I don't know the author but I'm an engineer, so I'll give my worthless 2 cents on the article's point:
1. Globalization's great gift wasn't low prices--it was the collapse of durability
I don't think that was ever promised, but the fundamental is that trade is a human nature before we have cold wars, and globalization is just a marketing term for better or worse. Is the goal low price? I don't think it always is, but the point is whenever there is an unbalance across different area, trade tends to balance the equation if both sides agree to a deal as long as it benefits them. Nobody would willingly agree to a money losing deal, both on our side or their side. Sometimes it solves a shortage problem, sometimes it solves a know how problem, and sometimes it is a better deal on one side than the other because we want to keep the other side away from trouble because they are too poor. It has nothing to do with durability because it is the consumers who decide what they want and how much to pay. I have bought a bunch of made in US stuff that's just as bad because the business is in poor condition run by private equity, and customers are short sighted and don't want to keep things for long anyways (fast fashion anyone? people throwing out old appliances and furniture because of fashion anyone?). The main reason for lower durability is because of inflation: we got poorer and want lower durability products and we will replace them as they go out of fashion before durability is the problem anyways. Want durability? buy more expensive stuff for commercial use, they tend to last way longer because people's income depends on it.
2. Globalization also accelerated another hyper-profitable gambit:
No, not everything is made of the same low quality components, only the fashionable one your fashionable wife wants. Many people don't want durability if they don't look fashionable, so businesses sell on fashion and not on durability (why do washers and driers come with various color and matching set?). Buy commercial grade stuff and they will last even if they are made in Vietnam or India, let alone China. They won't come cheap even if they are made oversea though, mind you.
3. A friend was showing us his 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
People don't want the same thing from the past. Part of the durability is a compromise on fashion over quality and what is needed today (air conditioning, automatic transmission, 40mpg, 200hp, etc). You can keep selling that same car from the past and keep rebuilding it to last 1M miles, but most people would rather buy 4 base model Corolla instead, and get better mpg, air conditioning, etc. It won't be cool like a 1957 Bel Air but adjust for today's USD it is a better car and cheaper. That 1957 is not a higher quality car, not because it is made in US or not, but because it is just obsoleted, like a $3000 386 computer from 1992. The 1992 386 was durable though, but useless today.
4. Does anyone seriously believe that a chipset-software-dependent vehicle today will still be running 68 years from now?
If the demand is there yes you can build a replacement controller that's compatible for it. We have emulation that can run Playstation on PC, emulating old 6502 processor from 8 bit era in the 1980s on a $5 processor today, heck we still have some processor that is designed to be backward compatible to the old stuff 30 years ago because the demand is there and they are sold by the millions every year.
The problem is, nobody wants to keep a 30 year old car alive, and they are junked not because the ECU died. They are junked because transmission wears out, the body rust, the head gasket leaked, etc. People who happen to have a bad ECU can just pull another one from a junkyard (or pay a guy who pulled one from junkyard and sell it on eBay). Nobody is junking a car because an ECU broke. My car had an airbag computer broke and it is a 27 year old car, I can easily get one from ebay for $25 with a guarantee (because if it doesn't work the seller will pull another one off for me).
I can tell you what you cannot repair: a 1957 Bel Air will not have parts from a junkyard, because everyone got rid of them already. You have to custom build another part yourself if you want to keep fixing it today, costing you more than a 20 year old Corolla and is less durable. It is fine for a collectible but not for someone depending on it going to work on time every day.
Oh, BTW, I spend most of my work redesigning updates for old stuff to use new processors when those were obsoleted, basically updating the controller for new + existing functionality so they don't have to throw away old tools. I also have seen engineering lab of an R&D company building custom ECU for an engine they pull of a VW, Ford, GM, etc. There were no engine computer that would work for what they need so they just build one themselves. It is pretty easy if you buy the same parts and hire a couple software guys. There are companies licensing their framework and you just pay them to use it.
5. Our friend recounted a very typical story about repairing his recent-model pickup truck.
I don't know where you friend "borrow" that "diagnostic computer" from. Most cars can use a free phone app with a $5 OBD bluetooth connector to read code, and if you insist on buying a real tool, probably can use a $200 OBD scanner (and return it afterward if you insist). It is much easier to diagnose than a vacuum leak in an old car before computer era in terms of labor hours.
BTW many shops these days turn away old cars because they tend to be having problem one after another, and they can keep diagnosing them for free because customers blame them for everything after one ATF change or replace the spark plugs.
The biggest problem with durability is fashion and people not wanting to spend. There are good quality products if people want to pay for it but we are addicted to cheap and fashionable stuff instead of durability. When is the last time you see people buying a fridge because of a 15 year warranty and when is the last time you see some "must have refrigerator" because of a glass window? Things were more expensive back then so they were made better, and people tend to focus more on how long they last instead of how good it looks and throw away when things are out of fashion.
