Socialist Progressives

TBF

(34,297 posts) Tue Jan 19, 2016, 09:58 PM Jan 2016

Tiny Houses

Viewing the enthusiasm for tiny living through the lens of individual space and ownership calls up much older ideas than Kahn’s shelter or Susanka’s not-so-big spaces; the tiny house fantasy rests on visions of property and expansion embedded in the American consciousness for more than a century.

Tiny homes aren’t a solution. Small living is another superficial fix, brandishing clever design and appeals to nostalgia while ignoring the underlying social relations which cause homelessness, housing insecurity, and environmental degradation.

The Tiny House Fantasy
The tiny house movement embraces individualistic visions of property while ignoring the real causes of housing insecurity.
by Arielle Milkman 1-19-2016

Last year was the year of the tiny house — a moment in which living small, once a niche design trend for isolationists and weirdos, moved to the mainstream, filling a respectable slot in the American conception of home ownership.

TV shows (Tiny House Nation), movies (TINY: A Story About Living Small), and even politicians (who proposed building tiny home communities) all touted radically downsizing, whether to fight consumerism or save the environment or ameliorate other social ills.

The object of their affection was indeed less capacious than the 2,600-square-foot dwelling the average new American home measured in 2014. According to one site partial to the lifestyle, a tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet ...

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/01/tiny-house-movement-nation-tumbleweed-environment-consumerism/

3 replies

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Highlight:

Tiny Houses (Original Post) TBF Jan 2016 OP

head so far up his ... SoLeftIAmRight Jan 2016 #1

Right - and while it is advantageous TBF Jan 2016 #2

This author said everything I've ever thought about this Starry Messenger Jan 2016 #3

SoLeftIAmRight

(4,883 posts)

1. head so far up his ...

Reply to TBF (Original post)

Tue Jan 19, 2016, 11:16 PM

Jan 2016

clean streams in colorado will not feed africa

TBF

(34,297 posts)

2. Right - and while it is advantageous

Reply to SoLeftIAmRight (Reply #1)

Wed Jan 20, 2016, 12:03 PM

Jan 2016

to think about the environment it is just a marketing ploy in the case of tiny houses. I'll move into one when Dave Koch and all the Walmart heirs agree to the same lifestyle as a primary residence (and I expect sale of all of their other homes with proceeds going to charity). They are not doing this for the environment - they are doing it to make a buck themselves. I like how the article points out that it's merely a facade as the issue of income inequality is once again pushed under the door mat.

Starry Messenger

(32,375 posts)

3. This author said everything I've ever thought about this

Reply to TBF (Original post)

Wed Jan 20, 2016, 12:32 PM

Jan 2016

and more. The points about coopting the only real public ownership of a home, mobile homes, was really interesting. I'd only ever before seen these built on plots of land I assumed were private property. Which is nice if you own land, but this does nothing for renters.

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