Big Smiling Head

• Published:June 22nd, 2008
• Comments:No Comment
• Category:random

I love people with the money, vision and passion to move forward on a fantastical idea, and this is a great example. With a generous donation from PayPal founder, Peter Thiel, The Seasteading Institute is moving forward with their vision of creating experimental ocean communities. They plan to have an example in the water of the San Francisco Bay within two years, basing their prototype on a scaled down version of an off-shore oil rig design called a spar platform. They are not only envisioning a new approach to living on/in the ocean with the establishment of deep water homesteads on the high seas, they are desirous of a new utopian community based on a different political model than the standard nation-state that we are all familiar with. Sounds pretty fashion-forward and far out there, but I would love to see them succeed. Hell, I’d be interested in signing up for my small piece of the libertarian ocean colonies – living space is currently projected to be in the neighborhood of 300 square feet deep in the concrete tube. While the project is in it’s very early conceptual stages, there are already concerns about sovereignty and fending off established governments – they even have a plan to purchase a flag of convenience from one of the countries that sell them. One imagines this flag would be replaced once the seasteading colony became established and went through the process of being recognized as it’s own country, which appears to be a pretty complicated feat. Read more of the seasteading ideas in their 300 page on-line book.

via Wired: Peter Thiel Makes Down Payment on Libertarian Ocean Colonies