I’m pretty sure that’s why social networks were invented.
I’m pretty sure that’s why BuzzFeed and Kim Kardashian have colossal followings. That’s why there are soap operas, One Direction and Kanye West.
They’re entertaining. They’re distracting.
But for Christ’s sake, it has come to a boiling point. Over the color of a fucking dress. And two llamas on the loose.
It goes without question that the Internet is fucking great. Its unprecedented in its ability to connect the world, to share stories, and to hook-up based on your location or engage in shallow-as-a-kiddy-pool vanity via Tinder, for Anonymous and Wikileaks to hold governments accountable and for us to all come out in droves to adamantly debate the color of a dress.
By allowing yourself to become distracted by fad issues, you effectively allow the Internet to become an instrument of control.
People are talking about the tiny house movement. What is it? Is it small houses that are being moved down the street to tiny lots? Is it a political movement? This movement is all about a segment of society that states that people are downsizing the space or spaces that they live in.
If you haven’t heard of it, the tiny house movement is a growing trend and not just a fad. It’s been featured on network television all over the world. What makes the tiny movement so big, and what determines what a small home is?
The average house in America is just less than 3,000 square feet in size. Tiny houses are built with the focus on smaller simplified living so they average around 400 to 500 square feet at the most. Some small houses are very tiny, at around 65 square feet.
But Why the Movement toward Downsizing Houses?
This movement is all about efficiency, saving natural resources, and saving the environment. People who have been concerned about these factors in society have been very concerned at the amount of natural resources (and accompanying waste) that’s generated every time a standard size home is built.
And if you include all the resources that go into maintaining older standard size houses, a good argument can be made that the old adage of “Bigger is better” is not better anymore.
For example: If a tiny home of about 200 square feet is built in remote areas away from sprawling cities, the house leaves virtually no impact or carbon footprint on the natural environment around it. And in many areas small houses are using solar panels for their energy source.
~~GALLERY~~
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
A lot of people think that buying a tiny home means living in a cardboard box or something like that. Not so. Because the cost of a tiny house is so low, builders can focus on higher quality building materials that are more energy-efficient and last longer than materials used in traditional home building.
The small house movement is also providing an affordable means of home ownership to people whose homes were destroyed during hurricanes in the southeastern U.S. in the past ten years.
Some people whose houses were completely demolished could not afford to rebuild, or they did not have sufficient insurance coverage to rebuild the home they had before. So tiny homes provide a comfortable and safe life for them.
It Is What It Is 