The Seasteading Institute

Reply To: Capt. Nemo has rights too!

Let's all acknowledge that Mr. Nemo has the right to free association, not forced association. If anyone in one of these categories tries to board Mr. Nemo's stead, he can keep them out. And if anyone in his Sea-City (which I will call hereafter a Sity) refuses to take the DNA test, he can pull up his moorings and start his own fascist (but not neo-nazi) sity. The whole idea is to let different political and social structures test their metal. It may very well turn out to be the case that the most successful sities are the ones that ban (just to choose at random) bald men, and women with cat allergies. Why? I don't know, but I'm going to reserve judgment until the marketplace has spoken its peace.

But to the point at hand; I find it hilarious that the very people most persecuted and disenfranchised by lad-based governments, the ones who will most readily populate the burgeoning economies of sities, are the ones Nemo wishes to distance himself from.

I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that Nemo is from the US? 1% of the US population is currently incarcerated. How many are ex-cons? I don’t know, but it’s got to be a large number. 1 million Americans are on the terror watch list, which means if you went to highschool with 900 kids, odds are that 3 of your classmates are now on it. Furthermore, with the recent passage of the homegrown terrorist prevention act, anyone with ‘radical’ views can be considered a ‘risk’ for radical violence. I don’t know about anyone else, but floating out into the ocean and starting a new way of life seems pretty radical to me. So I guess the irony is if Nemo doesn’t get out there soon, his DNA popping on a ‘homegrown terrorist’ watch list will prevent him from joining is ideal society.