I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. At the foot of a majestic mountain range framed by 300-foot tall monolithic red rock formations. You can find yourself in a random gas station parking lot staring at scenes people travel thousands of miles to see. You wouldn’t know it if you were with me, plodding up the valley to my home. The only view I have is litter, weeds, and the construction of a townhome development.
According to the news, the city needs more housing. I have never understood why. There isn’t a dynamic corporate center here. There isn’t a major factory. Aside from the military and the hundreds of contractors for the war machine, there isn’t a bustling economy I can point to. When I drive through neighborhood after sprawling neighborhood I keep coming back to the same old question.
Where the fuck do all these people work?
It is a double edged sword of sorts. The focus has been to infill areas to mitigate sprawl. This means a lot of these new homes are multi-unit. Seeing as I own a single family home the glut of new units doesn’t mangle my property value all that much. At the same time they have been cramming thousands of people into my neighborhood which increases traffic, not just on the roads but in the grocery store.
This would be less of a problem is people weren’t completely wrapped up in analysis paralysis, parking their cart in the middle of the aisle right next to some obnoxious free standing overflow product display thingy. Grocery carts need a horn. Or at the very least they need to teach situational awareness in school.
Just trying to get a pack of ramen there chief. I will be out of your way in 4.5 seconds.
New single family home builds are all on the outskirts, and the rule of thumb for modern neighborhoods is to cram as many homes as possible into a subdivision. The yards on these builds is almost nonexistent and the space between homes has narrowed to almost nothing. The whole idea of buying a house is to not live right on top of someone else, yet these new neighborhoods are basically one long townhome.
To top it off the almost all have some HOA bullshit. I am not at all built to let some neighborhood Karen tell me what I can do with my half million dollar investment. Oh, and guess what? HOA’s don’t protect property values. You may see a bump initially but as that property ages the monthly fees are going to outweigh the benefits. The only way that pyramid scheme survives is if all homes are under the thumb of these parasites.
The real problem with living in close proximity to other people is, most people are inconsiderate. At the same time they want everyone around them to be considerate to them. I hate throwing the term narcissism around but there isn’t another singular phrase to describe it. Most people are far more concerned with what is going on in their own head than the desires of those around them.
This is compounded when you are talking about the place where people live. People want peace and quiet, they want their local environment to be aesthetically pleasing. They want safety, and most of all they want to be left the fuck alone. When you have some asshole revving the shit out of their Nissan at 10 o’clock at night, it is easy to start building resentment.
I get along with a couple of my neighbors. We look out for one another. Others will wave when they go by, but they have no interest in making a connection. Some I have never even seen, and others are straight fucktard douchebags. It’s the way of the world and I can accept it. What I can’t accept is standing on my porch and being able to smell my neighbors breath because some real estate developer wanted to squeeze in two more units on the block.
I get why the kids these days are pissed off about the world the boomers built for them, but I don’t see a whole lot of push back. People are buying these homes. They are buying the junk cars that disconnect you entirely from the driving experience. They are willingly shoveling out top dollar for the latest device to scroll to their own doom.
I am trying to not be a complete misanthrope. I don’t want to believe that the vast majority of people out there are oblivious to the greater threats we face as human beings. It seems like most people should know that the air is bad, the water is bad, the food is bad, the entertainment is bad, and the leadership is bad. On some level they have to know.
I suppose they do, and the default reaction to the abject buttfuckery is to numb the pain. Take some medicine, play some video games, distract distract distract. Believe yourself to be powerless in the face of the avalanche and nestle into the denial that the latest Amazon order is going to make things better.
News flash.
It fucking isn’t.
The whole shituation is a formula the powerful have been running for generations. Divide and conquer. Cycle through a bunch of side quests to keep the masses busy and don’t allow them to unify. Make them just angry enough to go shopping but change the channel before that anger fuels positive change.
What is it this week?
Did the president say some shit?
Did a billionaire do some shit?
Did a celebrity offend someone?
Is there some new ticky tocky trend sweeping the webosphere?
I don’t fucking know. I have to figure out how to work full time, raise a couple kids, manage a stream of never ending bills I don’t make enough money to cover, figure out how to feed these fucks, get gas in the car, keep my lawn from dying under water restrictions, invest time in trying to not die of a heart attack, and hope no major appliance decides to shit the bed.
Solo, because dating in 2026?
Fucking shit show.
Meanwhile the youth should have a lot more energy and capacity to take risks. The next generation is supposed to be better informed. They seem to be unhappy about the way the world was constructed before them, but instead of rising up and demanding something better they seem to be out here trying to go viral, or they are selling their ass on Onlyfans. . .
That’s not fair.
I do see some push back from the 20 somethings. I think they understand the path we are on is not sustainable. I think they sense that a lot of what they have been told isn’t completely truthful. I have hope that something will keep society from pushing forward toward less freedom and more central control.
What I can’t seem to shake is the feeling that creativity and artistry gets lost when freedom is curtailed. I mean I don’t know how much art is coming out of dictatorial regimes. How many movies, paintings, novels, or hit songs are produced in North Korea every year? My guess is not many. It’s hard to want to sculpt when you are busy tracking down wild critters to eat.
But hey, why worry? These new phones can take a picture of the moon.
I guess my priorities are screwed up. I would rather spend a day in a national park enjoying nature than spend a day fingering my robot. I would rather sit and laugh with people than try to convince them to buy my product or spread my brand. It’s probably why I’m poor, but I cherish the moments I’ve spent doing nothing at all.
I suppose I wish I didn’t feel like everyone has given up. It’s like everyone wants the world to change for the better but they can’t decide on which fucked up scenario to attack first.
I get it. I hate that my walk home is strewn with litter and the right thing to do would be to take it upon myself and pick this shit up. The problem is the scope has grown out of control. It would take me all day to clean it all and by the time I was done there would just be more litter behind me.
When the action seems pointless, it is easier to just not act. I have a sinking feeling this is where we are at as a society now. We all want to complain about the litter but no one is bending down to do their part. Accepting the new normal is way easier and safer than doing something about it.
After all, bending down puts you in a compromising position.