Seasteading 

Reminds me of a line from "The Man Who Was Thursday" by G. K. Chesterton: 'The poor have occasionally objected to being governed badly, but the wealthy have always objected to being governed at all.'

Seasteading has been imagined many times in novels, from Jules Verne's 1895 science-fiction book Propeller Island about an artificial island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean, to the 2003 novel The Scar, which featured a floating city named Armada. It has been a central concept in some movies, notably Waterworld (1995), and in TV series such as Stargate Atlantis, which had a complete floating city. It is common setting in video games, forming the premise of the Bioshock series, Brink, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II; and in anime, such as Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet which takes place mainly on a traveling city made of an interconnected fleet of ocean ships.

I was employee #5 at The Seasteading Institute back in 2008 when we were in an empty ex-Facebook building in downtown Palo Alto. I heard about it on Econtalk back in 2006 or 2007, so I volunteered but was hired on the spot. I became Operations Manager and also did some forum moderation (fun stuff there) as well as donor outreach and perk deliveries. If you donated back in 2008-2012, you probably heard from me (and hopefully I sent you a shirt). It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. All the journalists called us insane, and academics thought we were trying to make murder islands and stuff. Conservatives thought we were commies, liberals thought we were fascists. We had a pretty eclectic community of boaters, reactionaries, libertarians, fishermen, bitcoiners, potheads, and everyone else, so if you were in a room of 10 seasteaders you'd get 10 different opinions on something. Highlights included launching Ephemerisle in 2009 in the Sacramento Delta, which was a 48-hour marathon of trying to keep 10 platforms attached and afloat without killing anybody. One almost caught on fire one night when a guy put some highly combustible oil in the tiki torches. The guy running that project was Chicken John who was a character if I ever saw one. The Seasteading Conference was crazy too. It was a tiny venue, but we had some of the top thinkers in the world arguing with each other over feasibility. I was bummed we didn't do one in 2010. Patri was an awesome boss. His emphasis was on experimental economics. I got to meet his dad David a few times, who's definitely one of the smartest people in the world. I also got to meet people like Moldbug, Peter Thiel, a bunch of transhumanists. Later Randy Hencken became my boss, who had done communications there. His emphasis shifted to experimental therapeutics. I ended up meeting a ton of pro-psychadellic folks who are also brutally smart. Honduras falling through sucked. We had a cruise ship that sat collecting barnacles for a year. The Phuket launch was scary. I only quit to pursue stunts fulltime, but that job was awesome. It was like an intellectual safari. I learned to think less about what people "should" do, and more about what people "could" do. It made politics seem silly, because in a room with a bunch of people disagreeing on policy, the seasteaders' focus was on how to make sure they could all do what they wanted to do. That's the opposite of every political conversation you have in a democracy.

I am shocked how little this concept is used in science fiction. A dystopian paradise on the ocean blue seems like an interesting setting.

Another historical example would be the Aztec building Tenochtitlan (today Mexico City) on top of Lake Texcoco

7:10 thanks for the jumpscare fart noise 😂

3:21 I cant be the only one thinking they just ran out of space so they stopped short of spelling “Radio Mercury”🤣

In the early 90's there was a book by Marshall Savage called "The Millennial Project" that laid out a general blueprint for colonizing the stars -- and seasteading was the first step. The idea was to use building self-sustaining colonies at sea to develop the technology and techniques used for building space colonies. He set up the First Millennial Foundation to try and build support for the idea (I did some graphic design work for them back in the day), but I don't think it really caught on... the Millennial Foundation later rebranded to the Living Universe Foundation which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be particularly active :(

You should have mentioned the world's biggest seasteading settlement: Makoko, the "floating slum" in Nigeria, which has a population of over 85,000. No other community on stilts comes anywhere close to this in size.

Seasteading gets explored fairly frequently in anime. Some notable examples are "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet", where large communities of future humans live on gigantic floating megastructures that are essentially hodge-podges of various restored ships and barges that are then bolted together. It depicts a lot of the challenges that such an existence would entail, including securing food and fresh water, dealing with inclement weather, fending off pirates, and struggling to maintain a successful community of nomads as groups join the fleet or split off on their own journeys. Other examples include "Nanana's Buried Treasure" and "The Asterisk War", which are both similar in that they focus on the concept of gigantic floating megacities being deliberately created for the purpose of establishing academies, research facilities, and corporate offices in neutral locations to promote development free of restriction and interference from traditional influences. There are others as well. The presentation of seasteading in these futuristic settings is usually as a vibrant environment full of hope that covers up something more dystopian. Very interesting concept that will likely see more development in the future as sea levels and global population rise. Let's just hope it doesn't go the way of Waterworld.

So the best the tech bros could offer was indentured servitude in a company store? That’s on brand

Couldn't stop thinking about the film, Water world 😂

I've read/listened to quite a bit on modern seasteading, and the pattern is always: - Billionaire tech bro doesn't like paying tax - He and a few fellow tech bros create a grossly over-promising video that gets the Elon-simps going - Realise nations do need to pay for things like sewage removal, so rebrand tax as something tech sounding - Turns out they lied about the actual level of investment or permissions from now angry governments - Project ends quietly because [something about dreaming too big] - Billionaire tech bro doesn't like paying tax....

I always love Sealand stories!

I had no clue the history of pirate radio was so intense

Boy, you could make a very long video about the dangers of these things when hurricanes/ typhoons come by or a host of other easily understandable disasters that could befall them !

Pirate Radio is an excellent movie.

The amount of videos you lads churn out is absolute insanity.

There was another idea, a giant floating barge/ship that would very, very slowly cruise up and down the east or west coast of America, with thousands living there, it's own heliport and marina for speedboats, with the entire enterprise being designed as a tax dodge for rich people and their companies, all of whom would declare their cabin to be their primary residence and a post office box on the ship as the HQ of their companies. It's amazing how hyper focused the fabulously wealthy are on schemes to not have to pay taxes.

I was surprised Freedom-Ship didn’t make it into this list. Maybe it deserves its own video?

I seasteaded for five years. We even had an airport on the roof.

There was a book in the early 1990s, _The Millennial Project_ , which proposed the construction of several hundred seastead arcologies as a step towards space colonization. The book was predicated on the use of several cutting-edge construction and power-generation techniques which, for better or worse, never really worked out. The seasteads would be built around ocean thermal generators, which would be used to power not only the floating cities but a system of linear accelerators and launching lasers for space missions, which was also unlikely to be practical. As with most seasteading projects, much of the plan lay with the assumption that, being outside of territorial waters, they wouldn't be subject to other nations' laws; how they would defend themselves from any potential attack or invasion - especially if the power generation and orbital launch systems worked as planned, something many countries would covet - was never explained. The group behind the book, the Millennial Foundation (later renamed the Living Universe Foundation) still exists as far as I know, though they had something of a schism in the early 2000s, with several former members defecting to a different micronation project, 'New Utopia'. That project, under a Libertarian calling himself 'Lazarus Long' (after a well-known Robert Heinlein character) claimed to be forming 'The Principality of New Utopia', which was going to be an underwater seastead in the Caribbean. Since 'Long' died a few years back, I don't know what has happened with that group since.

IVe seen that TV show, its called STargate Atlantis... and it sinks... and flys through space... its a whole thing...

I’m glad you mentioned Sealand. I love those guys! 😀

I think conquering the seas is going to be our precursor the conquering the stars.

Going to be starting our own little seastead on the Alberni inlet with some old logging camp barges soon as our house sells

Surprised the people of Ha Long Bay weren't mentioned as communities of seasteaders, as they never step foot on dry land their entire lives. Also, fun fact about Sealand is they have 3 international football 🏈 teams, a mixed, a women's and a flag squad.

There's some great seastead artwork out there. These days thanks to indoor vertical farming we know we do not need soil (nor Sun, and very little water and space). Many people live on boats. They have a lot of freedom but can;t really grow their own food. Even a modest seastead could change that, giving people enough room to grow crops and make not only food but bio-replacement parts. It could be true self sufficiency. Of course, you could do that on land too.

I love that you posted this right after those guys seasteadded in Titan near the Titanic wreck

Floating houses are somewhat common on the coast of British Columbia. Some are in organized neighbourhoods, but some individuals look for a cove or fjord to tie up in alone.

PHUCK YEAH, SEASTEADING!!!! WATERWORLD PARTY TIME!

7:10 Factboy ate too many beans!

I think hurricanes and monsoons would have something to say about floating cities.

(7:10) what the heck? someone got gas? LOL

One could argue that an Aircraft Carrier could meet the definition of a sea stead. It could operate relatively autonomously and independently.

Hello factboi, I love the number of brain Blaze uploads lately

gotta love the fart noise

sea borne settlements i believe will be playing a part in our development but considering how no city on earth is self sufficient and no country is fully self sufficient the chances of such an expensive expansion being self sufficient are near 0 though as i say they do have a part because we have examples of our cities requiring heavy amounts of imports and countries needing trade. from the simplest level though you can try and create some deep sea farms for seaweed and/or fish and would provide a new way to produce low density housing in areas rapidly running out of places to put any housing. solar farms would also see a healthy partnership with a seaborne settlement since the cool water beneath them would help to passively cool the panels which currently is one of the largest hurdles for solar

Please do a Casual Criminalist on Vincent Chin, his story is tragic, and very relevant to this very day. Love your content!

At 7:14........ The fart noise got me lol

such beard, much impressive

I designed a ship that sat on top of a submarine. The ship was the life of the submarine through an umbilical cord system. This way one could get away from weather or nuclear disasters. Learning to survive on life at a depth that wouldn't be effected by disasters. The submarine was to dock to the floor bed. Unfortunately, the location I choosed has an old Spanish ship wreck. I was once asked when was the happiest time of my life? I said when I lived next to the ocean. My design start out as just a simple place for me to get away from humanity. Then the submarine got added. Then I looked at turning the submarine into a science research vessel and then into a 3 day underwater vacation. The submarine alone would need 25 million dollars.

Makes a lot more sense to focus on large offshore wind and solar infrastructure so that there is economic activity that bring people there to service and can be used as dual use platforms for marine agriculture. Focusing on making commodies at sea and only worrying about temporary housing for employees at first is a better path forward than trying to build some superyacht money pit.

Sealand sounds hella cool

Has any of the Seasteading organizations incorporated Waveline Magnet generators, solar panels, wind turbines, and vertical farming into their plans?

So proud Kevin was able to have that epic run

And… first thing to come to my mind was the Bioshock franchises underwater city “Rapture”. Oh…. Boy.

I'm a simple man, I see Fact Boy, the Boy with the Blaze, the Legend in the thumbnail and I click. Don't ever hide him from the thumbnail please or I might miss a video in the sea of all the others. But I can easily spot that fantastic beard if it's on the thumbnail.

I met some of the Sealand guys at DefCon 8 back in 2000. Really cool guys, i was bummed to hear about the fire. It seemed like such a cool idea.

I can see how and why seasteading would be a cheaper option to space colonization.

Oceanix is building a floating city in Busan, South Korea.

A little light Whistler! What about the future of seasteading? That would be interesting!

The anime Japan is Sinking on Netflix gave us an idea of how seasteading can happen in our time however the disaster of that mega islands project in Dubai has given us the irl version of what not to in this regard.

Please do a video on the Las Vegas sphere

I am seasteader and for me, it's not about taxes but rather about the new frontier and overall tabula rasa thing. People should have a place where they can easily get entrance approval, easily start their own business or get hired and have a very transparent state. Also, one interesting point - people should have the right to experimental medicine. Like, cancer patients should have the right to ask for unapproved genetic therapy, etc. If somebody is interested, I can write more.

The weather on the ocean can get quite rough.

You should do a feature on the Maunsell Sea Forts in the Thames estuary! (Unless you already have) There was some pirate radio activity there back in the '60s, I think.

I don't think I'll ever not giggle at "Lake Titicaca" but I think I'm okay with that

On living at sea, I say this - I shall not ever claim as refuge, a place that does not have the decency to remain in the last place I left it.

Thw story of sealand is the most hilarious thing to happen in the 20th century.

this video touched on pirate radio. i remember seeing a movie when i was little, about a pirate radio being operated from a B-17 in flight. does anyone have any idea what that was? did i just make it up? i could have.

The video games Bioshock and Brink. The Great Pacific, an image comic. Very interesting.

There was a homesteader who improvised his own little seastead in a lake using industrial foam floats to support his buildings.

I quite like the idea of seasteading. If it wasnt for my fear of drowning. Im an accomplished swimmer but there is just something about vast bodies of water that unnerves me at times.

Kinda loved the little fart sound at the reveal of “Sealand”

It's a great concept, and you would think countries with a small footprint would welcome the idea of suddenly increasing their "landmass". Is a shame it is caught up with certain ideas that prove antithetical to investment.

Longwave Radio Atlantic 252 was the last pirate radio station the UK had. It shut down just several years ago.

I just started thinking about Big Boss and the MSF.

Given the modular nature of modern container shipping am surprised nobody has already tried this.

I think someone saw Waterworld and tought "I need to get in on this before it's to late!"

I love building these in civ 6

Had to rewind on the tower part to be sure. Little fart noise made my dog and I look at each other With a "why you do that?" moment.

Forget the sea. We should start spacesteading.

Up to 9 minutes, none of the examples were actually 'seasteading', not even the Uru on Titicaca, since they all depended on food grown on land. The main problem facing seasteading are obtaining drinkable water, and damage from weather and waves.

The idea of being out of the jurisdiction of any government reminds me of the last movie Laurel and Hardy made in 1950 called Utopia. Laurel inherits an island that is out of government reach and they decide to create a society without any laws which as we know comically back fires.

Welcome to Waterworld .

If you combine Cyberpunk story with Sea Organization you end up with the book Snow Crash. Neat

What about security? If you are in international waters, who is responsible for stopping pirates attacking?

Can't forget about the Republic of Rose Island

The sea steading is a great idea to escape taxes; however, wouldn't the residents have to pay a tax to maintain the structure, get rid of waste, bring or produce drinking water, etc. Other than fishing, what industry is there to support the community?

If it was that easy, Louisiana wouldn't be washing into the sea

❤

I'm surprised you didn't mention the private island floating oil rig "KOKOMO AILAND - PRIVATE FLOATING HABITAT" made by the company supposedly making private submarines "migaloo"

I'd say why not build modular boats. As long as you can make a boat that can technically connect up with two other boats simultaneously and maintain that connection indefinitely practically becoming a single vessel then you can do seasteading, with enough boats you will have the space to do whatever you want to do on the water. I'm not sure why these people want to live on the water because it sounds horrific, I prefer forests and mountains under my feet. I'd love to see it tho, making boats bigger then aircraft carriers sounds amazing, all that surface area can be used for power and food production, storage, housing. And then what you can eat and live free from any laws, better protect yourself with some guns maybe some missiles or anti missile missiles and drones. It seems like a very stressful life where you can be sunk and drown with no one that will look for you.

Did anyone notice the "gwibble" sound around 7:10 when he's talking about someone called Bates

There's a bunch of channels by the crews of shipping vessels, they show how the ocean behaves in "calm" and rough weather. A floating settlement on the ocean would need to sustain equivalent of major earthquakes on a daily basis and the ppl too. 🫣🤢 Let alone the phenomenon of "rogue waves"-- massive waves that come out of nowhere. And if far enough out to sea, salt water rain. The idea of corporate seasteads for avoiding visas [workers/human rights] is bone chilling.

Recalling an episode of Secret Agent with Patrick McGoohan that takes place on a pirate-radio platform.

I look at that and wonder what they will do if a storm with 40 foot (12 m) waves comes along…? I would imagine they would need a very long stabilizer under the floating home to prevent it from being overturned.

This is all well and good, but any proposed permanent floating structure will have to contend not only with todays major storms, but also increasingly powerful ones in the future

Why the wet raspberry or wet fart sound at the "Principality of Sealand"? LOL.

🤙🏽

Love your channel(s)! It's a very interesting idea - floating cities. Have you heard of Jacque Fresco and "The Venus Project"? Fresco was a very interesting character and one of his may design ideas was for cities and habitats, both on and below the surface of oceans. Check it out (y). And thanks again for your work.

So... Waterworld. You've described Waterworld

Combining this with 'most brutal fatal 20ft great white shark attacks ever' will please the RU-vid kids of the future greatly..

3 issues, why no such projects can survive: 1) seawater (corrosion, marine life), 2) weather (ever heard of "storms"?) and 3) economics (everything involving ships is EXPENSIVE!). The costs of maintaining a ship/structure in the middle of the ocean are astronomical. Not to mention you need paying residents willing to live there... 👀

That’s the problem. The price should be extremely low. A hotel on the sea is stupid.

Lmao why is there a fart sound at 7:10 😂

So those pods. What you gonna do in a storm?

Lol any Civ player knows why asking the Dutch to help with seasteading is hilarious

The video ended a few seconds early, cutting Simon off hahaha