5 ms·

He always reminded me of fellow utopian Paolo Soleri (who died in 2013) -- even though their ideas were impractical (at least in the short term), we really need

• erikpukinskis 9y ago
  Paulo Soleri was indeed a gem. I visited Arcosanti years ago... A group of friends rented some rooms in the complex and took the tour. Interesting bunch of older artsy types in a typical intentional community: compelling, but seemingly dying. Then we realized there was a whole other "city" of young people living in the "temporary" construction housing down the hill. These were young people eager to move the vision forward, but were generally stifled because Soleri himself (or his supporters who were older and "full citizens" of Arcosanti) didn't want to deviate from The Plan. I think this is what kills most of these intentional communities... They create a class structure where the in group has privileges the out group doesn't, which leads to inevitable ideological calcification, which leads to inevitable decline. The solution, in my mind, is to build on the idea that every person is a potential contributor, but for health issues, and that we live in a time of plenty. This changes "no that won't work young one" and "no get out of here bad man" to "how can we marshal the resources to do that too?" and "let's get you some health care services".