The Reality Behind the "Economic Recovery".
As I said in my previous post, Some Thoughts on Shelter, housing has become unaffordably expensive, even if you do happen to have a job.
Now being homeless is no longer reserved for the unemployed.
The search for somewhere to rest your head in between shifts (or jobs) can cause additional stress that most people don't need.
Paul Elkins developed an ingenious emergency shelter made with coroplast, a corrugated plastic most recognizable from it's use in political campaign yard signs.
According to his web site, the original prototype lasted for over 5 years in Washington State without degrading due to weather.
The biggest drawback I noticed from his videos was that it is horrendously noisy inside when it rains.
One way around this would be to do what Eliot Coleman did in his winter greenhouses, simply add another blanket on top.
This is an Outfitter and Guide tent from Shelter Systems.
The unique feature here is that it's not a true Buckminster Fuller Geodesic Dome, which is a good thing, because Geodesic domes, while people fawn over them, are notoriously complicated and/or expensive.
Shelter Systems' designs offer quick and easy set up (some in as little as 20 minutes) and are rugged.
Putting several of Paul Elkins' coroplast shelters inside of a Shelter Systems dome would provide excellent environmental protection (probably down into single digit temperatures) and also privacy for individual occupants.
Is it the American Dream?
Hell No, but it would beat sleeping in your car.
The "system" as we know it is unwinding. Could be five years, could be 50 years, but it's unwinding. At some point the ever increasing cost of living is going to smash head first into the decline in available jobs... I imagine co-housing will become more and more popular as groups of people join together to buy patches of land and people put clusters of tiny houses or other modest structures together... having "their own" while also realizing cost savings from the scale of "mass" use of electricity, etc.
The number of "working poor" keeps increasing. At some point, the wheels will fall off the wagon...
Me too, I'm old enough to remember when people took in "boarders". I'm guessing there'll be some kind of zoning ordinance they'll pass to outlaw that too.
I've been listening to one of my co-workers lament about his situation in sleepy-little Holland, Michigan lately.
He has a house that he rents, short term on VRBO and the city passed an ordinance that basically outlaws it.
According to my co-worker, one person owns something like 1/3 of the hotel space in the town. Her name is Elsa Prince. She's the mother of Betsy DeVos and Erik Prince. Personally, that's not an indictment or an endorsement, just a demonstration that money and politics go hand in hand and usually take precedence over "the common good."
Holy crow - I had no idea those two were related.
Politics really is an inbred scene now, isn't it?
I used to jokingly refer to the "Dutch Mafia" here in West Michigan.
I still do but only in whispers now.
Owning a home and paying on a 30-year mortgage is overrated in today's economy in most urban areas (The concrete jungle). Most Americans and other societies in other parts of the world are blinded by the truth; too much Government regulation and control, too much corporate greed, and less time to build a strong family! The American Dream as I see it in 2017, is not what you leave in or how much you make, and/or what kind of car you have, but to live free and independent without Government Regulation/Support and build a strong loving family. Our system today, is designed for failure; this article points one area, where it is failing us as Americans; sad but true!
And it's the corporate influence that leads to the government regulation and control.
They've figured out how to game the system and we're all just pawns.
It would be great to get these to the people who need them. I like your idea of nesting shelters inside of domes
Thanks.
I got the idea from seeing a travel show a few years back. Someone was actually in Siberia in the winter and they spent a night with a family in their yurt, they had a smaller space inside for sleeping that allowed them to sleep in light clothes.
thanks for sharing it
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I read another article on this subject not so long ago. At least you offer alternatives here. They were just focusing on all the bad points in the other article.
You caught me on a good day. ;-)
Most news seems like it's purpose is either to scare us to death or convince us that everything is perfectly OK. We're living through a period of immense change, I figure it can't hurt to at least make people aware that they're not completely helpless.
As you point out, I can't decide whether these structures are cool, or depressing.
I mean, they look great for camping. But someone working full time (and overtime) shouldn't have to live in a shell like a turtle.