I don't understand...

isn't it better they say...
to own your own home?
than to live in an apartment?

Really?

I hadn't noticed any advantages.

I mean the homes here are so close together you hear as much of what your neighbors
do (especially with their cars) as when you live in an apartment...
unless it's cold outside, and all of the windows are shut and the noisy heater is going....

It's not so quiet here with these houses.,

And a home? Why would I want one? It's just a burden. Repairs and so on. home ownership? well, it means that a portion of your income is dedicated in advance to various parapharnelia (garden gnomes, exotic chinese gardens and pools filled with exotic fishes, or perhaps basketball courts, etc., etc.--just listing a few of the mostly unnecessary items I've seen locally....(I can think of many better ways to spend my money---if I had any, that is...)

No, I don't see any advantage in the American style of living....not to mention the alienation and isolation and the whole anti-social character of the society.... simultaneously full of hidden unwritten rules about what you can and can't say, and especially which sorts of emotions are allowed in public, and then at the same time competitively consumerist... and oh, I can't go on, it bores me and gives me a pain in my side at the same time....