Gender Issues

The Hidden Impact of the Washing Machine

Weekly Economic News Roundup household technology
Comments (4)
  1. Paul says:

    Watching the video, when Hans describes his grandmother watching the entire washing machine cycle, I’m reminded of little 4 year-old me, who lined up a bunch of chairs in the kitchen so we could all watch the new dishwasher (circa 1968). Oh, for the loss of such innocence!

    1. Elaine Schwartz says:

      Yes, Indeed. Thanks for sharing the story.

  2. Paul says:

    Tried to comment earlier but did not work, so here we go again.

    Hans explaining how his grandmother watched the entire cycle of the washing machine reminds me of how I, at about 4 or 5 years of age in the late 1960s, lined up a bunch of chairs in the kitchen so we could all watch the new dishwasher do its thing.

    The Ted talk video was excellent and captures a lot of what I think will drive the world’s economies and conflicts over the next 30 years – bringing cheap, clean energy and energy-saving appliances to everyone (or, at least more). It has always been amazing to me that we, and I mean ALL of us on the earth, largely deprive ourselves of so much progress by “making” half the population (and by that I mean women, not poor people) largely live as slaves. No education, no study – just make babies, and cook and clean.

    Sure, if overnight everyone got all the wonderful life improvements that we in the developed world take for granted – cars, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, paved streets, clean running water, etc, there would be a lot of people who could not handle it. But so much human potential is “wasted” now with so many denied the rights to ANY education (higher or otherwise). How many Einsteins have we lost? For every Mary W. Jackson (of Hidden Figures fame) there must be hundreds if not thousands of others who don’t get the same opportunities (and nothing was handed to Mary – she had to fight all the way). How many medical or biological science and technological advancements and improvements have we NOT developed over the years. What about Art, how far behind are we from our potential?

    1. Elaine Schwartz says:

      Yes, Indeed. Thanks for sharing the story.

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