Silicon Valley billionaire funding creation of artificial libertarian islands

[Ban Hammer 13,492]

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 law-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."

"There are quite a lot of people who think it's not possible," Thiel said at a Seasteading Institute Conference in 2009, according to Details. (His first donation was in 2008, for $500,000.) "That's a good thing. We don't need to really worry about those people very much, because since they don't think it's possible they won't take us very seriously. And they will not actually try to stop us until it's too late."

The Seasteading Institute's Patri Friedman says the group plans to launch an office park off the San Francisco coast next year, with the first full-time settlements following seven years later.

Thiel made news earlier this year for putting a portion of his $1.5 billion fortune into an initiative to encourage entrepreneurs to skip college.

Another Silicon Valley titan, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced in June that he would be funding the "Clock of the Long Now." The clock is designed to keep ticking for 10,000 years, and will be built in a mountain in west Texas.

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[^_^ 5,021]

Quality of life on this floating libertarian oil rig will depend entirely on the quality of people who live there. If it's basically a bunch of rich people and their hired help, it could actually be really nice.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Clearly, these guys need more tax breaks so that they can build bigger new rigged nations or nations on rigs or whatever and longer lasting giant clocks.

[^_^ 5,021]

I assume there will be no immigration control on this libertarian paradise. Sounds like a cheap way for non-libertarian societies to jettison their human waste.

Edited August 17, 2011 by \

[Ban Hammer 13,492]

they could just buy this place:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/49088-worlds-smallest-country-up-for-sale/

[mawilson 2,133]

I assume there will be no immigration control on this libertarian paradise. Sounds a cheap way for non-libertarian societies to jettison their human waste.

No immigration control, but land mines are not against libertarian principles

[^_^ 5,021]

No immigration control, but land mines are not against libertarian principles

Land mines do not discriminate.

[Ban Hammer 13,492]

No immigration control, but land mines are not against libertarian principles

in this case, it would be sea mines.

Land mines do not discriminate.

sure they do. if you don't go near them, they won't hurt you.

[^_^ 5,021]

sure they do. if you don't go near them, they won't hurt you.

Insightful, as always.

[^_^ 5,021]

How do libertarians feel about currency?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

How do libertarians feel about currency?

Gold. Problem is that #######'s heavy. The richer they get, the more likely they'll sink.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[Obama 2012 1,714]

it's all fun and games until they realize they have no natural resources on said rigs....

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

it's all fun and games until they realize they have no natural resources on said rigs....

They have food in the sea, water aplenty and wind should be available as well. So, a fishing rod and a desalination device. Little wind turbine will get you the required electricity. All set.

I want them to make this happen. Maybe they can have the Paul family take care of governing those rigs.

[^_^ 5,021]

They have food in the sea, water aplenty and wind should be available as well. So, a fishing rod and a desalination device. Little wind turbine will get you the required electricity. All set.

I want them to make this happen. Maybe they can have the Paul family take care of governing those rigs.

'governing'? i think you miss the point, lib.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

They have food in the sea, water aplenty and wind should be available as well. So, a fishing rod and a desalination device. Little wind turbine will get you the required electricity. All set.

I want them to make this happen. Maybe they can have the Paul family take care of governing those rigs.

converting salt water into drinking water is a biotch.

fishing? sure if you like to play with the sharks.

the little comment about the congressman and senator is amusing. Apparently advocating personal responsibility is a bad thing?