Our Human Footprint

As I spent the past weekend packing to move to an apartment from my current town house and as I sort through all the items still in my possession from my residence in houses all over 3,000 square feet, and further reflecting on articles I read in my Catholic Social Justice program over the past year, I cannot help but ask -- how much space do we actually need? At its height, my family numbered three people -- did we need 1,000 square feet per person particularly when one of the persons is not even in 1st Grade. The simple and obvious answer is no. Sure, for the sake of sanity it is nice to escape to another room or floor, but as many of us know that is never a surefire means of escape (nor is the pretending we can't hear method). On the news today, there was a story of a family of four (2 parents, 2 teens) who sold their mini-mansion that many of us suburbanites have or had for a simple house that met their needs and nothing more. They took the $1 million left over from the transfer and donated it to funds to aid the hungry in Africa. While my downsizing is more a factor of the rising costs of supporting two households, there is also a rational appeal to it. I do not need to live in a town house. An apartment will suit me just fine. While not as large a step as the one the family took, it is a step towards proper allocation of resources in our world. These mythic mansions were built on unsubstantiated valuations and not in the value of the "brick and mortar". The wealth it portrayed was as flimsy as the drywall within. You can't take the house with you to the next world; you can take your conscience, however. And if Al Gore truly believes in substantive change for our environment, Tipper, Al Jr. and he need to make the same bold and courageous move that the one family did. I have come to realize that he is a hypocrite until he does.