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Comparisons
Aboard Celebrity Cruise Ship Century June 2, 2002
A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome
COMPARISONS
You can compare apples and oranges. They are both fruits and are
roundish but they have different insides and have different tastes.
Incidentally, they both grow on trees. Comparing apples and oranges may be a fruitless task to some people but they sometimes surprise you with the
insights they can come up with. For instance, two boat-shaped structures
that superficially seem alike and you can point to a number of similarities.
First, they both resemble huge ocean liners. The structures are
long and pointed at one end. They both have numerous levels where
activities take place and both house a number of people. Both are intended
to involve and employ people from many different backgrounds, occupations
and interests. There may be more points of commonality but the idea can be
stretched only so far.
Let us point out one more commonality. These two structures
(their names are "Celebrity Century" and "Arcosanti") may be considered
utopian enterprises. The Century is a floating super hotel (a paradise) on
the seas while Arcosanti, located in the Arizonian desert, is an architect's
conception of a single structure where artisans, poets, writers and ordinary
citizens live together in a self-sustaining miniature city bustling with
life in a hot dusty place - and, incidentally, transform the desert location
into a "paradise". The Arcosanti dwellers came to this unlikely place to
build it by their own labors and wrest a lush cornucopia of vegetables and
fruits and flowers as the background for sane living on communal principles.
The cruise ship metaphor for paradise is easily comprehended as
the paying passengers go from one activity (basically eating) to another (a
great many congregate around the pools) while they are attended by willing
servants who have prepared for every possible want one might have. The
cruise destination is to exotic ports of call that sometimes disappoint
because of the poverty and limited style of life available. On the sea there
is one caveat, however. The passenger must pay up front and pay for each
additional service beyond the standard excess that is available for all.
According to one's values this contrasts with Arcosanti that was
built on an idea and freely given labor by visionaries who could see the
structure rising in an improbable place. They paid for the privilege to
sweat and dirty themselves to create something tangible out of a dream. It
was meant to house about 5,000 people who would eventually live and work
there and was supposed to be completed by the end of the 20th Century.
Realistically it is a work still in progress. There is a fleet of Celebrity
Line ships, each more beautiful and luxurious than the previous, the larger
ones carrying 2000 plus paying passengers along with about 1,000 support
staff who coddle them.
Each of these "utopian" enterprises is a costly effort. They
stretch the limits of imagination to think of towering speedy self-contained
cities moving from one port of call to another stabilized by ingenious
machinery. The one on water works on capitalistic principles and individual
need to feel like royalty and are treated like such - for a price. The one
stranded out in the desert was created by a dreamer and sustained by others
who dream that by their efforts they can make it come to life.
You can make an analogous comparison to building shelters on Mars or other airless and interesting places where our kind cannot live. Just a short time ago neither was considered possible. The two ships (one on the seas and the other rooted in the desert) can be contrasted far more readily than compared when you think about it.
Carol's Evaluation: 9 out of 10.
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