Everyone who reads this blog with any regularity should be aware by now of “Universe 25,” an experiment carried out more than 40 years ago to create a “utopia” for lab mice that quickly turned into a pretty good approximation of hell. In short, the mice were provided every thign they needed… food, water, clean air, other mice for socializign with. A *lot* of mice. A *vast* number of mice. The mouse population exploded, since mice do what they do; but after a while the population crashed. Not because they all starved or caught some bacterial or viral infection; they simply turned into weeny hipster mice, lost all enthusiasm and stopped breeding. It’s a cautionary tale about not only overpopulation and overcrowding but also welfare states. But that sort of thing couldn’t happen to humans, right?
A day or two back a comment in another post linked to a website “The Worst Room.” This site collects Craigslist and other listings for apartments for rent, Air BNB, that sort of thing, in places like New York City and London. While it doesn’t seem to have been updated since December (maybe 2014), there are a number of listings shown that are worth looking at if for no other reason than to feel relieved that you don’t live in that sort of urban mouse-hole. Or if you *do,* it’s time to realize there’s a better way. There are “rooms” listed that are the size of a closet and cost more than my mortgage.
Next time you see some urban fanboy extolling the virtues of dense-pak living and urban efficiencies and whatnot, just remember: this is how they’re expecting you to live in *their* dreamworld.