> <i>There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.</i><p>-- John Rogers<p>Suppose we should add ships without laws to the list. The entire Sea Steading concept makes no sense.<p>1: International waters do have laws and you are subject to them and the flag you fly under.<p>2: If there were no laws you had to live under - why don't you think criminals would already be using these to have drug or arms sales? Oh yeah - it's because you are still subject to laws like everyone else.<p>3: Let's say you have a ship with no laws - what's to stop someone from killing you and taking your stuff? Who is going the enforce those rights? I government like entity? I thought we were libertarians here!<p>4: What happens in the case of an emergency? Do you rely on other governments to bail you out? Will you help the people on your boat - I mean what is the return on saving someone else's life? Who's responsible for the screw up? What about medical treatment? Do you not treat a guy who can't pay but has a festering open wound you could easily fix?<p>Libertarianism - just like this Steading initiative - is a fairy tale for nerds that does not work in reality. But hey - a fella' can dream can't he?<p>Successful business people are like children, give them too much freedom, and they'll pollute the heck out of you given half a chance.<p>Governments are like adults, wield too much power and you beat the innovation out of the kids with authoritarian regimes.<p>You need both and you need good relationships between them - neither is better or worse than the other - they're just people.
<p><pre><code> seasteading communities — floating cities — which will allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas for government
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there's a lot of marketing mumbo jumbo on the site, but I really support their premise (and frankly I would pull off something similar if I had the funds). from what I understand, they are trying to offer a research center in international waters, free from any national restrictions.<p>I believe it's very unfortunate that we live in a time where basic democratic processes and the deliberations of a bunch of (mostly) law students decide which kind of research is permissible and which is not. this shouldn't be in the hand of a bunch of politicians but rather a dedicated and separate ethic commission. if governments don't adapt we'll (hopefully) see more such projects.
Isn't there another way to find <i>some</i> place on earth (preferably an island) that will be outside international conventions? Wouldn't that be more viable and cheaper than seasteading? I wonder if there have been attempts to do something like that in collaboration with some government.<p>Regardless, this could be a profound experiment. If something good comes out of it, people will demand changes in world governance. (We ran out of governance ideas after the last french revolution)<p>It's important for the institute to be completely transparent about what is being conducted there (legal or not), or else people are going to turn against it.
<i>we work to enable seasteading communities — floating cities — which will allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas for government.</i><p>It's an interesting idea. I don't see why a small oceangoing socialist or libertarian or whatever community wouldn't be viable.<p>The key would be the fact that they're made up of a small self selecting group. It's much easier for a group of like minded people to get along than for a much larger and diverse nation to do so.
I've been a supporter of the institute for a while now, and one of the things I really appreciate about their approach is incrementalism. Build in small individually viable steps that let you evaluate both the underlying assumptions and the optimal direction to take from there. This steady approach makes me much more confident in them than previous similar ventures.
There was once a proposal for an offshore incubator/co-working facility that would help individuals get around visa difficulties.<p>EDIT: Whoever flagged the question of the comment below went a bit too far. What in the world is wrong with someone asking, "How would that work, exactly?" (Aside from the imagined tone of voice, which can be interpreted in both a positive and negative light.)<p>There was an idea that people would work in international waters, but within close reach of meetings ashore. (Which they could attend on tourist visas.)
I am not really aligned with their world view, but they definitely get big credit for trying, and also trying in a way that's sort of an "MVP". I wish them luck.
Even though this specific ship is not something I'm really interested in, I'm excited to see what iteration 5 or 10 will look like.<p>Also, even if the institute/project is filled with a lot of people commonly thought of as nutjobs, I wouldn't bet against Peter Thiel in many areas.
You have to love libertarians and their utopian fantasies. It is often a surprise that any of them have become (or remain) wealthy without government support, regulations or laws. Oh wait.<p>Seriously though, someone must see the irony in libertarians starting an ocean commune.