The Mises Community
An online community for fans of Austrian economics and libertarianism, featuring forums, user blogs, and more.

Seasteading

rated by 0 users
This post has 11 Replies | 4 Followers

Top 500 Contributor
Male
Posts 113
Points 2,020
Remnant Posted: Fri, Oct 24 2008 9:23 AM

 

An interesting concept:

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

Apparently, David Friedman's son, Patri, is an active proponent of it.

  • | Post Points: 65
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 77
Points 1,345

I found this to be pretty funny. I found this to be a little more interesting though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project

I wonder how that will pan out...

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 70
Points 950
bigwig replied on Sun, Nov 2 2008 2:52 PM

I'm very interested to see how far they can take this. If they can get food+water+power self-sufficiently, it might even be viable.

 

Plus, Peter Thiel (who made PayPal) funded it.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 1,493
Points 28,550
Moderator

Seems like modified cruise ships would be a better idea.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 4,669
Points 81,345

As if we need any more Friedmans.

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"

Bob Dylan

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 211
Points 3,425

Seasteading would be my idea of hell.

 

The irony is I would be very useful as a seasteader since my speciality is SCADA systems running on Unix which can handle things like power transmission, sewage treatment and water desalinisation.

I doubt a place whose major exports would be migratory bird droppings and sunstroke would be able to afford me anyway.

http://www.comebackalive.com/phpBB2 Travel, Adventure Travel, Arguments, Recipes.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 211
Points 3,425

bigwig:

I'm very interested to see how far they can take this. If they can get food+water+power self-sufficiently, it might even be viable.

 

Plus, Peter Thiel (who made PayPal) funded it.

 

Peter Thiel is a genius who made a very good and very useful service.   With something like this it is good to see some money behind it at least so that people can afford to be rescued when their supply of leather shoes and potable urine runs out.

Food can be bought at least but to get water, one would need desalinisation and that takes alot of power.  Power generation for such a small area would be difficult but the ocean is a harsh place filled with wind, sun and waves...all are capable of generating power but are very expensive to set up and to maintain (solar is not very expensive to maintain if the cells are fixed then it is just some Windex and a very well paid window washer).  The trick with real wind power is that you have to have a good enough turbine that is not going to create a giant field of static electricity and blow itself up.  Siemens PG makes about the best ones there are on the market today.  When they spin too fast the excess momentum is transfered to mechanics that do not generate electricity yet they do not halt making electricity (other wind turbines just "go off line" when it gets too windy outside).

 

Anyway....Thiel probably has the money to do this, but it would probably be more plausible and cheaper in the long run for that money to go towards dismantling the state.

http://www.comebackalive.com/phpBB2 Travel, Adventure Travel, Arguments, Recipes.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 263
Points 5,245
Moderator

krazy kaju:
Seems like modified cruise ships would be a better idea.
Agreed. 

Seasteading is actually no different than sailing any old boat.  The only difference is relative movement and time. 

A person who sails across the ocean is seasteading all along the way -- claiming exclusive ownership of a space.  He is just changing the claim (a sequence of abondoning and homesteading new territory) faster than most other people do. 

 

Depending on how you want to look at things, staking a claim on land is a form a "seasteading" through outer space because the Earth is moving around the Sun.  There is nothing special about seasteading because you still have to defend your space from invaders. 

Before calling yourself a libertarian or an anarchist, read this.  
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 224
Points 3,785

Charles Anthony:
Depending on how you want to look at things, staking a claim on land is a form a "seasteading" through outer space because the Earth is moving around the Sun

 

Ahhh... Relativity :)

...And nobody has ever taught you how to live out on the street, But now you're gonna have to get used to it...

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 837
Points 13,655
MacFall replied on Thu, Nov 6 2008 5:34 PM

Apparently Patri Friedman is going to be at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum this March. Anyone going?

Pro Christo et Libertate integre!

  • | Post Points: 5
Not Ranked
Posts 12
Points 225
jhausen replied on Thu, Nov 6 2008 8:46 PM

According too Brian Doherty, author of Radicals for Capitalism, the concept of seasteading has been the pipe dream of various nutty libertarians for a long time.  http://fora.tv/2007/04/15/Radicals_for_Capitalism (I think he talks about it in this video, not a hundred percent positive though, and don't have the time too watch it again.  Still interesting either way)

 

I also remember seeing an article a year of so ago about how some global warming proponents were looking into it as a way of surviving the upcoming apocalypse.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Male
Posts 423
Points 6,515
Paul replied on Thu, Nov 6 2008 8:52 PM

That would be Dennis Hopper's crew in Waterworld? Smile

  • | Post Points: 5
Page 1 of 1 (12 items) | RSS

Ludwig von Mises Institute | 518 West Magnolia Avenue | Auburn, Alabama 36832-4528

Phone: 334.321.2100 · Fax: 334.321.2119

contact@Mises.org | webmaster | AOL-IM MainMises

Mises.org sitemap