I don’t blame IKEA for the disposible mentality, but the reverse. We would live better without the disposible mentality for any number of reasons. Would we lose some mobility? Perhaps, but we would also have a better reason to stay where we are. And whose to say we can’t make mobile furniture that is also fine furniture?

Like architecture, furniture is a profound indicator of our human self-image. What kind of thing is worthy of cradling our bodies in work, rest, or sleep? IKEA is the furniture of a utilitarian, to whom the word “dignity” is confusing or meaningless. If it holds me off the ground, who cares what it looks like or what it’s made of? Can we afford (spiritually, I mean) to be utilitarians when (and because) we’re young, poor, and mobile? That expectation will have consequences.