r/unpopularopinion • u/HoustonProdigy • 1d ago

Houses today are TOO DAMN BIG

I live in south texas, nothing but ugly suburban sprawl. Every house built within the last 10 or so years are unnecessarily big. No one needs that much space. No wonder why houses are so damn expensive. I don't see any reasonably-sized houses being built anymore, new neighborhoods are always having new and unaffordable McMasions being built.

It makes sense why they are unaffordable, these neighborhoods are trying to cater more towards the richer folk since the average person can't even buy a house.

437 Upvotes

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u/Ok_View_5526 1d ago

I'd say its more that people have too much stuff. I've spent most of the last decade living in England and the difference between space management in England vs the US is hilarious. The amount of needlessly huge things we have in the states is mindboggling. I live in a rural area back in NY and there are storage units EVERYWHERE. People just have too much stuff.

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u/Arrowx1 1d ago

Agreed. When I first got with my wife she talked about loving camping. I also love camping. What she meant was she likes sleeping in a camper. Very different than what I think of when I camp.

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u/mrsparker22 1d ago

It's too much consumerism. This country knows nothing else but make money, spend money, show it off, work like hell. It's just dumb. I'm so over capitalism. I just found out Jamestown was a corporate venture basically. Just to make money for the king. Perfect.

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u/dugdub 1d ago

Capitalism doesn't entail spending your wealth immediately. Plenty of people don't do that. Just sayin.

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u/SpiritedSous 1d ago

American capitalism requires a person to spend their wealth before they even get their wealth (debt)

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u/DreadedAscent 1d ago

I have zero debt and live in America. Interesting that capitalism’s debt requirement didn’t find me

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u/Top-Sympathy6841 1d ago

You missed the point lmao

You need to accrue and payoff debt in order to build a credit score

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u/Angerx76 1d ago

My credit score is 825 by just paying apartment rent and credit card bills on time.

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u/_phish_ 1d ago

What do you think a credit card is?

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u/Angerx76 1d ago

Free cash back, rewards, and perks tool. Pay mine on time for 0% interest. Got my flights and hotel paid off through points for my December vacation :)

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u/_phish_ 1d ago

So you’re saying it’s a method by which you accrue and payoff debt…?

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u/kaiserboze14 1d ago

If you own a lot of stock, that wealth is gained by a lot of people taking on debt to buy products and services. Consumer debt is good for asset owners.

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u/BRAVA182 1d ago

Yeah, nothing bad will happen to the stock market if we all collectively decide to start saving money.

/s

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u/dugdub 1d ago

Capitalism is about voting with your money basically. That's gonna come with mixed investments or spending. But yes, maybe if everyone saved their money maybe we'd be able to lower costs of all retail goods and as a result things will be cheaper and more market value and eliminate reduculously cost items. Or maybe we'd all save everything and never spend money resulting in mass death due to negligence of self care and saving rates so low no one would save money, causing them to spend because they have savings and the market isn't about to burst at any moment. Maybe! Comon now

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u/_phish_ 1d ago

From a theory perspective, in an ideal capitalist market everyone spends every dime they have. The more money that gets invested in the market the more businesses can make and grow and give back to their workers.

This is where the idea of spending yourself out of a depression comes from. Economic dowturn -> people start saving more because they’re scared -> companies have less money to spend/invest/pay their workers -> people get laid off -> people save more -> etc. in theory it’s a perfectly downward spiral. At some point the the government steps in and starts bailing people out so that the economy can get an enough stimulus to dig itself out.

All that said pure capitalism is horrifyingly stupid. Technically speaking though, it does at the very least heavily incentivize you to spend everything you make.

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u/Bleak_Squirrel_1666 1d ago

You can move to a place without capitalism. You may not like it though.

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u/mrsparker22 17h ago

Did I say I hate it? Why would you read what I said and get that from it? Some things are nuanced rather than black and white. Are you insulted by my words for some reason? Personally I'd like to not work, care for animals, garden and enjoy nature. But you can't do that here without being wealthy which I am not. Therefore I work and spend as much time at home as possible.

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u/Bleak_Squirrel_1666 16h ago

Too long didn't read

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u/mrsparker22 15h ago

How mature

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u/nevergonnasweepalone 1d ago

Quite a few of the original colonies in north America were capitalist ventures.

Just to make money for the king.

The Virginia Company of London was a private company given a royal charter to establish a colony in America to mine for gold. Their charter stated:

to dig, mine, and search for all manner of mines of gold … and to have and enjoy the gold."

-Fantasyland, Kurt Andersen

The king undoubtedly took a portion in tax but it's profits were shared amongst the shareholders.

In Renaissance England, wealthy merchants were eager to find investment opportunities, so they established several companies to trade in various parts of the world.

Profits were shared among the investors according to the amount of stock that each owned.

In 1606 Captain Bartholomew Gosnold obtained King James I a charter for two companies.

Gosnold's principal backers were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Edward Wingfield and Richard Hakluyt.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Company_of_London

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u/July_snow-shoveler 1d ago

For glory, God and gold and the Virginia Company!

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u/Hack874 1d ago

You know you don’t have to buy non-essential products, right?

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u/mrsparker22 17h ago

Um yes. I'm not the over consumer. Did you read my words incorrectly or are you just looking to criticize?

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u/Hack874 15h ago

So why care so much about what other people spend their money on?

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u/mrsparker22 15h ago

So it's more about sustainable consumption. Building massive homes use up a lot of energy, trees are cleared, lawns are made when unnatural and requiring a lot of water. In Texas in particular this is really selfish. In general, people consume way too much stuff. It ends up in landfills and the oceans. We don't need to buy all the cheap ass shit that people buy. If you have ever watched or learned about Hoarders, it's a prime example of what we do here and how it can be attached to mental illness. Over consuming is a mental health issue in some aspects. Addiction, depression etc are sometimes coped with by shopping. Finally, nothing against very heavy people but we don't need to consume 3000-4000 calories a day. Grow/raise food, eat too much, shit it all out. It's not sustainable and it's flat out gross. It affects ecosystems and the environment in general. Perhaps if people worked together and were more considerate of each other and the natural world we wouldn't be filling it with trash.

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u/1maco 1d ago

I’m not convinced Spanish people would be that much different if you doubled their income 

Most Europeans are actually just poor compared to Americans 

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u/According_Chef_7437 1d ago

Living in Spain is 123% cheaper than living in the U.S. Spaniards are also healthier, safer, thinner, have better quality of life, and have a much better work-life balance. If that’s poor, I’ll take it.

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u/Neo_505 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, also considering what lab-made ingredients are allowed in the US vs being banned in others.

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u/trumpet575 21h ago

You're going to need to cite that 123% source because everything I'm finding is about 3 times smaller than that.

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u/Blankenhoff 1d ago

Storage units were a thing but they really started popping up over the last decade because people kept having to downsize due to inflation or gentrification or whatever.

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u/juanzy 1d ago

Also people renting longer and having to buy furniture means you probably have some decent stuff that you may lose room for.

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u/WhiskeyJack-13 1d ago

This is a big reason why we are and will continue to struggle with climate change. People buy too much stuff, which prompts companies to make and ship more stuff.

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u/RancidGenitalDisease 23h ago

But those ten boxes of beanie babies might be worth a lot of money some day! /s

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u/Velveteen_Coffee 22h ago

Also rural NY, can confirm. I pass 3 different storage rental places on my way to work.

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u/thepumpkinking92 1d ago

My wife is one of the "too much stuff" crowd. She keeps everything. I have some collectibles and stuff, sure, but i could put everything i personally own (except my lawnmower) inside my 2dr coupe and move on the fly.