Tiny living (a gentle, left-leaning alternative to hard-edged right-wing survivalism) is a way for people who are already slim to go on dieting. In both its real and imaginary versions, but especially in the latter, it\u2019s invigorating and clarifying. Lack of closet space concentrates the mind, challenging us to reflect on our priorities, or develop some if we don\u2019t have any. In my own life, I\u2019ve noticed in recent years that the pleasures of divestiture \u201d\u201d of carting stuff off to the thrift store or the dump \u201d\u201d far exceed the pleasures of acquisition. When I see a photo of a clever loft space perched above a compact, TV-free living room with a cool kitchenette in the corner and views of pine trees, I drift off into an alternate existence where smartphones and antacids have no hold over me.<\/p>\n
Is any of this new? Of course not. Back in the 1930s, during the Depression, the businessman and tinkerer Wally Byam founded a company called Airstream. Its signature product, a streamlined RV, was a miracle of miniaturization promising freedom and self-reliance. \u201d\u02dc\u201d\u02dcI\u2019m here today and gone tomorrow\/ I drive away from care and sorrow,\u2019\u2019 reads a vintage postcard from the era that depicts a grumpy bill collector gazing after a departing trailer hitched to a car whose driver wears a huge grin. But Byam\u2019s goals for his homes on wheels weren\u2019t merely escapist; he truly believed that his trailers could save the world, or at least substantially improve it. He organized caravans of the vehicles with the intention, similar to Zach Klein\u2019s, of fostering understanding and togetherness and building, what we now call \u201d\u02dc\u201d\u02dccommunity.\u2019\u2019 Humble spaces, smiling faces \u201d\u201d that was the general notion. And it endures. The American Dream is like that. You think it has receded, that it has died, but really, it\u2019s only downsized.<\/p>\n