Occupy International Waters? A different vision of personal liberty

A new twist on small government: If you can't beat 'em, move outside their jurisdiction.

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Occupy International Waters? A different vision of personal liberty

POSTED: Friday, January 27, 2012, 11:37 AM

Maybe this is where Occupy (and the Tea Party for that matter) were heading all along: if you can't get the government to yield to your demands, ditch it. Or, to paraphrase an old saying: If you can't beat 'em, move outside their jurisdiction. Richard Allen of Wilmington, Del., has a rather Water World-esque vision for how to do it, and, of course, a Kickstarter to match. The notion: "The Bergstead Oceanic Habitation System," "a submersible floating robotic concrete moored structure that provides permanent residential or commercial living space outside the territorial boundaries of any traditional government." He's trying to raise money to build a working scale model that "will have over 20 different sensors, and the sensory data will upload constantly to the internet via cell tower data connection.  It will also regulate its own depth below the surface for a period of 2 weeks.  I started discussing the project with the state government in order to obtain an official permit."

This isn't a totally new idea. Apparently "seasteading" is established enough to have its own institute, even if it was founded by a billionaire who has been (perhaps not undeservedly)  termed a "wackaloon." If only Allen were so well financed. So far, his Kickstarter fund has zero down, $25,000 to go.

Of course, seasteading isn't for everyone. If you're not ready to dose up on Dramamine, there's always the fledgling campaign of local Occupy participant Nathan Kleinman.

Posted by Samantha Melamed @ 11:37 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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