the commodification of our most private spaces
Looking back on the lecture from last week there was one thing that really stuck out to me, it was this idea of "the commodification of our most private spaces". I am still trying to develop this thought further but it made me feel some type of way. For our generation it is nearly impossible to detach the ideas of a house, ownership, and investment. The impact that this has had on our society is immense and we have spent quite a bit of time on that this semester so affordable housing, capitalism and cities, and urban development are not where I would like to pause. Instead, I am curious about the mental impact, the overall mindset, that the home becoming an investment has had on both the individual and on society. While this is more a line of thought than an opinion, I think that it is worth exploring. What happened when we attached a dollar sign to our place of refuge? What would be different today without the housing market? Rather, what would be different today if we would have never had a housing market?
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI had similar thoughts during this lecture. For some reason, it’s never dawned on me that home ownership is an American concept (and a soon to be outdated one at that). It’s somewhat amusing that I feel like I have not succeeded because I will not be able to afford a home before I am 30 years old. But at what point did purchasing a house become a threshold of success? There is no doubt that this mindset is what has led to the rapid growth – and impending failure – of suburbia in America.