Seasteading Communities And Fundies

[debrand]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/you ... 48903.html

I'm surprised that fundamentalists haven't taken advantage of this idea. A fundie community, far away from the evil secular government, might be ideal for them. What do you guys think?

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

Here is the link to the Seasteading Institute.

http://seasteading.org/

Their Q&A is interesting

http://seasteading.org/about-seasteadin ... y_not_land

[babs]

looser building codes, no minimum wage, and few restrictions on weapons

Because when you're living out in the middle of the ocean with no true way to escape during a winter storm, you really want looser building codes.

[debrand]

Because when you're living out in the middle of the ocean with no true way to escape during a winter storm, you really want looser building codes.

LOL. And how many libertarian ideals would go out the window when problems arose, like buildings falling down when a rogue wave hits.

According to the website, the platforms would either be built strong enough to substain rogue waves and hurricanes or it would be mobile. Yet, that means that the building of the artificial island would have to be regulated, doesn't it?

The concept is interesting. I just don't think that a totally libertarian island would work.

Fundamentalists might like the idea though. They could prove to the world that their belief system produces more peaceful, happy individuals.

edited because I keep thinking of things to say

[camdendayton]

I read about this concept a few months back (not in relation to fundies, not sure where it came from) but there was actually an experiment with this near the UK, though they weren't libertarian, they instituted a constitutional monarchy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand.

[Guest Anonymous]

Haven't these people ever read Lord of the Flies? I give them six weeks before they're eating one another.

[aubrietta]

Haven't these people ever read Lord of the Flies? I give them six weeks before they're eating one another.

:lol: :lol:

what would they do for health care? I have a feeling they'll be rushing back to land when their appendixes burst or they have to have their babies or heart surgery.

[debrand]

. The platforms could be used to house scientists who were studying the ocean or fishing communities but I don't see them being individual countries.

[Austin]

I don't know, but I would be thrilled if fundies would move off the continent onto their own little man-made "islands". Good riddance.

[clibbyjo]

I can finally be a True Empress instead of the Empress of Misfit Toys ! I'm in,but only if I can be the Empress. I don't see the fundies agreeing with my homeschool laws though.

Law #1 All children study the ocean in depth with the Cousteau family . Starting with the evolution of sea creatures to present day

[camdendayton]

If you really want to hear more about seasteading here's the video of the Keynote at their 2009 conference:

http://vimeo.com/7577391

[bananacat]

These things sound like circle-jerks for people who are already independently wealthy. How can they get the basics they need to survive? They can't do farming on a large scale and if they tried fishing they would deplete each area pretty fast. So the vast majority of their food has to be "imported". Where do they get the money to buy food, clothes, and everything else? There aren't many ways to create wealth while on the ship. Service jobs would only spread around what little is already there. The only thing I can think of is computer-based jobs, where they work "from home" for some company in a real country. Or they must have a bunch of money to begin with.

[Bookworm89]

Wish they would all decide to do something like this, but then they would probably decide they couldn't because "God wants them to minister to the heathens" but then they would just go back to being individual isolationalist again to not be contaminiated.

[Wolfie]

The local county fair's libertarian booth said something like, "The party for less.". I'm pretty sure they have no idea how horrible that sounds.

I don't think that they really understand the consequences of the "less" that they want.

[doggie]

fundies on ships at the mercy of god. sounds like a good thing to me.

[darareaksmey]

I don't know, but I would be thrilled if fundies would move off the continent onto their own little man-made "islands". Good riddance.

Preach it. As long as they don't develop nuclear capabilites it'd delight me no end to wave farewell to fundies as they boarded the Nina, PInta and Santa Maria and left for parts unknown. I see IRS and citizenship issues aplenty, but those would be their problems, not mine.

[doggie]

we have seen what happens to isolated fundies and it is not pretty.

[bananacat]

I'd love for fundies to isolate themselves like this, but only if they're not allowed to trap their kids with them. It's hard enough for kids to escape the abuse as it is.