On my own street, two doors down, on a lot that has been vacant for a number of years, a house is being built that dwarfs all of the other houses in the area, coupled with an architecture that breathes a certain affluence and lifestyle. In the 21st century, it should have no place. To compound the insult, a number of trees on the property have been cut down to accommodate this (the pictures do not do justice to its scope):
Putting aside the resources and energy expended in constructing the house, despite the fact that yesterday was Earth Overshoot Day, I have to wonder about the kind of person who will eventually purchase the house. (The developer claims he is moving in, but I suspect he will live there for the year required so he can claim it as his principal residence and then sell it without having to pay taxes on his profit.) Will the ultimate purchaser be aware that he or she, in buying this vision, is also expressing contempt for the world of finite resources and climate change that we live in? Indeed, will the new owner be one who never even ponders such matters? Will the sun rise and fall on his or her wants, vanity and ego? I fear to contemplate too deeply the possible answer to those questions.
And yet, the ultimate owner will be a tree hugger compared to others with more monstrous egos. Consider the plans for singer Drake's new home in Toronto,
a lavish two-storey 21,000-square-foot mansion on the Bridle Path that will feature an NBA-sized basketball court, a dedicated awards room and an enormous basement pool.
To better appreciate what Drake is building, consider a few of these details:
A 44-foot by 94-foot basketball court in the basement (with a snack lounge above), where Drizzy can channel Jimmy Brooks and put in the practice time to make sure he never shoots another airball on camera ever again, like he did at a U.S. college basketball game.No one should begrudge the man his success, but that success would seem to entail a grave price: total disregard, even contempt, for today's reality, a reality that is seeing some parts of the world looking for new homes because of rising sea levels. And of course, that is but one of the many challenges humanity, both near and far, faces.
A basement “spa and tub retreat,” surrounded by two saunas (both infrared and regular), a designated massage room and a linen closet.
A sprawling lower-level pool and large hot tub, both situated in front of a massive TV projection screen, with bars on both sides. No word yet on whether the proposed pool is bigger than Kanye’s, as he claims in his song “Summer Sixteen.”
A bar bookended by separate areas for “chilled wine” and “chilled champagne.”
More than one room set aside for “important artifacts” as well as a “jersey museum,” a library and an awards room that proves he was fibbing on Big Sean’s song “Blessings” when he claimed he didn’t care “where the Grammys go.”
A master bedroom with an ensuite steam shower, plus four more bedrooms each with a corresponding bath. Hold on, we’re never leaving home.
A piano room, a music and screening lounge, two dressing rooms, multiple covered terraces, another outdoor swimming pool, a gym, a lounge and a family room for the family he keeps so close.
A titanic tax bill that in 2014 amounted to $27,856.
But such concerns are not for my developer friend down the block, not for the likes of Drake, and clearly not for the likes of anyone who believes in erecting monuments to their egos.
They would indeed be wise to read, or reread, Ozymandias.
I fear, Lorne, that we have devolved into a culture of collapse. We plainly cannot keep going as we have since the Reagan/Thatcher/Mulroney era ushered in the scourge of neoliberalism. Yet, having been drawn in, there's no sign of the vision much less the popular critical mass to change and, when time is running out and our options are being steadily foreclosed, that can be fatal.
ReplyDeleteJared Diamond contends that when past societies have collapsed it was usually the result of a choice and, in many cases, the disastrous outcome was foreseen. We can choose to conduct ourselves in ways today that we know or ought to know will spell disaster a generation or two from now. Our bacchanal of consumption is premised on "because we can" with scant regard to whether we should. We are just lucky our own grandparents were never empowered to wreak this sort of devastation on us.
Science tells us that mankind first exceeded Earth's resource carrying capacity when our population passed 3+ billion in the 70s. We're now at 7+ billion heading to 9 and beyond. To compound this, our per capita consumption footprint has swelled and continues to grow. Yet our overpopulation and over-consumption has come at a direct, although somewhat deferred (for the moment), cost.
The signs are tangible, palpable, measurable and, in some critical instances, visible to the naked eye from the International Space Station cupola. Rivers that no longer run to the sea. Red tides and blue green algae blooms in our lakes and along our sea coasts. Once fertile soil that now lies exhausted, creating spreading desertification. The blight of deforestation. The collapse of global fisheries as our industrial fleets fish "down the food chain."
We know how this ends but not exactly when. James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia Hypothesis, predicts mankind will number in a few hundred million by the end of this century. That's a massive die-off. He has warned that the only way to blunt this result entails what he calls "sustainable retreat." He uses this term to describe a social transformation away from our excess consumerism into "living small." Small houses, shared transportation, living local, everything necessary to sharply pare our individual and collective ecological footprint.
I've seen no sign that we would entertain this prescription. Your soon to be neighbour confirms this view. Our leaders still quest for 3% annual growth in GDP. We live in a political/economic construct in which negative growth is worse than death. We cannot conceive of how to live other than in the mode that has brought us to this precipice.
It is indeed ironic, isn't it, Mound, that a species that is supposed to be the most intelligent on earth continues to act so consistently and profoundly stupidly. Your observation that "there's no sign of the vision much less the popular critical mass to change" precisely defines our problem and it will surely be the death of many of us.
DeleteI understand that Conrad Black recently had to sell his Bridle Path residence to pay back taxes, Lorne. What goes around comes around.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Owen, it is my understanding that the condition of the sale permits him to continue living there by renting it, with an option to buy it back at some point. Conrad is clearly not going to surrender his sumptuous, bloated and ultimately unsustainable lifestyle without a fight.
DeleteTo the puerile bleating of the uncomprehending left we respond:
Delete"We stay not prepared to re-enact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of the nobility."
A perfect capturing of the spirit of Conrad's people, John.
DeleteIs Drake absolutely sure that there are enough walls for the mirrors?
ReplyDeleteIf there aren't, John, I'm sure an extension to accommodate his ego will be forthcoming.
DeleteIt used to be that only royalty would ever consider living with rooms in their houses they rarely visit. Now too many feel like we should all be able to have whatever we want, that it's all in reach for us. We're all royal wannabes within the illusion of a classless society. I'd like to think that if I had that kind of money, I'd buy up land and the rights to the ground beneath the land, and then leave it wild. But I can't be sure money wouldn't corrupt me also. It's a shame about your neighbourhood, though, and especially the loss of the trees.
ReplyDeleteI am reading a book right now, Marie, called The High Beta Rich, by Robert Frank, about the rise and fall of today's new wealthy. It seems that unlike in the past, when traditional wealth often had a sense of proportion and decorum, today's rich believe in excessive and conspicuous spending and consumption. I guess none of us knows how we would react to a sudden infusion of wealth, but like you, I prefer to think that it wouldn't subvert my basic values.
DeleteI have recently been fixing my house to sell it so we can downsize, and as a result of the process I have really been struck to the degree to which housing has become indicative of our troubled times. When we first moved into out house (which is fairly large) we had six people (with the kids and my father), and then my youngest was born and we had seven in the house. This made sense. Now we are down to three (with the passing of my father and the older children moving out) and we are more than ready to down size. But I realize as we begin to look for a new place how much people seem to want huge houses for no reason. And if you look at smaller places they are generally much crappier builds with the cheapest materials and fixtures. Its as though the builders are assuming that if you want a smaller house it must be only because you can't afford anything bigger. And I also began to look around at how many couples with no (or grown) children live in huge houses, houses that eat up resources like crazy, for no other reason than it seems to project an image of prosperity. This attitude seems to infect most people, not only the disgustingly wealthy. And to make matters worse house buyers expect everything in every house to be new and updated. Its not enough for things to work and be functional, it has to be the latest thing. People are gutting kitchens that are only ten or fifteen years old because that just not new enough. What an incredible waste of resources this is. (I actually blame much of this attitude on the plethora of DYI home shows on TV.) Unless you live in a market like Toronto or Vancouver it is very hard to sell a house without a brand new kitchen and bathrooms. I have looked at ten year old houses with new kitchens, a combination, I suppose, of buyers who want everything new, and terrible builders who use the worst materials and cheapest fixtures. They make houses that are bound to fall apart like the planned obsolescence of electronic devices. Suffice to say that a wander through the housing market is like a lesson in modern capitalism.
ReplyDeleteYour experience and observations are telling, Kirby. The fact that the new houses being built tend to be on the massive, as opposed to the modest and practical side, bears witness to the heedlessness of our contemporaries.
DeleteThe first house I owned, when I lived in Manitoba, was a modest two-bedroom in which the former owner and her husband raised three children. Can you imagine the howls of outrage such living conditions would elicit today? Similarly, my wife's parents had five children who were raised in a three-bedroom house of very modest proportions. Today it would, no doubt, constitute a tear-down.
In our march to the tune of the great god progress, we have forgotten who we really are.
"to know when enough is enough ....is enough" chinese saying
ReplyDeletelived in 700 feet since the 80's with 2 to 4 others and up to 4 cats
ten days holiday in the '74 shorty dodge van each summer made it look like a mansion again
fyi ...it is about 90% recycled material
my comment is
it is disheartening on about 10,000 levels for all these issues that the efforts of thousands can be undone by just one or two
lungta
Your comment offers a fresh perspective on what we need, as opposed to what we insist upon, lunta. The human ego, it would seem, is both our greatest blessing and our greatest curse, all according to its size.
Deletethey would indeed be wise to read, or reread, because I can learn from it. Check this out http://titanicmovie.org/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Rea. Such reminders of our capacity for hubris are always timely and welcome.
Deletethey must be wise and wiser because you will know more about it.PLease check this link http://www.titanicmovie.org/
ReplyDelete