https://youtu.be/NOYa3YzVtyk
The library has been a long-standing institution in our society, but what if we applied its philosophy more broadly? Let's imagine what it would mean to real...
I also haven't watched the whole video, but here's a good example of this concept as I've learned it.
I have a ladder. I use it maybe every few months to get to my roof for one reason or another. My neighbors also need to get to their roofs occasionally. They don't all need ladders. In fact, it would be stupid for them to all have ladders when they can just borrow mine. It cost me about $300, and it takes up a lot of space, but it should last decades.
Much of modern society, particularly in the US, is based on a false sense of self sufficiency. You live in your own little fiefdom and you own all the stuff you'll ever need to use. Growing up, my family had a ladder, a snowblower, a wheelbarrow, a pressure washer, a cargo trailer, a carpet cleaner, and a million other tools that you rarely use. The neighbors on either side of us all had the same stuff. This is a colossal waste of money and space. We needed a big house to store all that stuff, so we paid a lot of money to heat and cool all that stuff, and bigger houses mean bigger maintenance costs as well. All because culturally, there was something preventing us from just borrowing all those things.
Now, I just let all my neighbors borrow my ladder, and if I need an upholstery cleaner or a wheelbarrow, I know who to ask. If I need a bundt pan cause I want to make an angel food cake, or a miter saw to cut some crown molding, I can get it from my library. Despite living in a smaller house than I grew up in, I have more living space, and I save a lot of money. Plus, there's less consumer-grade trash being produced.
What happens if the ladder will be brought back dirty or if you see that it's slightly damaged?
I would ask my neighbors to clean it off if it were dirty or replace it if they broke it. If they weren't willing to (which I don't think would happen), they would lose my trust and be unable to borrow anything else. If it was something expensive enough, there's always small claims court.
Very simplified: institutionalized lending and sharing not only for books but any kind of non-consumable items one might need for their everyday life.
Wouldn't this be a bad idea, because nowadays many people don't have a healthy relationship to items. They live in a disposal world, where everything has to be thrown away and bought new.
I barely know people who are actually care for items, they don't even cleaned their smartphones once in their life (or barely), they just buy a new one.
People with a mindset like this will break/damage the items they've lend.
If you break it you have to replace it. Might actually teach them to care better for the items they use 🤷♂️
I think it will be too stressful for people to take care of stuff and it's much easier to buy something new, which they own and can throw away.
And I don't even think saving money is a good argument for todays people, because many people throw out a lot of money and have debts.
I wish this system would work like mentioned, but this is something, which could have worked in the 90s, but there is not the right mindset nowadays.
You are contradicting yourself 😅 If you think something "could have worked in the 90ties" there is no reason why it could not work today as well. Obviously it will not be possible to change everything over night, but people can and do change their attitudes and habits with the right incentives.
but people can and do change their attitudes and habits with the right incentives.
I don't think they do, because they have no idea what it means to borrow something.
Nowadays nothing gets borrowed, no music, no movies, no video games. They all have services to buy it (even if they don't own the bought stuff) or to stream it for "free". There is not even a small thing people borrow nowadays, except of pencils in school. But to be honest, those who borrow something like a pencil nowadays, don't bring it back.
When was the last time someone (not a family member or really close person) borrowed something from you?
People love convinence nowadays, not what you are suggesting. If you have a method to easily and convinently get what they need, they don't to own it.
Example - Clothing subscription services. You must send the clothes back you don't intend to purchase. It must be in good condition.
Everything is possible if you frame it the right way
Sorry, but this doesn't match at all with my lived experience. I regularly lend and borrow stuff to and from friends and acquaintances and we nearly always return it in good shape. And this really isn't that uncommon here in Europe. And libraries for books are also still a reasonably common thing, although I admit that with ebook readers being available I personally stopped using them.
People even lend and borrow expensive mechanized farming equipment here, and this is not a commercial service or so, just neighbourhood help with people at most covering fuel expenses or so.
If you break/lose an library item, there's often a fine. Plus, this paradigm incentivizes the purchase of more durable items. E.g., tool rentals are often professional grade tools, not consumer grade, because they are more durable.