A libertarian seasteading project

[ddstory]

Most of you have probably heard about this already. Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal and one of the first investors in Facebook, has invested one and a quarter million dollars in the Seasteading Institute company, which funds a project by one Patri Friedman, a former engineer at Google. The project is to build the perfect libertarian utopia on

Comments

[eracerhead]

Or is it just a bold but naive attempt to social escapism that is unsustainable in the long run?

Yes. This will be about as successful as Marxism, or any other theoretical society that comes out of pure thought rather than evolving out of reality.

And finally, a hypothetical question. If you see such a project actually working just fine, and being a success, and if it matches your personal understanding of a better society, would you venture to join it?

It's going to be very difficult to judge success; it will have pluses and minuses, it will benefit some but not others. I predict that it will end up simply being another way to launder money so as to avoid taxation, whilst the principals live under the protection of countries that have sustainable governments. In other words, it will be a parasite.

[anfalicious]

Sunland only fails when you cease to believe!

[allhatnocattle]

I give equal footing with the failure that is The World in Dubai.

[allhatnocattle]

Assuming that the invite is an open invitation to anyone/everyone who can afford to invest and participate in this project, you're exactly right. They won't get the cream of the crop.

On the other hand a selective guestlist invitation to only the cream of the crop, or only well liked people who get already along is different. It's the difference of the Harley Owners Group going to Sturgis, and the Hells Angels going to Angel Acres.

[ddstory]

I'm not sure that inviting only the cream of the crop is the best idea. There must be someone to do the menial jobs there, too.

[allhatnocattle]

Either everyone is going to have to do their share and help out or they'll have to hire on some Oompa-Loompas (or any other Pygmies). Space is limited.

[jonathankorman]

I find it hard to resist imagining this whole project coming out something like Rapture.

[ddstory]

The road to hell, etc...

[jonathankorman]

On the other hand, I also think of my favorite anarchist utopia, Port Watson.

[montecristo]

Why am I entirely unsurprised that you would think so?

[ghostwes]

I suspect this will be a colossal failure, and I find most "Libertarians" and their ideas abhorrent, but I am still in favour of the experiment. I mean, if all of the "Libertarians"/Objectivists/Randites and what have you move there, that also necessarily means that they are moving *away* from Canada, which can only be a positive thing for us.

This pretty much sums up what I think would happen:

http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif

Still, it will be interesting to see what happens with this.

[jonathankorman]

Atlas Shrugged 2: Shrug Harder