The Seasteading Institute in California has an audacious mission: to establish floating societies that will restore the environment, enrich the poor, cure the sick, and liberate humanity from politicians.
Like in the 19th century, when many people left the cities of the Eastern US to gain independence by claiming a patch of land and working it which wasknown as "homesteading" "seasteaders" hope to create a new social, economic and political frontier on the ocean.
Thats the vision of seavangelist Joe Quirk, author of the new book, "Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick and Liberate Humanity from Politicians."
Quirk got involved in the seasteading movement after attending his 10th Burning Man festival. He says he became fascinated by watching rules emerge that are not predictable from their initial parameters. You start imagining, what if we could have more societies like these? What if they didn't just last a week, but all year round? Quirk says. What if we could have hundreds [of these societies]? What interesting ways that people could get along would we discover?
Someone introduced him to Patri Friedman, founder of the Seasteading Institute, who told him about the principles of seasteading, of building floating cities on the sea. As soon as Quirk got home, he found Friedmans blog on the internet. That,he says,was his conversion moment.
Patri identified the problem that governance doesn't get better as quickly as other forms of technology because it doesn't vary or select except through revolution and war, Quirk says. If society floated, and if these floating societies were disassemblable and reassemblable according to the choices of the residents, that would be variation by governments and selection by citizens.
So, Quirk contacted the Seasteading Institute and offered to co-write a populist book with Patri, not just about the ideas, he says, but about the actual people trying to make it happen, who I call aquapreneurs.
About a year after the Seasteading Institute was founded, the group began an experiment called Ephemerisle, a name that combines ephemera with isle. It's an annual festival in Northern CaliforniasSacramento Delta that has been described as Burning Man on the water.
If you want to attend, you have to bring your own land, Quirk says. So people rent boats, they get giant platforms anything that can be put together to float. The idea was that, as people learn the lessons of living together on the water and solve technical challenges, it would slowly expand and move out to the sea.
Despite some ups and downs, Ephemerisle demonstrated the social principles of seasteading exactly as originally described by Patri Freedman, Quirk says.
He elucidated that if you lived on the fluid frontier and land was modular and disassemblable, people who didn't get along could vote with their houseand go form their own separate jurisdiction, he explains. As long as people can choose among them voluntarily, we think we'd create many different solutions for how to live together, which would set examples that could change the world.
Creating cities on the water poses huge engineering challenges. Building in shallow waters is technically possible right now, but building in high waves is so difficult and expensive that only fossil fuel companies can afford it, Quirk says. So, the Seasteading Institute is starting small, with a project in French Polynesia.
We're negotiating with them to create a special, legal island known as a seazone in their territorial waters, so we can apply existing Dutch technology for sustainable floating islands in shallow waters to demonstrate the business model two or three pilot platforms in a very small and nonthreatening way, such that we would absorb the risk, Quirk explains.
French Polynesia is an ideal place to start because its close enough to the equator that it doesn't experience high waves, and its in very warm waters, Quirk says. It's not threatened by cyclones and it is blessed with lots of natural wave breakers, from atolls to lagoons, and it also has lots of very deep water. This is the blue frontier, where we can expand seasteading incrementally.
Seasteading questions a whole host of assumptions about how people live together and govern themselves,Quirk says.From sustainable constructionto agriculture to health care, seasteading requires its planners and participants to rethink just about everything about living on land. Seasteading is also an immediate solution to the looming problem of sea-level rise, which is already threatening coastal countries, especially in the Pacific islands, Quirk says.
French Polynesia sees itself as the blue frontier and they are initiating the blue economy, Quirk says. They want to get this started in French Polynesia to demonstrate that this can work If people like these floating nations, and they are no threat to the world, and they're providing better solutions and they are as delightful as cruise ships, I think we have a humanitarian case to petition the nations of the world to recognize these floating nations as sovereign.
This article is based on an interview that aired on PRIs Living on Earth with Steve Curwood.
From Living on Earth2017 World Media Foundation
Read more:
The 'seasteading' movement imagines floating cities in the sea - WBFO
- Ephemerisle: The First Step in Seasteading or Just a Party? [Last Updated On: March 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 26th, 2016]
- Seasteading - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre [Last Updated On: March 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 26th, 2016]
- Patri Friedman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2016]
- Patri's World [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2016]
- Patri's World [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2016]
- Seasteading - RationalWiki [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2016]
- Seasteading Wikipedia [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2016]
- Seasteading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2016]
- The Problem with Seasteading | Bottom-up [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- The Seasteading Institute Discussion Forum [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2016]
- PayPal Founder Peter Thiel Continues to Tout Anti-Government ... [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- User:Vincecate - Seasteading [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- Seastead - Seasteading [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- Seasteading | Online Only | n+1 [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- The Problem with Seasteading | Bottom-up [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2016]
- FAQ | The Seasteading Institute [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2016]
- FAQ | The Seasteading Institute [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2016]
- Seasteading Institute aims to build floating city by 2020 [Last Updated On: August 10th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 10th, 2016]
- Live Free or Drown: Floating Utopias on the Cheap | WIRED [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2016]
- Tyler Cowen: Ahoy, young libertarian! Seasteading could ... [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2016]
- Architectural Design Contest | The Seasteading Institute [Last Updated On: January 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 27th, 2017]
- Seasteading | Book by Joe Quirk, Patri Friedman | Official ... [Last Updated On: January 31st, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 31st, 2017]
- Could Floating Cities Help Us Adapt to Climate Change? - Triple Pundit (registration) (blog) [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- French Polynesia signs agreement for Floating Island Project - Bizcommunity.com [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Rethinking 21st Century needs - Newsday [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Why French Polynesia Could Have the World's First Floating City - Architectural Digest [Last Updated On: February 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 24th, 2017]
- 'Logan' proves Wolverine is the most libertarian superhero ever - Red Alert Politics [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- This Shipping Route Map Shows Why Floating Cities May Make Sense - Inverse [Last Updated On: March 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 10th, 2017]
- Imagine a Silicon Valley of the Sea - Bloomberg [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2017]
- Floating countries of the future - this could be your new home - ABC Online [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2017]
- Faced with rising seas, French Polynesia ponders floating islands - The Guam Daily Post (press release) (registration) [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2017]
- Editor's Insight: Money-losing ethics, seasteading, Mansfield and more - The National Business Review [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2017]
- 6 Examples Of Billionaires Acting Like Supervillains - Benzinga [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2017]
- Real Utopia: The World's First Floating City May Be Built in the Pacific - Sputnik International [Last Updated On: April 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2017]
- A floating techno-libertarian city might be coming to the Pacific - Mashable [Last Updated On: April 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2017]
- New nature books ready for spring | Sports Columns | register ... - Beckley Register-Herald [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2017]
- Facebook and Google greed will lead us to information armageddon - NEWS.com.au [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Facebook, Google greed will lead us to info armageddon - The Reporter [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Seasteading - bitcointalk.org [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2017]
- Seasteading by Joe Quirk on iBooks - itunes.apple.com [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2017]
- Floating island off Tahiti aims to be eco-friendly - Radio New Zealand [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Floating island off Tahiti won't harm says environmentalist - Radio New Zealand [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Libertarians Seek a Home on the High Seas - New Republic [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- How to build your own country - CNN [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- As sea levels rise, are floating cities the future? - Yale Climate Connections [Last Updated On: June 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 8th, 2017]
- ZenCash's Robert Viglione Talks Borderless Cryptocurrency and More - Finance Magnates [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2017]
- Living on Earth: PRI's Environmental News Magazine [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2017]
- Who is Peter Thiel? | Radio New Zealand News - Radio New Zealand [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- Jetsons in reality soon? A city in Earth orbit may not be too far away in future - Financial Express [Last Updated On: July 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 8th, 2017]
- The 'seasteading' movement imagines floating cities in the sea - PRI [Last Updated On: July 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 9th, 2017]
- Floating City: Will Rising Sea Levels Force People To Move Into Ocean Homes? - International Business Times [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2017]
- Auditor-General won't be investigating Peter Thiel's NZ citizenship - The National Business Review [Last Updated On: July 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 17th, 2017]
- Auditor-General won't investigate Thiel citizenship - Otago Daily Times [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2017]
- What does a boat party have to do with reinventing government? Find out at Ephemerisle - Sacramento Bee [Last Updated On: July 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 23rd, 2017]
- The Seasteading Institute's floating cities are designed for unregulated innovation - Dezeen [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2017]
- "Unregulated scientific innovation on an isolated island? Sounds like a very bad thing" - Dezeen [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2017]
- Floating City Project Wants To Make A "Deregulated" Hub Of Scientific Research - IFLScience [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2017]
- Peter Thiel - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2017]
- The Seasteading Institute - Home | Facebook [Last Updated On: August 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 16th, 2017]
- Future ahoy: Are you ready to live in a floating city? - San Francisco Chronicle [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2019]
- Seasteading | Ocean Builders [Last Updated On: December 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 24th, 2019]
- John Bolton's explosive new book, COVID-19 spikes in these three states and meet Kim Jong Un's enforcer - NBC News [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2020]
- Seasteading a vanity project for the rich or the future of humanity? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2020]
- Ephemerisle is Burning Man on boats in the Sacramento River Delta - San Francisco Chronicle [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2020]
- The aftermath of Palantir's culture-war IPO - Quartz [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2020]
- How Do We Regain Trust in Institutions? - The New York Times [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2021]
- 9 Breathtaking City Concepts That Could Be Your Future ... [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- Ocean colonization - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- This is why the Thai navy busted a seasteading American [Last Updated On: June 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 2nd, 2021]
- Floating Island Project | The Seasteading Institute [Last Updated On: June 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 2nd, 2021]
- Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the ... [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2021]
- Active Projects | The Seasteading Institute [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2021]
- Beyond the culture wars - New Statesman [Last Updated On: September 4th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 4th, 2021]
- First Thing: DoJ vows to protect women seeking abortions in Texas - The Guardian [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2021]
- The story of the first "cryptocoin cruise ship" is exactly as weird and dumb as all those words imply - The A.V. Club [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2021]
- So You Want to Be an Architect? - Sierra Magazine [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2021]
- Five Doomed Attempts at Planetary Colonization - tor.com [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2021]
- Asgardia: What the first space nation in human history wants to create - Market Research Telecast [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2021]
- Discover the hilariously epic failure of a crypto-fueled libertarian cruise - Boing Boing [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2021]
- Peter Thiel Embodies Silicon Valley's Conservative Past and Dystopian Future - Jacobin magazine [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2021]