring companies to make repair information available to independent providers. Politicians praised this policy, describing how repairing products drastically reduces electronic waste and increases affordability. However, The Verge shared that companies have already exploited several loopholes in the bill. Some businesses have merely provided instructions for assembly rather than actual components, and the act excludes various goods including home appliances and medical devices.

Student Spotlight:

Photo by Anonymous:

• “San Francisco” was misspelled as “San Fransisco.”

Sports:

Successful seasons: The school scores at CCS:

• Amber Lee ’24’s name was misspelled as “Amber Lu.”

The bill’s wording is also ambiguous; some argue that devices manufactured before the bill’s passage are not bound by the stipulated protections. Although planned obsolescence spurs economic growth by increasing consumption, it is highly detrimental to consumer and environmental well-being. Until this practice becomes better regulated, we should opt for higher-quality, longer-lasting products and make tangible efforts to reexamine our relationship with consumption.