Introduction

I read somewhere that for progress to occur, two consecutive generations must agree. This is true for things on a very large scale – things for which planning and building stretches across multiple lifetimes – national highways, patriotic and religious indoctrination, the cathedrals of Europe. But I also believe that vast beneficial changes and cultural shifts can occur, not just in a single generation, but in a fraction of a lifetime.

With this journal I’m setting out to claim my fraction. My goal is to teach awareness of the possibilities of better living through the design and construction of better homes. My hope is that many will be influenced to think and act more thoughtfully in planning, building, and living in the American homes of the near and far future. My target, the way to get many to agree, is you, the individual reading this right now. You and I can live much better, much safer, much more productive lives. I know everyone already wants to be “better, safer, and more productive.” But to reach the same goal as a nation we have to move in the same direction and arrive at the same time. That’s progress.

The national mantra seems to have become “I want it all, and I want it now!!” At this writing, December 27, 2009, the United States is in the grip of a disastrous economic collapse which is the direct result of the American nation agreeing to be greedy. This philosophy will never lead to long term security. Instead it will only lead to a new national mantra “I lost it all, and I lost it suddenly.” In my next post I’ll tell you what this has to do with house plans.