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The PROBLEM with Capitalism - Smarter Every Day 316 (www.youtube.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/enshittification@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/41318971

Destin Sandlin examines the systemic engineering and economic hurdles involved in manufacturing a grill scrubber entirely in America. Through a deep dive into sourcing components like injection-molded knobs and specialized chain mail, the project highlights the complexities of maintaining domestic supply chains and preserving vital technical trade skills in a competitive global market.

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[–] 18 points 3 months ago (15 children)

I haven't watched this video yet but I heard him talking about this project on a podcast recently and it was really interesting. It's basically impossible to manufacture something simple (and increasingly often, complex things too) in the US at a competitive price. Yes, he made a "better" grill scrubber completely in the USA, but it costs $60. Yes, it's totally BIFL but the market for people willing to pay that is probably not sustainable for anyone without the "free" marketing of a popular YouTube channel.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (11 children)

    His last few years of videos has been a deep dive on manufacturing learning everything he can. Basically he's independently come to the conclusion that chasing profit and maximizing it at the expense of product quality and treating people right is the problem we face and no amount of engineering knowhow is going to fix that the system does not prioritize people or quality.

    Him having a YouTube audience already definitely helps a lot but hes also not exactly explicitly advertising it, and even talks about how he doesn't want his science communication channel to become a scrubber advertising channel.

    Edit forgor some words

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    Absolutely. The interesting thing to me was the lack of institutional knowledge remaining in the US. For example, finding a machinist based in the US was one of his biggest challenges as most of them have retired. I think he was only able to locate one still in operation that could make the parts he needed.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    And that person just retired and he ended up buying all his equipment so he didn't have to look for a new supplier.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    uh...because parts like that are not made by machinists any more, they are made by techs running automated CNC machines. Faster, cheaper, better.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Not always better. In his video about stamping, his host illustrates the difference between a one piece stamping die from China compared to the ones made in house. Basically when the single piece one starts to wear out, you have to replace the whole thing. However; with the ones designed and manufactured in house, all of the wear surfaces are replaceable.

    So the CNC option may be faster and cheaper up front, but in the long run investing in the tooling to last long-term is more cost effective.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I have been saying this for awhile. Often times the us is mentioned as being very efficient. Its a dollar cost efficiency though. Basically a race to the bottom. What germany and japan was known for at one time was efficiently making a high quality product. Its the highest quality that we are missing.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 months ago

    The missing piece is that countries like Germany have VERY strong union presence which has a hand in managing the companies. This prevents the race to the bottom since they are specifically accounting for the societal impact, worker impact, and long-term reputation of the product and company (i.e. emphasis on quality).

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  • [–] -3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    talks about how he doesn’t want his science communication channel to become a scrubber advertising channel.

    Then why does his website sell them. Don't fucking trust Christians, they can lie their whole lives and get a Mulligan from God in the end.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Because his website is not his YouTube channel...? I get being angry at Christians, but be angry at them for things they're actually doing instead of pulling the Conservative move and get angry at some nonsense you made up to justify your dislike of them.

    I'll gladly say fuck the Catholic church and the man who baptized me for protecting the pedo who was supposed to be the principal of my high school. And fuck the Bishop of my diocese for covering up the child rape crimes for decades. I wont be pissed because you think Destin lied about not turning his youtube channel into an advertising channel.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Yes, he made a “better” grill scrubber completely in the USA, but it costs $60

    He copied a scrubber made by Cuisineart for $29-39.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Was the Cuisinart one around when the first video went up a year ago, or did a major company see a potentially good idea and leverage their resources to mass produce a cheaper version?

    If you watch the original video from last year, they did a lot of design work from first principles, so I doubt they copied from the big company.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    They copied him, which reiterates a fundamental problem with our capitalist model - it's too easy to copy a good design and make a cheaper copy

    He spent a lot of engineering hours on R&D. Cuisinart skipped that by stealing his design. They also save a lot of money by having it made in China

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    • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    remember when this guy was like "i dunno, maybe intelligent design is real"?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    I think the human body is pretty solid evidence of the lack of "intelligent design".

    Design flaw after design flaw.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    Our fucking eyes are built backwards!

    But at the same time I can still get a better view of Mars in my telescope with my eyes than I can with a $2000 camera. Crazy how flexible our eyes are

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago*

    To those who don't know. This person is 100 percent correct.

    The retina in the back of the eye. The part that registers light and lets us see , is wired backwards.

    Essentially the nerve fibers that connect to the retina comes out in front of it. And blood vessels are also in front of the retina.

    So when light enters the pupil ,it also has to pass through nerve bundles and blood vessels to reach the retina.

    Making our vision a much lower resolution. In comparison to if photons could make more perfect unobstructed paths to the retina. This design also causes humans to have a blind spot because all those nerves and blood vessels have to exit the eye through a tunnel where no retina cells are. Not that light could penetrate that bundle anyway.

    If you want to understand better what I mean, we can compare a human eye to that of a cephalopod, who actually has a better designed eye that's not made ass-backwards.

    I highlighted the nerve fibers in pink so you can see what I mean.

    This is a product of evolution. A long time ago, our ancestors were fish.

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    • [–] 0 points 3 months ago

    Link to article?

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    24 comments in c/collapse@slrpnk.net view that post
    [–] 4 points 3 months ago*

    This entire series boils down to Destin finding this simple thing out again and again.

    If you want to assemble a bunch of low value inputs into a finished product, America isn't manufacturing the low value inputs.

    Basically every step along the way he has tried to make his business buying a bunch of American made low value inputs and then paying a room of college aged kids to assemble them into a high value product. And he keeps finding the same answer, you can buy your inputs from overseas or make them yourself.

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    [–] -5 points 3 months ago (17 children)

    Is that a problem? Why would you want something made in america in the first place. I know more people avoiding products because they are made in America rather than buying them because they are.

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  • [–] [S] 18 points 3 months ago (11 children)

    This is an overall look at macroeconomic influences and how greed/capitalism are affecting them.

    From a solarpunk perspective, it makes sense to Buy it for life or buy local. This video documents the factors that make that harder and harder.

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  • [+] -10 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Wouldn't it make more sense not to buy a grill scrubber in the first place? Sounds like a product in search of a problem.

    Had loads of BBQs over the years and not once seen something stuck to the grill in such a way that it needs to be scrubbed off.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago* (5 children)

    Gross. Clean your grill, bro.

    I personally use a wooden one.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (4 children)

    Fire cleans all, the few bits that don't burn off don't require scrubbing, a gentle touch with absolutely anything would work. Like a stick.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    Enjoy your stomach cancer.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    Is there any evidence to support that it makes any difference? Have heard cooking food over a fire can in general, not aware of it depending on how you cleaned the grill half an hour before cooking on it.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    Don't know about evidence, but the residue on a dirty grill is deposited smoke and soot and charred/carbonized food remnants.

    It's like you put an air filter over a fire that filters out the carcinogens, and then started licking the carcinogen-filled side of the air filter.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    I've never used nor know of anybody that scrubs a grill.. must be some tradition across the pond.

    I just toss the grill into the fire while adding more wood on top. Get it red hot, done.

    Meanwhile the ladies have cleaned and seasoned the chicken.

    Add a fridge full of Estrella Galicia, and it's a good evening.

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  • [+] 6 points 3 months ago* (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    And you cant move production back because the people who know how to, are dead

    That's kinda bullshit. China had no EV industry 15 years ago, until Tesla came over and showed them how to do it. Within a decade of Elon laughing at the idea of Chinese EVs, they caught up and passed him fast. They have done this again and again and again, usually with US investment. Apple spent more money in China than the Marshall plan, inflation corrected.

    You can't move production back because:

    1. No US manufacturing can afford US health insurance.

    2. US manufacturing prioritizes 7 and 8, 9 figure executive compensation over R&D, the exact opposite of China.

    3. US education is so expensive, previous STEM grads have to work in finance or die of starvation. Or become social media influencers.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    To keep money in my community and to help support my countrymen. I’d much rather my money go to some guy in my state than some nameless faceless conglomocorp in some far off land exploiting their workers to undercut my neighbor

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    • [+] -14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

    This video series is frustrating. Even if you need a chainmail grill scrubber, you can buy then for $29 (with tariffs) and this clown wants $60. Clearly, he has no clue about engineering, product design or a business plan. You want to support US industry, be prepared for 2-3x the costs and no innovation. The whole premise is he is making something innovative or better, neither is true. Gadgets cannot fuel an economy.

    This guy runs a STEM education channel, and the best product he can imagine is a grill scrubber. Weak.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago

    If you watched his videos you would know that the other chainmail grill scrubbers only appeared after he released his. The price difference is literally the central thesis of the video series - because the US has almost entirely outsourced manufacturing to countries like China and Vietnam, buying products from there are cheaper due to economies of scale. This gives those countries great economic leverage, and the US should not have been so happy to outsource. This can of course be reverted with sustained effort, that Destin is hoping to be a part of.

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