A House, A History, and Shriveled Beans

When I moved into my house in 2004, it looked brand new... well, it nearly was.  Having been built only in 2000, I was merely the second owner.  The previous owner was a contractor, so it had some fun upgrades; nothing fancy, just entertaining ones.  After 27 years in my old house, I was ready for a new place in which to entertain my family and friends, while living a gentle life of my choosing.  The house is ten years old now and magically, issues are starting to appear.

Tiles are cracking on the corners of counters like brittle finger nails.  The water system has mysteriously begun to shut off like bad arteries in a person who doesn't eat right.  The pool pump is sucking up water like an uncontrolled diabetic. Light sockets are going out of someone with cataracts.  Are you getting a theme here? 

My question is, how does a house deteriorate so fast.  It's not as though we don't do the routine maintenance.  Our house is clean.  We mow the lawn.  We clean the pool... sometimes.  We fix what goes wrong.  Perhaps, it has something to do with the quality of the building.  Beazer Homes built this section of town called, Gateway West.  They are being faced with a huge class action suit by our neighbors.  It seems as though all the houses in the area had corners cut, not unlike our counters, that are causing grief for many of the homeowners in the area. 

As I drive by the homes in downtown Sacramento, huge Victorian monstrosities, built in the early part of the 20th Century, I see these homes still standing and in beautiful condition.  Admittedly, some of them were upgraded over the years to meet contemporary building codes and to withstand earthquakes that are so much more common in California than in many places.  As the plaster cracks on the facade of my house and doors settle enough to cause difficulty opening and closing them, I am left harboring some envy of those grand old dames that populate the tree-as-sentry-lined streets of central Sacramento.  What is the difference between their homes and mine?  The answer is obviously work ethic.

When those homes were built in the 1910s and '20s, they were built to last with outstanding materials, expert craftsmanship, and an attention to detail that, outside of multimillion dollar homes, cannot be found in the newer models today.  There is something to be said for valuing one's reputation and others' happiness and security. Those are qualities that must be rebuilt, along with our homes as they fall apart.

Once upon a time, as a nation, we were proud of what we created.  Building or producing something that was of poor quality left us feeling embarrassed and newly motivated to change our ways.  I don't know if that's the truth any longer.  Our goal now is to sell whatever it is we are manufacturing.  What happens after the sale seems to be none of our concern.  The problem is that it should be our concern. 

I am not one who says that we should do everything the way we used to do it.  Honestly, I'd rather not live in the a country that has medical practices or the technology of 1910.  Leeches and horseback riding for miles wouldn't be my favorite things.  There are qualities, though, that would serve us well in 2010, such as integrity, veracity, diligence, and community.

With as creative as it turns out we are, why is it that every time we talk about the subject of personal qualities, we cannot get beyond the cost of quality?  What prevents us from putting our ingenuity to work to create low cost, high quality items; even when it comes to manufacturing high end items like homes?  It just doesn't make any sense.

Many of us will suggest that it is because people will lose their enormously large bank rolls.  The larger the profit margin the happier some people are.  Some people value money over everything else.

I wish I were smart enough to figure out how to build an inexpensive home with a very high quality standard.  It would be my pleasure to create a sophisticated laptop that costs only $50.  A huge thrill for me would be to feed four people in a restaurant for $10. These are wishes that with my knowledge base is not very likely to be my experience; however, someone out there may be able to do it. 

Say what you will, Taco Bell is feeding four, with a Beefy Five Layer Burrito, a drink, and chips for about ten dollars.  Small notepads are being produced for $200, which is better than the $600 to $1,000 for other "low-end" technology.  These dreams are starting to come to fruition which is the good news. 

Now, let's take a look at building homes.  Could there be more good news around the corner about green technology with regard to building materials and energy saving technologies?  We have solar positioning, EnergyStar appliances, natural ventilation, and sandbag and adobe homes already popping up; but we're still paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for these homes. 

What does it say about a culture that takes zealous pride in paying a large amount of money for something?  What is wrong with a nation that prizes elevated costs, ridiculous extravagance, and strings of zeros after a number to reflect their bank accounts, rather than ensuring everyone has access to health care, children with a solid education, family stability, or fewer of their family members in prisons?

There was a time when more people were grateful when their project became successful and they were rewarded for their hard work and innovation.  It seems as though, as a culture, we are developing higher expectations for doing less, and providing less from our work.  We are growing an entitled society.  As we listen to people judge the poor for asking for help, we are seeing the wealthy do the same thing.  The only difference is that the wealthy do not need the help.  Those with ample bank accounts implore us to offer them our hard earned money while they provide poorer service, below-standard products, and empty promises. 

Greed, although described as one of the seven deadly sins, is not so dramatic as all that.  It is a tragic symptom of our group fear of lack.  We are so afraid that we will be without what we need that we surround ourselves with things.  I say, "we," purposefully because I have art on my walls, a wedding ring with a nice diamond, and expensive books that I purchased before our financial struggles began.

Some of us believe that if we have only two beans, we'll share one of them with our neighbor.  If that neighbor is very hungry, we might even give them both beans, hoping that soon, other beans may come.

Beazer Homes does not appear to be that interested in sharing their beans. Although they are in mediation, one would assume in good faith, they continue fighting the lawsuit because, perhaps, they honestly believe the homes they manufactured were the best they could do.  How sad for them.  Those of us who purchased our homes in good faith for several hundreds of thousands of dollars seem to be stuck with those dried up, dark, and shriveled beans that we always find in the bag of pintos.  What we had hoped would be a wonderful soup or plate of refried beans turns out to be nothing more than tooth-chipping stones; and, we continue to find more of those stones the longer we eat.