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Paypal founder wants a floating island paradise
VENTURE CAPITALIST and Paypal investor Peter Thiel is channelling some of his cash into a island paradise governed by its own rules.
The INQUIRER is not one to judge about how other people spend their money, but for now we are filing this under W for whacky or H for Howard Hughes.
According to a profile in the September issue of Details magazine the investor, who also makes an appearance in the film The Social Network and is a Facebook investor, is moving away from technology towards other less-charted waters.
In an interview with the magazine, Thiel said, "We're at this pretty important point in society where we can either find a way to rediscover a frontier, or we're going to be forced to change in a way that's really tough."
One way to change is to opt out, apparently, and Thiel, who appears to be frustrated by the lack of innovation he sees about him, is looking at really big ideas, including the aforementioned island paradise that would be built on a platform in international waters and exist free from the laws, morals and regulations of any other country.
According to Details, which has spoken with the idea man behind the floating island plans, Patri Friedman, a former Google engineer, this project should start small but rapidly scale upwards to support tens of millions of people by 2050. Current plans are aiming at a moveable island for 270 people, which makes us wonder whether Thiel ever watched the TV show Lost.
"The ultimate goal," Friedman said, "is to open a frontier for experimenting with new ideas for government," which again sounds a bit like Lost to us.
Thiel is committed to the plans, and Friedman's Seasteady Institute, to the tune of $1.25m, despite how controversial it sounds.
"When you start a company, true freedom is at the beginning of things," he said. "The United States Constitution had things you could do at the beginning that you couldn't do later. So the question is, can you go back to the beginning of things? How do you start over?"
Maybe you can, if you have the cash to do it. µ
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It is unfortunate when the press misrepresents projects like this, and the audience starts drawing fantastic conclusions (mandatory nudity) or presenting silly objections (warring with NATO). For the record, The Seasteading Institute has an FAQ addressing all these objections at http://www.seasteading.org/about-seasteading/frequently-asked-questions
Seasteading is a peaceful attempt to improve governments, by allowing like-minded people the opportunity to experiment with new social and political systems. It doesn't encourage one type of government or another.
It's also much more realistic than the Details article portrays it to be. Seasteading is starting with a barge anchored 24.1 miles off the coast of California, in close proximity to Silicon Valley, and right outside the US territorial waters. The ship will sail under a flag of convenience just like cruise ships, and will allow professionals without a US work visa to legally work very close to Silicon Valley. That is a huge advantage for startups, or any high-tech company that wants to thrive off the innovative climate in Silicon Valley.
More at http://blueseed.co
anyone?
To have your own rules on that island you need to first invest in at least a hundred nukes and at the minimum -let's say- 40000 shoulderfired anti-aircraft missiles to start with.
Then when you have some chance to ward off the US and their wonderful NATO you can start on building the actual island.
And no, bribing won't always work since they they don't always operate on the principle of greed, there's also religious insanity and other mental disorders that motivates the 'elite'.
Let me take a wild guess that there will be no taxes in this island paradise? and a state of undress is mandatory for all female citizens?