This article, based on tech and the environment, written by Parag Khanna, proposes that all homes of the future should come with wheels, and I am here to critically assess her point of view. In my opinion, I disagree with this notion especially with some of the claims being made in the article.
They state that trailer homes and RV’s are a “cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to traditional homeownership.” And although there may be some merit to this statement, she further claims that millennials, “witnessed the financial crisis demolish their parents’ house value,” which is why they are switching to mobile homes. This, in my opinion, is a ridiculous claim since for example, from 2006 to 2011 we saw an average of 80-100% growth in residential property value, and then nearly 50% from 2011 to 2017. Therefore this statement is arbitrary and only if these millenials choose not to believe house property value rises.
As for their statement that an RV is a sustainable alternative to traditional homes, this would only be true assuming you do not use the RV as a mobile, and instead have it sit in one area, as the majority of these RV’s have diesel engines that would absolutely ruin the environment. According to another article, Mara Johnson-Groh lived in her RV and did the calculations herself to see how much gas emissions she was producing. After driving, laundry, cooking, and accounting for what she ate, she was actually 1.2 U.S. tons above the global average of carbon dioxide emissions at 6.6 U.S. tons. This is primarily because driving her RV actually contributed to the production of 10000 additional pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Clearly not a “sustainable alternative” like the original article suggests. Now, of course, you can drive less, change to an electric engine, or do a myriad of other improvements, but the exact same can be said for a traditional home. You can make the same improvements to the traditional home to reduce your footprint such as solar panels, reduced waste, cold washing, etc.
In conclusion, I believe her position that all homes should have wheels is only based on assumptions, without facts to back up these claims of sustainability and adverseness to purchasing a home from living through a financial crisis. As I have assessed both of these claims and proven them to be false, it can be stated that her article’s point of view is baseless. Now I do not disagree with the idea of RVs as an alternative to a traditional home if it is done the right way in terms of sustainability. This would mean installing solar panels, adding LED lights and most importantly swapping out the engine for electric. Or if you simply do not use the sustainability argument as the reason behind choosing RVs over tradiitonal homes and instead choose an RV solely on cutting costs, for the mobility, and for the convenience, then it is a good alternative for sure. But with that being said, no, all future homes should not come with wheels.
https://www.popsci.com/technology/parag-khanna-move-book-excerpt/
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/130425/dq130425b-eng.htm
https://outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/essays/is-vanlife-ecofriendly