052 – Seasteading: Civilisations of the Future – Joe Quirk

Author and Seavangelist

Is this the future of mankind? Is Seasteading the answer to all of humanity’s most pressing challenges?

As we battle to hold duopoly governments to account, reverse the damage of climate change, reduce inequality, and provide health care to the disadvantaged – perhaps it’s time to accept that our old system is broken beyond repair.

Rather than try to fix the irredeemable, it might be time to try something new.

Seasteaders are convinced that their vision will provide the innovative platform to launch the civilisations of the future – and my guest in this episode makes a pretty good case.

Joe Quirk is an author and Seavangelist at The Seasteading Institute. His enthusiasm will infect you and leave you with fresh hope for the future of humanity.

Seasteading promises to restore the environment, enrich the poor, cure the sick and liberate humanity from politicians.

Lessons Learned

Here’s what I took from the episode:

Why Seasteading?

Seasteading solves two of the world’s biggest problems at once:

Sea level change The lack of innovation in governance

The Basics

Seasteading = Politically independent cities that float on the ocean

Start up countries on the blue frontier

Half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any country

Seasteading brings a Silicon valley sensibility to the problem of Governments not innovating

The Seasteading Institute has already found that if they provide the opportunity for innovators to contribute to a nano-nation, innovators will come along with their own brilliant niche ideas

Innovators are held back by 20th century regulations

The Seated Institute takes no position on what type of society should be formed – they are providing the technology for others to decide

The vision is that people will join and leave seated communities voluntarily – Seasteads compete to attract = best societies emerge

French Polynesia sees itself as the blue frontier:

’We’re going to draw a new world map with FP as the centre of the aquatic age’.

Pacific nations sinking below sea level – easily transition to floating nations.

When will this happen?

Before 2020 there’ll be the first seastead civilisation established on French Polynesia.

The seasteading phenomena will start as the coastal expansion of exisiting states.

Joe thinks that our children will be living on floating cities. They will look back at our way of life, the way we lived under the rule of a monopoly government, and shake their heads.

Build it and they will come

The Seastead Institute has found that putting this idea out there, talking and getting excited about this new model of civilisation, innovators have come to them. They have been inundated with a range of thinkers and problem solvers – all wanting to be part of the movement.

‘I’ve been astounded by the solutions that people bring to this movement’

‘So many of the problems that we get frustrated about on land are based on the problem of monopoly of governance that doesn’t allow the network effects of solutions that can work together’

More…

Seasteading

Joe’s book – Seasteading: How Floating Nations will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick, and Liberate Humanity from Politicians

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