Peter Thiel's Libertarian Paradise
Peter Thiel is rich. He is a very successful man. He launched PayPal. He funded Facebook. He is now attempting something a bit more ambitious. This may be my greatest understatement...ever. Apparently, life as a billionaire is not enough to keep Mr. Thiel on chill mode. Though many of us dream of a day when we are rich enough to retire to a deserted island, Thiel is attempting to do one better. He wants to build his own country. Forget deserted islands.
In an interesting piece which highlights a good deal about Thiel and his past exploits we learn of his obsession with his own private country and how PayPal was really just a failed libertarian attempt to raid the U.S. currency system. Now Thiel's Founders Fund is attempting to turn a Randian wet dream into utopian reality. One of his partners is Patri Friedman, grandson of Milton who...
Wants to establish new sovereign nations built on oil-rig-type platforms anchored in international waters—free from the regulation, laws, and moral suasion of any landlocked country. They'd be small city-states at first, although the aim is to have tens of millions of seasteading residents by 2050. Architectural plans for a prototype involve a movable, diesel-powered, 12,000-ton structure with room for 270 residents, with the idea that dozens—perhaps even hundreds—of these could be linked together. Friedman hopes to launch a flotilla of offices off the San Francisco coast next year; full-time settlement, he predicts, will follow in about seven years; and full diplomatic recognition by the United Nations, well, that'll take some lawyers and time.
and in his own words...
Appletopia: A corporation, such as Apple starts a country as a business. The more desirable the country, the more valuable the real estate. You don't like it, you leave. Citizenship as free agency, you might say.
Now I can't hate on these fellows for their audacity and ambition, but I do have to snicker a little bit under my breath. I would like to be a nation builder myself, but this is a bit much, ain't it? Free agent citizenship? What do I do when I need to oppress the weak?
Anyhow, I figured you guys might enjoy bullshitting about what your own perfect country would look like, so have at it. My first rule would be:
Nobody associated with the funding or creation of Facebook allowed on my fucking sovereign land mass.
Too much free time and money.
"I am Peter Thiel, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No!' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No!' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.' 'No!' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Appletopia. A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality; where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Appletopia can become your city as well." - Borrowed from BioShock
How about this- no small, snickering, visionless people allowed as burdensome chaff on my flotilla. No one ever became great by throwing peanuts from the gallery. The idea is wonderful. With increasingly onerous nation-states cooperating internationally to track, monitor, and dispossess you of your freedoms and privacy, you should be yearning for something like this. And to continue the BioShock metaphor- "Screw all you f***ing doubters!"
If I convince my boss to buy office space on the first manmade island off the coast of SF, can I commute via seadoo?
This.
Sooooo, if I build a condo on the bottom of the ocean, can I call that my own country as well?
Peter Thiel needs to shut the fuck up and get back to pouring money into blippy, bloopy, beepy, or whatever the fuck else "social media" companies he invests in.
The idea of "free agent citizenship" disgusts me in ways never thought possible. The idea alone is a slap in the face to all Americans who have come before us and have made this nation what it is...the greatest country on the face of the Earth. I say we take these clowns, send them out to an oil rig and blow it the fuck up.
Defense?
If Appletopia ever amounts to anything I will hire some mercs to help me rob, pillage and annex the fuckers.
Good idea!!!! I bet they never thought of hiring a defense force. You'll catch them totally off guard!!!!
Haha. I couldn't agree more. I remember seeing this article a few weeks back on Yahoo and everyone was asking about defense. I guarantee that's the least of their concerns.
While I don't think his vision will be successful I say bravo to anyone promoting libertarian ideals. I wish thiel would team up with the Koch bros and keep promoting the tea party.
Who will come to Appletopia's aid when they are met with terrorism or milliary might? Your Facebook army's not gonna defend against a war.
Sounds like a utopia for Somali pirates.
+1
I laughed.
This sounds like Tortuga.......where has all rum gone?
Word is they have formed an alliance with Poseidon. I know this because I am MagicKarp.
Kevin Costner just called. He wants to be president. Said something about being qualified because he has gills.
Was gonna call it "Waterworld 2 Starring Peter Thiel" but I thought better after watching "Mr. Brooks" last night.
i need 270 big bootied models on my floating island and just rotate between them all 3 a day
Rather than create a brand new country (on boats? WTF is this, Waterworld?), Thiel's time and money would be more constructively spent lobbying US politics for his Libertarian agendas.
"I know! Instead of trying to make my own country better (the country btw that allowed me to become so successful in the first place), let me make one! On boats! I'm outta my fuckin' mind!"
What ass-hats these Silicon Valley geeks are. After a couple of successes (what else has Thiel done since Paypal and Facebook?), they think they're intellectual hot-shit.
blaaahahahaha
Yes, but doctors, actors and hedge fund managers aren't trying to make their own country.
Watch, next somebody will want to buy the moon.
Thiel should call Dennis Hope and make this happen. For the ill-informed...
"Dennis Hope, an American entrepreneur, sells extraterrestrial real estate. In 1980, he started his own business, the Lunar Embassy Commission. As of 2009 Hope claimed to have sold 2.5M 1-acre plots on the Moon, for around US$20 per acre. He allocates land to be sold by closing his eyes and randomly pointing to a map of the Moon."
What an incredibly bad idea.
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