Hey all you Ayn Rand types--Want to live like Kevin Costner in Waterworld? Now you can!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/silicon-valley-billionaire-funding-creation-artificial-libertarian-islands-140840896.html

Pay Pal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to an initiative to create floating libertarian countries in international waters, according to a profile of the billionaire in Details magazine.

Thiel has been a big backer of the Seasteading Institute, which seeks to build sovereign nations on oil rig-like platforms to occupy waters beyond the reach of lat-of-the-sea treaties. The idea is for these countries to start from scratch--free from the laws, regulations, and moral codes of any existing place. Details says the experiment would be "a kind of floating petri dish for implementing policies that libertarians, stymied by indifference at the voting booths, have been unable to advance: no welfare, looser building codes, no minimum wage, and few restrictions on weapons."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On behalf of us socialist mainlanders, by all means, go, go go!

And let us know how those "looser building codes" work out when the next Catagory 5 comes sweeping through, why don't you!

Forget spending money to combat poverty, hunger or trying to cure cancer. Let's spend millions building ourselves floating islands for purely selfish purposes where we can do whatever the hell we want!

[geardaddy]

1. lol

Isn't there a floating garbage island they can claim?

[Chimichurri]

2. Let me be the first to offer a bon voyage! And, good riddance.

[Newest Reality]

3. They may want

to make sure there are no laws against slavery and, as a contingency, cannibalism should be allowed also. They may end-up eating each other literally and figuratively.

[BulletproofLandshark]

4. They're all libertarians until the first natural disaster rolls in.

Then it'll be "Waaaaaah! Help us, U.N.! Help us Red Cross!"

This sounds reminiscent of the video game Bioshock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock

"BioShock is set during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city. The history of Rapture is learned by the player through audio recordings as he explores the city. Rapture was envisioned by the Objectivist business magnate Andrew Ryan, who wanted to create a laissez-faire state to escape increasingly oppressive political, economic, and religious authority on land."

I can't imagine a real place like this faring much better.

[guitar man]

5. Hey

If they do that it may be a good time to exert our second amendment rights to own torpedoes :silly:

[HappyMe]

6. lol!

Here's your hat, what's your hurry!?

[BeliQueen]

7. Bye! *waving enthusiastically*

"Sea" ya!

[katsy]

8. k/r

I posted a repeat of this before seeing yours. Sorry.

Agree with you totally. And no funding of tsunami alerts for them!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. "Free from....moral codes of any existing place."

Statutory rape? Statutory No Problem, my friend!

[Johnyawl]

10. Who's going to protect them from pirates?

If we have to send the US Navy to protect them, we should send them an itemized bill for each rescue mission. I wonder what the hourly billing rate for an aircraft carrier squadron would be?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. No, you don't get it....

....they'll have a gun. And they can shoot it at the pirates. And because Big Nanny State Government won't be there to make them, gasp, register their firearm, they'll be fine. Really.

And the problem isn't pirates, duh. It's government.

[Yavin4]

19. The Invisible Hand of Ayn Rand Will Protect Them

'natch.

[Erose999]

21. I would think that the lure of moving to such a place would be that you could become a pirate.

See also: Somalia.

[madinmaryland]

30. Uhhmmm. We would demand payment up front for services to be rendered.

No billing of these jerks.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. Pirates? Fuck. Who's going to protect them from THESE guys?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. From "Frequently Asked Questions" on the website:

http://seasteading.org/about-seasteading/frequently-asked-questions


"Why not just buy an island or part of a third-world country?"

I love how that question is presumed to be "frequently asked." As if there is no moral qualm about exploiting poor countries. And that the answer doesn't even bother to address such moral qualms by saying, "What type of sick bastard are you?"

"Hey, Haiti, I hope you don't mind, we are going to buy half of your country to stage our fantasy rich guy paradise lifestyle. Here's $100,000 in Quizno's coupons that you can give out to kids in Cite Soliel."


On the other hand, the "What about pirates?" FAQ is gold, pure gold.

[JHB]

27. "The cost/benefit analysis just doesn’t work out for this kind of crime." HAHAHA

Willing to bet your life on someone else's "cost/benefit analysis"? Because that's what you're doing.


By the way, are you counting the cost/benefit analysis by discontented members of your highly-exploited work force? I'm guessing no.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

48. Can you imagine a pirate crunching away numbers on a calculator?

I suggest calling this guy:




"Yearrgh, I don't think ye cost-benefit analysis works out in ye favor. Our plans to attack shall surely walk the plank!"

[Retrograde]

36. Their FAQ's a hoot

Comfort seems to be a prime concern. Some gems (bolding and remarks in brackets mine):

"Early seastead residents will be trailblazers who are entrepreneurs, sailors, engineers, aquaculture farmers, resort employees and members of other professions related to the economy of seasteading. Most early-adopters will live at sea part time, either basing their business life or vacation life there"

"Other businesses—such as hair dressers, dentists, and machinists—will provide services to residents just like any land based city...Just as in any land-based city, there will be demand for internal services—plumbers and hairdressers, schoolteachers and doctors" {They seem to have a hairdresser fetish (not that there's anything wrong with that :) ), which gives some indication of what their priorities are}

"What about hurricanes?

Our approach to hurricanes and other severe weather is threefold:
1. Avoid being in an area where severe weather hits, if possible; {because the global climate patterns are never going to change? And no area ever has freak storms, or is affected by events elsewhere, such as earthquakes and tsunamis?}
2. Build structures that can withstand the worst storms expected in a seasteading area; {But remember you've abolished building codes and all that pesky government interference!}
3. Design platforms, modules or adjunctive seacraft that can move out of the path of storms or other severe weather—whether seasonally or immediately (i.e. with a few days of advanced warning). {See earlier comment about tsunamis or ask the people living around the Gulf of Mexico how often hurricanes decide to change predicted course at the last minute.}"

"Although piracy receives a lot of press, it is a relatively rare phenomenon...Seasteads carry relatively little valuable cargo and large (likely armed) populations. Seastead residents are likely to fight much harder than container ship crews, as they are defending their own homes and businesses, {sounds like they're going to be depending on the 101st Keyboard Brigade to defend them. And pirates would never do anything like hold people for ransom - just ask that Julius Caesar guy}"

"What will people do on a seastead?

Our first response to this question is "the same things anyone else does." But perhaps we don’t get out much". {And that's the problem in a nutshell}

[Lyric]

13. It won't prove that libertarian policies work, because they don't.

It's EASY to claim victory when you can kick out all the poor people, as well as everyone who doesn't share your narrow worldview. The policies that truly WORK are the ones that work in the real, diverse, world; the world that includes the poor, the rich, all political points of view, all races, all ethnicities, all religions, and all values. This "floating nation" isn't a nation--it's a cult. It's a floating, predatory Jonestown.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. Reminds me of this cartoon:

[KamaAina]

14. The sad thing is, I used to discuss something similar with Opihi on his lanai

minus the Randroidism, of coutrse. My "Sea Habitat" was meant to be sustainable, and a partial solution to overpopulation.

[Ratty]

15. First, it's just a scam

The guy just wants to make a buck, and since victims of scams only deserve it because they're too stupid to know better (according to libertarian philosophy) then there's no moral problem there.

But let's just say it succeeded somehow, even for a time. It's not a libertarian petri dish. These are millionaires and billionaires with their investments in non-libertarian, regulated economies. They can import food and drugs regulated by the FDA. When they need medical care they can fly to the US with its strictly regulated medical industry. And when they do fly it will be courtesy of airlines regulated by the FAA. They will be leeches upon other societies.

Let's see them start their own unregulated stock markets and move ALL their money there. Patronize only their own unregulated hospitals eat only their own unregulated food and take unregulated drugs.

[Rochester]

35. If they get too uppity, we could always ask Tonga to conquer them.

It's been done before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Minerva

[miyazaki]

17. The Principality of Sealand has been around for awhile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealand

Interesting story there.

[ZombieHorde]

18. If they actually do this, they will probably bring servants with them.

I wonder if it will be like Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom.

[Erose999]

20. Sounds like fun. Sign me up...............

[Yavin4]

22. The More Powerful Will Prey on the Less Powerful

That's why people form representative governments and put limits on power.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. In other words....

....watch out Rand Island resident millionaires. The Rand Island resident billionaires will eat you alive.

[Odin2005]

23. Anyone play the computer game Bioschok?

It's an attack on ideas by Libertarians like this.

[JHB]

24. "Looser building codes" on an artificial structure?

That's going to be one foamy petri dish.

[Ilsa]

32. Yeah, I'm thinking Darwin Awards. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

26. They can go buy the "Dong Fang Ocean"

rename it back to the Exxon Valdez and have at it! :rofl:

[Prophet 451]

28. Huzzah!

I'd be personally happy to make a small donation so they can fuck off and stop buggering up our countries.

[Shandris]

29. Well, not an Ayn Rand type, but I think that question will be...

...answered solely on the basis of another question.

If I say yes, do I get MY own Jeanne Tripplehorn? :P

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. "You're like a turd that just won't flush...."

Glad I'm not the only one who appreciated that movie.....

[RZM]

31. 'You can't pee into a Mr. Coffee and get Taster's Choice' n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

33. At last I have a place where no laws can stop me from building my own nuclear weap--oh fuck a duck:

http://seasteading.org/about-seasteading/frequently-asked-questions#why_not_land


"Sure, there are definite limitations. Actions seen as a serious threat to the security of other nations ought not be tolerated, such as letting terrorists launder money, exporting drugs to countries where they are illegal, or researching or building weapons of mass destruction, particularly with nuclear capabilities."


What type of libertarian manmade island utopia/dystopia can you expect anyone to want to move to IF THEY WON'T EVEN LET YOU BUILD YOUR OWN NUCLEAR BOMB?

I mean, really people, is that so much to ask for? I think we all have a God given right to build our own nuclear weapon without government interference, can't we all agree on that?

Libertarian lightweights, these guys, I tell you....

[Morning Dew]

37. Holy Joe! That would take too big atoll on me.

:hide:

[tanyev]

38. Be sure and install some giant bootstraps all around the perimeter.

"Pull up in case of emergency."

[GoneOffShore]

39. Look at the list of donors on the website.

It's laughably small.

They'll be lucky to get a small oil rig at this point.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. Everything except letting consenting adults smoke pot in peace, I'm sure.

Nowhere can be THAT free! :o

[Tommy_Carcetti]

44. No, they'll be allowed to do that. However...

...you'll want to make sure that your 15 year old sex slave doesn't try to bogart in on the fun. And that your residence built of cheap, flamable material that wasn't up to code on the mainland doesn't burn down from a stray ash. Plus, you'll have to make sure that you have plenty in the coffers for the supply from that investment Pozni scheme that you've been running. And you'll want to have at least one hand available to grasp that TEC-DC9 with the body armor piercing bullets when the pirates come....

[Cleita]

41. You could accomplish the same goal with moon

colonies. I wouldn't mind them living off planet on a rock that they can't destroy. Let them pollute all they want to up there and leave us to be green.

[Heywood J]

42. It's been done before.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Sea_Org#Rehabilitation_Project_Force

[Festivito]

43. You know we'll all be following you when we realize you were right.

But, don't panic if we don't launch to meet you quickly, we can't all be so bright.

Take a book or two.

[NeedleCast]

45. THis Seems Like The Perfect Scenario For My Future Career As A Pirate

So, they're going to make an immoral society with almost no weapons control and pack it full of millionaires?

Seems like as along as I have superior fire power that this society just packs all the rich people in one place and makes them ripe for the taking. Normally I'd find that sort of piratic behavior pretty terrible but since they're essentially asking for it, who am I not to oblige?

[Sheepshank]

46. Pirate Island

what a perfect place to screw over people with zero consequences

[TwilightGardener]

47. "Floating petri dish"--sounds apt.

[Marrah_G]

49. as long as our communal resources dont have to save them after mother nature shows them whats what