The Seasteading Institute

Both of these posts make a good point. Just do it!

Build a seastead, create your own government, declare your sovereignty. I really don’t think anyone will really care when the whole operation is small as long as no one does anything to ruffle feathers. As the seastead grows, it should make a concerted effort to become a productive and valuable international member. Then when the seastead is big enough to really be noticed, it will be far too valuable to the world to mess with by most people. The only exception to this is piracy. But, for these parasites we will not need coatal artillery or long range missiles, just a citizens militia armed with small arms.

I offer some ideas on how not to become a pain in someone’s ass when just starting out:

1. Dual citizenship – sure we will all be citizens of Freedomland, or what ever we decide to call our new home, but by maintaining our outside citizenship status, we avoid the expense and hassles of printing our own passports, dealing with immigration bureaucrats in every country, and so on.
2. Become economically self-sufficient as soon as possible. One way is via aquaculture. With many areas being over-fished, a seastead providing good quality seafood at reasonable prices will be seen as a real friend, not a competitor.
3. Screw the UN. The UN is a collection of thrugs and dictators trying to elevate their positions and power by taking control of what they see as a growing world government. The UN is screwing Africans, and it will screw seasteaders if we have any intercourse with it.
4. Be a good neighbour. We may have to build our seastead in heavily traveled waters. It makes sense for seasteaders to bend over backwards to contribute to safe navigation. It will also be to our credit if we can provide repair and chandlery services to passing vessels. Although this is really a private enterprise issue, it is something that our seastead’s government should encourage. There may be other “good neighbour” serves that the seastead could provide for both profit and propaganda.
5. A good defense? In this case, an offense is definitely not the best defense. Avoid becoming involved in conflicts with neighbouring states. The seastead should protect itself and patrol its own waters. Perhaps some of our citizens might hire out as mercenary security to protect shipping and combat pirates, but not as official representatives or regular military. In fact, I do not preceive the need for any real standing navy in the beginning, or for a long time. Most defense functions can be handled by law enforcement and the naval militia.

I am sure others may come up with even more suggestions for keeping the seastead low-key in its formative years. But, our concern is, as Larry the Cable Guy says, “Get ‘er done!”

“Just Do It” and “Git ‘er done” are fine as long as you are the only one taking the risk. If you want to put all your money, time, and energy on the line then nobody can stop you.

The problem is that most large-scale seastead projects will require the money from several investors. Those investors will require some level of assurance that their investment will be safe. They don’t want a guarantee that the seastead will work out…there is a risk after all and that’s why it’s called an investment. But investors are not in the business of throwing their money away and will usually require a risk assessment that goes a little further than “We’re gettin’ ‘er done!” or “We’re just gonna do it!”.

I agree with all 5 of your points on how not to be a PITA, though. The dual-citizenship thing might be tricky, since some countries do not allow their citizens to have dual-citizenship. But not causing trouble will be a very high priority when seasteads are first getting their feet wet…so to speak.

“Just Do It” and “Git ‘er done” are fine as long as you are the only one taking the risk. If you want to put all your money, time, and energy on the line then nobody can stop you.

The problem is that most large-scale seastead projects will require the money from several investors. Those investors will require some level of assurance that their investment will be safe. They don’t want a guarantee that the seastead will work out…there is a risk after all and that’s why it’s called an investment. But investors are not in the business of throwing their money away and will usually require a risk assessment that goes a little further than “We’re gettin’ ‘er done!” or “We’re just gonna do it!”.

Well said. The question is: Who will be the investors? Will it be some rich “sugar daddies” or the seasteaders themselves. Or, might they be, in some cases, one-and-the-same. It miight be advisable to look to William Penn as an example as how to set up a seastead.

He sought out investors for the first Quaker colony in Pennsylvania, but broke with the idealogy of equality in his faith by creating larger lots to be sold to rich people. this caused him some grief from some of his fellow Quakers, but it brought in money. But, the normal-sized lots sold were to the “middle class” folk who accounted for most of the money used to acquire the land from the Indians. If there is ever going to be a seastead, it will either be through a similar type of creative financing or a project financed by the rich who will want control over it. In the later case, I fear it is likely that you and I will only enjoy life on the seastead as servants or employees.

The contrarian “rub” might be that, since there are not too many opportunities to invest in todays market (a land based market) then the seasteading market looks very promising. Back on the subject, well, money have a lot to do w/self-governance, but not limited to it. This is my logic:

1. If we are to debate “self-governance” than we are talking about it on a seastead operating on the high seas ONLY. (self explanatory)
2. If such a seastead would be build by the rich than its a FACT that we will all be wage slaves (a.k.a. servants or employees), which is unacceptable.
3. Therefore, disregard # 2.
4. If # 1. and # 3. are true, than the only acceptable solution is to build the seastead as a coop, a partnership between investors who are also residents and owners-operators of various businesses on such a seastead.
5. If # 1 is true, and since the high seas are 200nm offshore, than the most likeiy design for such a seastead would be a modular floating artificial island to the like of http://seasteading.org/interact/forums/engineering/structure-designs/waveland-modular-mobile-offshore-base . (not because its mine, but because it make sense).
6. If # 1, 4, 5 are true than “self-governance” would translate into a process of decision making between people with common goals and aspirations, bounded by an initial partnership agreement. If this is the case, it is my belief that regardless of what form or shape of “self-governance” we will agree upon and regardless of the way we will agree, it will be a better and fairer system than most in existence now.