Hyper-individualism

In Wandering Home, Bill McKibben discusses his great dislike for a giant house that overlooks his town. He says, “As I walk, my eye keeps returning to a hilltop overlooking the town, where some outlander has cleared a patch and then, as if from a spaceship, plunked down a “home” huge enough to be a junior high school” (McKibben 21). McKibben says that when he thinks about this unnecessarily large house he can feel himself “starting to heat up from the inside” (21). This immediately reminded me of an issue in my town over this past summer that ignited a very similar response in my community.

In my hometown—Cohasset, MA—there’s an area called James’ Island that’s right on the water. The land is actually more of a peninsula than an island, and it juts into what is called Little Harbor, one of the most desirable places to live. For years it was just a wooded area—not exactly conservation land, but thought to be unbuildable—therefore leaving no reason for the town to buy it to protect it. However, over the summer a family bought the land and made plans to build a five bedroom 7,823-square-foot mansion on the seven-acre lot. The blueprints of the house sparked an outrage from the neighbors and a lot of my town, leading the community to make a Facebook page titled “Save James Island” in protest. My town really came together over the issue, bringing widespread attention and creating town meetings to discuss it. One neighbor said in an interview that, “This new mega mansion home site will destroy beautiful wetlands, beautiful trees, a bird sanctuary, and a wildlife sanctuary…Little Harbor’s eco-culture will be completely destroyed forever” (Seltz). The objections focused on the ecological damage the house could cause and allegations that the design of the house would not meet conservation standards.

People are often driven by their own interests, not stopping to think about the effects their actions can have on others. McKibben says that it’s this “hyper-individualism that thinks nothing of ruining everyone else’s view with a house four times too large for any conceivable purpose” (McKibben 21). The family in my town was not thinking of the effects their ‘dream’ home would have on the surrounding community. They planned to build the three-story mansion on the high point of the island, ruining the view of the harbor for all surrounding houses. One neighbor complained that it would be “the equivalent of a seven-story Taj Mahal for 20 families to look at for the rest of their lives” (Seltz). It would have been less of an outrage if the family had been more considerate of the neighbors and environment by building their incredibly large dream house somewhere else, or at least on another part of the property where it would have fewer effects. 

On September 4^th, my town held the final meeting about the issue. Cohasset voted to decline the family’s plans of construction. So at least for now James’ Island is saved from the “hyper-individualism” that is so prevalent today.

Citations:

McKibben, Bill. Wandering Home: A Long Walk across America's Most Hopeful Landscape,    Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks. New York: Crown Journeys, 2005. Print.

Seltz, Johanna. "Cohasset Family’s Plan to Build ‘dream Home’." BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe, 7 Aug. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.             <https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2015/08/07/cohasset-  family-plan-build-dream-home-runs-against-neighbors-view/VjgDK4wTjX8PHwzA7duOwO/story.html>.