Yesterday I chatted with a fellow patient at the asylum known as the gym. He was just back from a motorcycle trip with buddies across the American Southwest which began and ended in Las Vegas. He is a real estate agent and he was impressed by the building boom in Vegas.
I mentioned an article I had seen which supported his observation of a housing boom. It also pointed out that there are more than 10,000 empty brand new, never-been-lived-in houses in Las Vegas, not to mention thousands more that are empty because of foreclosure. So why are they building more houses. Well, it's because that's where the market is. Apparently home buyers don't want houses that are 18 months or two year old houses when they can have one just built. And the builders, hurting because of the recession, are happy to comply even though this is the weakest housing market in the nation in terms of the 60% drop in house values.
The startled real estate agent just shook his head and wondered where are all of this is going. Have people learned nothing from the recession he wondered? The answer appears to be a resounding "no!"
This Sunday an alternate lectionary reading is the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The people build a tower taller and taller until it collapses, leading to mass confusion. Most scholars don't consider this to be a factual story but it is a true story-- true to human nature and our tendency toward nonsensical hubris. In Genesis 11 God seems to be scratching his/her head at the scurrying of humanity. Of course as humans we seem programmed to strive, and so often this leads to advancements for our species. But we can be willfully ignorant as well.
What are your thoughts about this? Oh yes, this is blog entry 1000. Go figure.
2 comments:
Congratulations! 1000 is quite an achievement.
As for all those empty houses, I think it should be illegal to be building all those new ones when there are so many vacant ones.
Agreed!
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