It ' s highly unlikely to in this way . The only way it would step backwards is if something major happens to force people to give up their consumerist way of lives . However , even the poor can have a huge pile of junk these days . It ' s not like 100 years ago . You can get most things free without stealing because there is so much of everything and everyone replaces everything eventually . Heck , I bought a used Targus laptop backpack yesterday to replace an old style laptop case , and to also replace a backpack that was similar in style but didn ' t have a laptop sleeve . So actually , I was replacing 2 bags with 1 , condensing down what I have . But , it still cost me $ 9 and I had two perfectly good old bags to get rid of . I gave the laptop bag to a neighbor and the old backpack will get donated someplace .