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I'd like to develop a blueprint for a cookie-cutter community for social security recipients. The blueprint would include design and construction for physical s

I'd like to develop a blueprint for a cookie-cutter community for social security recipients. The blueprint would include design and construction for physical structures such as community spaces, bedroom spaces, land size, possibly food gardening areas, and activity areas. Then, design a type of self-governing community 'constitution' that would direct operation of the community by the community. An expanded home owners association of sorts. The community would be funded by the social security income of the residents. All residents who are still able work in some capacity to offset the costs of operation. Those who are no longer able to work would still remain and be assisted by other members and skilled nurses. Professional services such as legal and counseling can be provided on site. Perhaps add a medication dispensary. A single community could have, I don't know, 1,000 people? The average social security benefit in 2019 is $1,461. This would yield a $17,500,000 annual budget for the community to operate [3]. This is a similar concept as a Kibbutz, which works as an organizing approach in Israel [1]. One difference is that this community would be primarily funded by social security receipts, rather than industrial or business activities. Many costs of operation can be offset by growing their own food, making their own beer and wine, doing their own maintenance, managing the finances using standard corporate control policies. Such an arrangement would have all the opportunities that seniors need: Social engagement, valued work, friendships, privacy when they want it, people watching out for each other, a feeling of contributing. More importantly, it would be available to seniors who hit retirement with no wealth, and no income other than their social security check. There are 25 million Americans in this situation today [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz [2] https://www.ncoa.org/news/resources-for-reporters/get-the-facts/economic-security-facts/ https://www.ncoa.org/news/resources-for-reporters/get-the-fa... [3] https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/questions-answers/how-much-social-security-will-i-get.html https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/questions-an...

subhobroto 7y ago
Your idea is very well placed and your vision has a lot of value but I think you're trying to achieve it in a very painful way. You cannot force people to like something: for any initiative to be successful long term, it has to be accepted naturally and organically. What you are proposing, your idea of a community, counseling, engagement, friendships are very good and a natural way of living life - that's how it used to be forever and still remains to this day, across most of the world where people live truly fulfilling and meaningful lives. Except mostly for the U.S. and the countries that try to emulate it. I wrote in some details about the challenge, the U.S. faces, here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20557757 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20557757
nostrademons 7y ago
Cookie-cutter community is an oxymoron. Communities arise spontaneously when a group of people find themselves together with a common purpose, common values, common moment in time, or they just enjoy each others' company. If those elements aren't present, you just have a bunch of individuals sharing space. If they are, a small group forms, they invite others who share their values, and the community grows organically. The physical plan and organization can affect whether a community develops, but nearly all interventions appear to be negative. You can kill community, but only its members can grow it. Lots and lots of people have tried to engineer community, from everyone who failed at building a Web 2.0 social-networking startup to colleges that manipulate their housing & dining arrangements to apartment complexes with "community rooms" and scheduled events to the huge planned Chinese & Soviet megacities that were supposed to house millions but basically got nobody. Community always starts with individual humans, authentic emotions, and a time and place. A lot of people think that by supplying the time & place they'll get the community, but it doesn't work that way. People and emotions come first.
- qarlow 7y ago
  I mostly agree, but I think (affordable) time and place is actually incredibly scares these days. To the point where people will travel half way across the world for it. Pretty much everywhere is pricing themselves out of having communities. That is where a lot of these places fail. They have all sorts of barriers like high costs, difficult admissions or rules, and then expect people to be creative.
UnFleshedOne 7y ago
That must be how the Matrix got started -- create a few cookie-cutter retirement communities, have most of them get taken over by a few management companies, have the most ruthless one of those take over whole market and start earnestly geri-farming people for their social security paychecks, optimize and streamline operations, iterate on that enough and you end up with rows of pods with people in VR. Put them in from the birth to improve adaptation metrics and extend useful paycheck receiving time. Matrix is the result of paperclip optimization process on a retirement home concept.
- 11thEarlOfMar 7y ago
  It’s a not-for-profit Corp, owned by the community. Perhaps held in trust. If the community voted to sell at any point, then I suppose yes, they could wind up in The Matrix. Though, most of them saw the movies, so I’d guess they’d know to void that fate.

subhobroto 7y ago

Your idea is very well placed and your vision has a lot of value but I think you're trying to achieve it in a very painful way. You cannot force people to like something: for any initiative to be successful long term, it has to be accepted naturally and organically. What you are proposing, your idea of a community, counseling, engagement, friendships are very good and a natural way of living life - that's how it used to be forever and still remains to this day, across most of the world where people live truly fulfilling and meaningful lives. Except mostly for the U.S. and the countries that try to emulate it. I wrote in some details about the challenge, the U.S. faces, here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20557757 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20557757

nostrademons 7y ago

Cookie-cutter community is an oxymoron. Communities arise spontaneously when a group of people find themselves together with a common purpose, common values, common moment in time, or they just enjoy each others' company. If those elements aren't present, you just have a bunch of individuals sharing space. If they are, a small group forms, they invite others who share their values, and the community grows organically. The physical plan and organization can affect whether a community develops, but nearly all interventions appear to be negative. You can kill community, but only its members can grow it. Lots and lots of people have tried to engineer community, from everyone who failed at building a Web 2.0 social-networking startup to colleges that manipulate their housing & dining arrangements to apartment complexes with "community rooms" and scheduled events to the huge planned Chinese & Soviet megacities that were supposed to house millions but basically got nobody. Community always starts with individual humans, authentic emotions, and a time and place. A lot of people think that by supplying the time & place they'll get the community, but it doesn't work that way. People and emotions come first.

qarlow 7y ago
I mostly agree, but I think (affordable) time and place is actually incredibly scares these days. To the point where people will travel half way across the world for it. Pretty much everywhere is pricing themselves out of having communities. That is where a lot of these places fail. They have all sorts of barriers like high costs, difficult admissions or rules, and then expect people to be creative.

UnFleshedOne 7y ago

That must be how the Matrix got started -- create a few cookie-cutter retirement communities, have most of them get taken over by a few management companies, have the most ruthless one of those take over whole market and start earnestly geri-farming people for their social security paychecks, optimize and streamline operations, iterate on that enough and you end up with rows of pods with people in VR. Put them in from the birth to improve adaptation metrics and extend useful paycheck receiving time. Matrix is the result of paperclip optimization process on a retirement home concept.

11thEarlOfMar 7y ago
It’s a not-for-profit Corp, owned by the community. Perhaps held in trust. If the community voted to sell at any point, then I suppose yes, they could wind up in The Matrix. Though, most of them saw the movies, so I’d guess they’d know to void that fate.