The first automobile was created in the mid-1880s. For two and a half decades, human beings were aware of them. We thought they were quaint, interesting, a curiosity. But we preferred horses. We spent a quarter century walking through horseshit before the idea of the automobile finally started to take hold.
It was the leadership of Henry Ford that took the world somewhere new. The automobile revolutionized life itself and dramatically transformed the economy. Speed and range of movement became principles of modern society, driving our world to new heights.
For the last twenty-five years, the ingenuity of everyday Americans dissatisfied with the cost of housing has driven Tiny House design to amazing levels. We all scroll through pictures of them when we feel hopeless, allowing ourselves moments of inspiration and dreams of something different. We see and feel their potential, but we wait at the gates for the idea to manure. Excuse me, I meant to say “for the idea to mature.”
My opponents in the Senate primary are suggesting breaking ground on millions of new homes to resolve the current housing affordability problem. They show little concern for the environmental consequences. They don’t dive very deeply into the cost of construction and, therefore, the cost of that new housing. And they never touch on the real potential size of the problem.
It could reach into the tens of millions.
They want to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.
Tiny Houses are the kind of technology that, if they were readily available today, if financing were available, and if government simply got out of the way by changing zoning laws to support them, could explode faster than traditional construction ever could. Thus, reducing housing costs much faster.
And if Tiny Houses were within reach of the average person, the way the Model T eventually became, they could immediately provide hope, inspiration, and the possibility of a different life to an expanding part of our population, people who currently see very little hope and act accordingly.
Thoughts of Tiny Houses elicit dreams of the ocean, the lakes, the rivers, the mountains, the desert, the heartland. Open skies. Gazing at the stars. Freedom of movement. Travel. Financial manageability.
And then all the other dreams that people stuff down inside themselves when they spend their whole lives trying to pay a rent bill. The music, the art, the hobbies, the passions.
Tiny Houses change the way the mind works.
They very quickly and effectively put a new American Dream back into our heads. They give direction to the soul: exploration, adventure, and fun.
It’s my dream, whether I win this race or not. Whether I win a billion dollars in the Powerball or not.
I want the open sky.
I want the beach.
I want all of America.
I want the potential of anywhere, at any time.
And I want to look at the stars again, knowing I am free.
If today’s Tiny House is the Model T, I can’t wait for the future.
I am excited about where the designs will go. And I dream about my sons, and their children, and their children, living lives of adventure and discovery in this world.
The fruit is ripe.
It’s easy to pick.
The moment is now.
