Calling it a cult really destroys the credibility of the claim for me. Nothing about this is a cult.

It's true that quality has gone down, but there are lots of reasons for it. Planned obsolescence is a big factor too. The problem is longevity of products is a hidden factor. Some people do a lot of research before buying and they do care about quality. But many people just can't afford the price or the time it takes to do the research.

Even expensive products break down. And they often cost more than a new cheap product to fix. Often well made products are over engineered, causing reliability issues. Factors like this make picking a quality product far more complicated than "the consumers should care".