Our Personal Shells and Their Consequences
Like hermit crabs we humans inhabit shells for protection and as displays of intimidation and attraction. But their increasing size and cost threatens our survival as a species.
Our shells begin with clothing and continue to housing and individual transportation vehicles. In many places on earth our housing and personal transportation shells have evolved toward gigantism — much larger than they need to be. Monster houses have replaced modest bungalows and apartments. Large trucks, including sport-utility vehicles have replaced smaller coupes and sedans, at increasing monetary and environmental costs. And individual transportation vehicles compete politically with public transportation vehicles.
The attractions of large “shells” of individual housing and transportation are clear enough. In addition to protecting our bodies and making us feel comfortable and strong, they provide space for storage of large quantities of other individual belongings.
But the displacement of smaller housing units by larger housing units has made housing more costly financially, and the combined costs in physical resources to construct, power, and maintain those individual shells contribute to global warming and climate change.
And now many younger people cannot afford the costs of large housing and of enclosed transportation vehicles. They must resort to precarious housing arrangements or homelessness and to less protective personal transportation by walking, riding bicycles or scooters, or using what remains of public transportation. That makes it difficult for them to house and transport children.
Both environmentally and demographically our trend of increasingly larger individual “shells” threatens our very survival as a species.
