The American economy has gotten so weird that people are now knocking down houses — not building them — to make money. And this guy has a unique, catchy way of explaining what’s going down.
Basically, it’s now more profitable in most American cities (if not altogether legal, but that’s another thing) to strip buildings and sell them for parts — but it’s not like recycling. It’s more like a systematic destruction of historic neighborhoods for profit. Profit wins, destruction happens, humans lose, and history is sad.
At the end, you can even hear that the buncha Swiss people he’s performing for get riled up. Don’t forget that Swiss people are famously neutral people, guys! So … won’t somebody please do something about the brick thieves?
CULTURAL STUDIES ALERT: Ever notice how the trend of valuing flimsy new things over legit old things is sort of *our thing* now in the USA? It has absofruitly been my (probably very biased, but still) experience. Just think about it from a “what’s my cultural trend today?” place.
MORE DETAILS TIME: So if you were picking up what Mr. LaFarge was putting down, you’ll want to read the New York Times article about the situation.
And if you’re wondering, “How does this even happen at all … and why isn’t it like, ‘Yay, we’re recycling houses’!?” — look no further than this piece written by some experts at Preservation Research Office.
