In Los Angeles, people are actually paying $750 a month to live in a pod.

Straits Times:

Ms Kay Wilson packed up her life in a hurry and moved to Los Angeles, only to find that what she paid in Pennsylvania for a nice studio apartment would get her only a 2.9 sq m box in California. Her new home is a capsule, inspired by the famous hotels in Japan.

She arrived a month ago at UP(st)ART, a community for young people with artistic aspirations in need of an affordable place to live.

Each room contains up to six capsules, which Ms Wilson describes as “cosy”. They contain a single bed, a bar for hanging clothes, a few compartments for storing shoes and other items, and an air vent.

By most standards, the accommodation is still not cheap – US$750 (S$1,020) a month plus taxes. That works out to around US$800, which is slightly more than what the 26-year-old was paying in Bethlehem, around 110km outside Philadelphia.

I would say something is seriously wrong with our society when you see shit like this happening.

And the first thing I thought of when I heard the term “capsule” were the capsules shown in the science fiction movie the Matrix.

Is there really that much of a difference though?