[jedrider]

Opinion What McMansions say about Americans: Stupid is as stupid does -- LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-monster-mansions-20140507-story.html

Of all places to see such an article. LA must be the epitomy of over the top American living. I see in my neighborhood (Not LA, but near SF) that the houses being built/rebuilt getting bigger and bigger. With escalating property prices, who can blame people for overbuilding on their lots.

[I will note that we added on to our 1100 sq ft house to get 2400 sq ft mostly by building under the existing footprint of the house so we could keep most of our outdoor space. The house is way to big for just the immediate family, but I envision two families living in it at one time somewhere down the road. This digresses though.]

Well, when our house was built at 1100 sq ft, the outdoors was probably just gorgeous and TV was only just beginning.

So my take on all this is what would one expect anyway?? As nature retreats, we likewise retreat into our artificial environments.

[Newfie]

So my take on all this is what would one expect anyway?? As nature retreats, we likewise retreat into our artificial environments.

True, on many levels. I have read that we tend to do on our off time what we do at work. As we spend more and more time at computers at work we do the same at home. TV's are just dumb computer monitors.

Hunting, fishing, camping, bird watching,etc are retreating.

The Wife has us down to maybe 600 sq ft as she took half the apt for her office. I go to the boat to stretch out.

[AgentR11]

When I visit colleagues who have these types of homes, a lot of the space gives off a real "unused showroom" feel; arranged and decorated to make a visual statement of some sort, but hardly ever used. OTOH, I grew up in large home, but the large space was for purpose, several times a year large business parties were thrown, 100-200 people, and the space served that purpose well, while the living areas were attached but kinda offset and hidden. So, its not like a large house is by definition, wasteful....

Myself, not being a party throwing kind of person, see such large houses as huge liabilities, particularly with regards to property taxes which are used to fund most government functions here. And when I wander around my little 1500sf house, it all feels like a home, lived in, space constantly used by its occupants. I do occasionally feel the tug of social pressure that I am supposed to want one of these large houses, but I just don't see the value.

I do, however, spend a lot of time outdoors, biking mostly. Sometimes biking to go fishing. I kinda want to do biking to go hunting; I have suitable locations in mind, but school schedules for house varmint have been a big obstacle to that goal. (Varmint starts driving in a couple more years though....)

[Newfie]

Teach said varmint to hunt?

[vtsnowedin]

Teach said varmint to hunt?

Plus one on that plus camping and survival skills and a good bit of self reliance training. After all when you age and decline you will most probably end up depending on "Varmints" abilities for your food, shelter, and care.

[Sixstrings]

This ins't just a "dumb American" thing. Seems to me that more socialist developed places (Europe) are happy with smaller spaces, while the capitalist, non-socialist, developing nations all want those McManions too or however close they can climb up to that.

China's been on an American-style McMcansion binge for years now.

Why China’s rich want to live in McMansions and fake châteaux

‘The baroque, Tudor and beaux-arts styles have become the architectural equivalent of a Chanel logo on a purse’



http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3557750e-c559-11e3-89a9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz31CQ5sNtE

[Ibon]

This ins't just a "dumb American" thing.

No It isn't. It is a peacock's tail, a turkey's gobble, the tusk of a narwhal, the mane of a lion.

A symbol of status, of fitness, of sexual power.

We are hardwired to strut our stuff. That part probably can not be changed. But what we choose as the symbol that represents the strut can be changed and does not have to be energy intensive.

In nature secondary sex characteristics are controlled and contained by the liability they can represent. In New Guinea where there are no avian predators the Birds of Paradise where able to develop these flamboyant features with little or no liability. In the case of the turkey liability only allowed his gobble to extend as far as it has.

Likewise, humans, in the oppulent age of fossil fuels, have had a couple of generations with little or no liability in spending elaborate amount of resources towards status.

During this century the Overshoot Predator will vastly increase the liability of oppulence and will one day direct our culture toward status symbols that are not as energy intensive.

We can't change the hard wired nature of humans. But we can change the symbols we choose to express our nature. But we can't do this on our own. We need the guidance of a master that all of nature submits to, a master that humans have recently chosen to ignore.

Humans are living on a temporary and finite predator free New Guinean paradigm.

The Overshoot Predator is a fisherman and we are the large mouth bass. He is feeding out the line, allowing us to run with this before he sets the hook. Is this part of a masterplan to insure that the consequences are deep enough to change our cultural symbols?

[dsula]

It is an "American thing"

It's not!

It's a money thing. People who have plenty of money (or plenty of credit) spend it on plenty of BS. All around the globe.

[dsula]

It is an "American thing"

It's not!

It's a money thing. People who have plenty of money (or plenty of credit) spend it on plenty of BS. All around the globe.

Lots of place have resisted the evils of suburbanization. Japan and France to name a few sane places. Russia?

People tend to spend money on different things. Germans prefer to spend it on BMWs or on vacations, Japanese on endless gadgets and computers. Americans prefer big houses.
Has to do with availability and peer pressure. In the end money gets spent on stupid stuff. But maybe it's simply enjoying life. Why not spend it on something you like, even if it's useless. You can't take it with you.

[Subjectivist]

It is an "American thing"

It's not!

It's a money thing. People who have plenty of money (or plenty of credit) spend it on plenty of BS. All around the globe.

Lots of place have resisted the evils of suburbanization. Japan and France to name a few sane places. Russia?

I don't think you should count Japan, the population density and buildable land ratio makes building a private home on a private lot is prohibitavely expensive. I don't know enough about France to speak about the situation there.

[Shaved Monkey]

The disease is in Australia too
Were my dad lives you buy a 30 or 40 year old house for a $ million bulldoze it and fill the block with the biggest house a couple of mill can build.
Mainly rich Asians
The outer suburbs are full of cheaper versions of macmansions too, mainly first home buyers,living the mortgaged to your eyeballs dream.

[ralfy]

It's part of a growing global middle class:

"The rise of the global middle class"

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-22956470

[Sixstrings]

=No It isn't. It is a peacock's tail, a turkey's gobble, the tusk of a narwhal, the mane of a lion.

A symbol of status, of fitness, of sexual power.

We are hardwired to strut our stuff. That part probably can not be changed. But what we choose as the symbol that represents the strut can be changed and does not have to be energy intensive.

Nice post, your writing is a pleasure to read.

And I agree. I actually think the future will see more "virtual goods" -- so, virtual "status" symbols that don't require much energy at all. Virtual worlds, virtual living, cyberspace.. and one day we (or our grandchildren) all end up in something like this:



The brain doesn't even the know the difference, between a "virtual" experience, and a "real"one. There's no difference between virtual "status" and a McMansion -- the status comes in what the society values. So that could head into cyberspace and virtual Stuff and plastic pumpkins, or society could re-orient with different values and non-material social status. (i.e., maybe more religion after the death of consumerism)

I think it will stay consumerist, and will go more virtual, since there's so much pure profit selling pixels.