On Sat, 2008-06-21 at 22:04 -0600, Josh Coates wrote: > >McMansions are built because people want them; > > ditto to stuart jansen's brilliant statement - (plus a "duh." added by me, > directed towards andy. ;-)
There's quite a difference between a sweat shop and a McMansion, and I don't think the analogy holds. Anyone who can afford a house of that scale certainly has other options. They may not be ones that fit into their idea of style or luxury, but the choice is there. The analogy does hold more accurately in that the quality of homes across the board does seem to be dropping, for whatever reason and McMansions are just the higher end of that. While I'm sure it's not the only cause, I see a large factor is that Americans want to have everything regardless of the quality. It's just the fact of *having* it that has value and not the article itself. The home just *has* to have vaulted ceilings and a jetted tub. To do that and keep the price low, which seems to be the most important factor any more (it's the only explanation for processed "cheese" singles), the developer cuts back other places. The key is that because we shop that way, eventually that's all we're offered. So no, we didn't actively set out to decrease the quality of everything on the market, but the blame lies squarely with every one of us. I call this the Walmartification of America. And I admit that I suffer from this same syndrome. The first step to overcoming it is of course to recognize it. Maybe we need a new 12 step program. "Hi, my name is Corey and I'm an American." Corey
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