Corporations and private entities may create their own countries some day. It’s called Seasteading. What is Seasteading? The Wikipedia definition says it best “Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territory claimed by any government. Most proposed seasteads have been modified cruising vessels. Other proposed structures have included a refitted oil platform, a decommissioned anti-aircraft platform, and custom-built floating islands.”
The technology for creating self sufficient dwellings at sea is already here. Electricity can be provided by solar. Food can be grown with hydroponics. Sea water is convertible to drinking water via desalinization. Communication with the outside world is just a satellite away. And of course, there is plenty of marine life on which to feed. Influential people are already working on this idea, The Seasteading Institute.
Apple Island?
What happens when multiple seasteads are created and new and autonomous societies can develop? The United States is one semi recent example of a conventional societal evolution. When creating our government, this former English colony took pieces of the old ways and improved upon them in many areas. This could happen with seasteads too. Imagine multiple seasteads experimenting with new types of governance and economic structures. All of them competing for inhabitants. Survival of the fittest. It could accelerate the slow evolutionary process of government and potentially move it in a totally different direction.
Humanity’s potential is tightly interwoven with the type of society it finds itself within. Think of the GDP/Power/Wealth of ancient Rome compared to the United States. The two populations, for the most part, are the same from a biological perspective. The difference in accomplishment is solely due to the difference in the technology and how they are organized (culture, government, economy etc). The next step in the evolution of how we organize ourselves could lead to a new Renaissance.
This sounds like a variant on modern-day micro-nations. The scheme you suggest was tried with an artificial island – Minerva Reef – in the 1970’s. The moment it was finished, Tonga invaded and took it over, kicking out the builders. It remains Tongan now. Sealand in the Thames had a similar problem, but the owners hired mercenaries…
The problem to resolve is the human nature that says that if you build something like that, someone else will try to take it away. The other issue is international recognition – if an oil tanker hits one for example, how will issues like insurance or rescue be handled?
The development and building of online and virtual nations seems to provide a safer way to explore different government methods, and there are several in existence at the moment.
If these artificial islands do pick up eventually, I’m sure the major nations would reach some sort of agreement internationally through the UN to determine the guidelines of seasteads.
This is a very interesting proposition. However, what are the motivations for these moves, to avoid paying tax? And what about the safety of employees who choose to live there? The last thing we need is another Titanic situation.
Yes, certainly not paying tax would be a huge motivation, considering tax values sometimes can go up to close to 50% of the income. Just imagine saving all that money, the employees could receive a substantial raise and profits would increase a lot too.
Perhaps they just want a new way to live., a new government. Perhaps they are libertarian? I would assume it would be up to the people who CHOOSE to live there to worry about their own personal safety and not expect a nanny state to come and rescue them?,
This has to be done on neutral waters where no country can claim ownership of the Seasteads. Some news of this kind of a settlement as making rounds a few years back and it was supposed to have been created to carry on scientific research that no government had allowed. But it is easier said than done. Some Corporate may be interested in establishing a seastead, but only as a business base as has already been done in remote Islands. To create a separate social identity on these settlements and sustain independently will be very difficult in the long run in terms of safety and security. The international law would hardly allow such a settlement as it could pose a threat to the mainland.
Oh wow I think that’s pretty cool, and that picture looks so nice. Maybe visitors could come and stay there for a while, and maybe they would get perks for having products of the company that own the island. Honestly this seems like a great idea, but I’m not sure what the legality of it is and it might be bad for the world. There’s also always something to think about, like if the company dies, will that place just be abandoned? Or will it be taken by pirates? It’s all very interesting, but I don’t think Apple or Google would ever die considering how successful they are.
It’s an interesting idea and a nice try but it’s not practical long-term. No government or corporation is going to allow it to happen. It’s all about greed, selfishness and ownership and there are certain governments, corporations and organizations out there who not only want to own the planet but firmly believe that they are perfectly entitled to. That’s why wars happen and this, if it goes ahead and evolves, is going to be no different. You can bet that there will be new legislation and standards and ownership rights that will be introduced to counteract any attempt to live off the grid and not be a part of the system. You are just a number!
Wow, how crazy is that? I would not be very surprised if they did this. Considering it’s out of the territory claimed by any country any huge company can do it considering they see economic advantages in that… Most likely countries would try to make a profit from it though!
They have been talking about building self sustaining artificial islands forever, but I think we have never really been close to it happening until know. I think we certainly have the knowledge and the capabilities for it to be possible. The investment would be out of this world but there are many companies that have the financial capabilities and the drive to make it happen.
Interesting that you say that because it’s the first time I hear about such a concept. Sure, there are artificial islands for construction purposes (bridges, tunnels and so on), but to host a company/country it’s a real novelty and I doubt that it ever happens to be honest as there are too many interests involved.
This is actually a really really good idea, let’s be honest, how the world organization actually really sucks and a new form of organization just like communism on theory seems to be a good idea, it’s like creating a new little world on our own planet. But if this is a thing one day I think that governments are still going to try to get something out of it, unfortunately humans are always trying to get benefits only for them… It would be really interesting to see how this turns out if it really happens one day.
Thanks for sharing!
It’s an excellent idea, that is why I just said that I was doubting this could go ahead because if it could happen, why hasn’t anyone done it? Sure, it’s a massive investment, but it could also generate massive savings.
It’s certainly an intriguing idea; the oceans and seas are one of those few remaining frontiers that humans have yet to conquer. It’d take years before it could even start, let alone grow into a full-fledged unique society, but it’d be an interesting social experiment.
Seasteading huh? Well I have never heard of this term before but I have to say that I am quite intrigued by it and the whole idea. I am pretty sure that it is a bad thing overall for humanity, but then again I start to think about why not, and who is to say that these companies cannot run a community or self-govern or be sovereign entities. The meaning of sovereignty would certainly have to be restructured or redefined, but they do always say “run the government like a business” (which is a terrible saying that I hate by the way). Thanks for getting my brain into overdrive on an otherwise pretty dull Saturday afternoon.
This is a very interesting concept. But what would the implications be in terms of jurisdiction? These islands owned by corporations would be claiming sovereignty. But the companies that would own these islands are actually corporations that have been formed and do business under the laws of other nations. That’s even how they get their “limited liability” status. It’s these existing governments that protect their rights and their assets. These government also give them “limited liability”, provided by public funds. How can the islands owned by these corporations be truly sovereign?
This means that the governments would actually be owning these islands and not the corporations.
This will stop being an isolated incident in the future and will spread to land. Super powers will be divided by corporations instead of governmental bodies. I mean just look at how much influence corporations have on our politics already.
Wow! What a really interesting and almost science fiction-esque concept. One could potentially live by their own laws. That’s both cool and terrifying at the same time. It reminds me a lot of post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read.
It would be fun (and challenging) to live in a seastead, even one ruled by common laws, but it would be awesome to visit one!
This would definitely be a real improvement of the human environment, and as I have read a few times, something similar is already happening. India has some project of creating separate communities, and it is supported by some international corporations. We can see on the Internet that there are others similar ideas, and the time will show how serious they are with this. But, I have also heard only chosen people will be allowed to enter and live in these cities, while the majority will be outside. Of course, no one knows for sure what will be and every discussion ends with speculations.
If anyone has the money for this sort of endeavor, it would be the major corporations. I am getting a bit of a Shadowrun vibe from the idea, though. Living with the company you work with sounds… troubling. Pretty soon you may end up having to hire a “corporate headhunter” to get yourself a new job with a different company just to leave the island…
A few Cyberpunk/Dystopian stories are forming in my mind as I speak…
Now this is a very cool idea. The result is a self-sustained community that is symbiotic with the environment, a much better relationship with the Earth than we have now! The movie Waterworld painted a more grim picture of an aquatic society, but it definitely doesn’t have to be that way.
The possibility exists but the execution of such an idea is what really plays a main role here. There are a lot of factors and costs to consider here and that’s why I think such an idea will continue to remain as just that, an idea. With how things are currently it’d be hopeful for anyone to really take seasteading upon themselves. Perhaps if things get better we may see smaller parties embrace such a concept but for the likes of Apple and Google, that’s still up for debate.
I have to say this is the most interesting blog/web site I have visited in a very long time and have to say thanks to the admin for creating it.
That said isn’t Dubai kind of the same concept? It is man made but instead of an individual or corporation creating it the government of the United Arab Emirates did?
It seems like it would be unlikely to be able to create a floating city, however, I don’t think it would be unfeasible. It would take someone with an interest and enough funding to back up the project. Thankfully, the people running the project seem to know what their doing.