May all roads lead to solarpunk

his is the eighth and final installment of a series of letters between myself and Elle Griffin exploring anarchy in action. Previous exchanges can be found here:

• Part 1 by Elle Griffin

• Part 2 by Peter Clayborne

• Part 3 by Elle Griffin

• Part 4 by Peter Clayborne

• Part 5 by Elle Griffin

• Part 6 by Peter Clayborne

• Part 7 by Elle Griffin

Dear Elle,

As we near a conclusion, I wanted to highlight some points of convergence, some core differences, and where the pieces of this conversation seem to be settling.

Your argument seems to revolve around the assumption that people need to be controlled. This underlies your responses to historical and current examples of anarchy in action, when you point out that they didn’t work over the long-term, or can’t be applied at scale. Without institutions of control, things fall apart. This makes intuitive sense, and is demonstrably true in some ways.

So instead, you propose tweaks to existing systems — some quite radical, such as open borders, and some quite beautiful, such as solarpunk cities. But ultimately you believe government and capital are still essential pillars of a safe, secure society within which people can live freely in community.

Finally, you ask whether the anarchist ideal isn’t too dissimilar from your own after all? You point out that we’ve accomplished, to some degree, many of the aims early anarchists had. And it’s true that we’ve made important progress since the 1800s in some areas (feminism, washing machines, antibiotics).