I’ve been reading Seasteading by Joe Quirk and Patri Friedman, and I gotta say…it’s pretty exciting. Yeah, yeah. I get that libertarians, voluntaryists and ancaps are always getting pumped up about the latest cool idea. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that I was getting super enthused about the efforts regarding Liberland. And while I continue to be hopeful that perhaps someday in the near future Liberland will actually become a reality, Seasteading really seems to be the far more promising prospect of a workable libertarian/voluntaryist community. And the best part? It may be much, much closer than you think!
I was like a lot of people when I first heard of seasteading. You know, the whole science fiction day-dream of underwater colonies or futuristic sea craft, kind of like what may have been found on that old Seaquest DSV from the 90s (used to be cutting edge stuff when I was a kid…sniff). But when I started actually investigating it after hearing a pretty compelling case of it on the Tom Woods Show (which can be found right here at Episode 948), I had to know more. So I bought the book, and have been having myself one heck of a jolly old time reading it. Now, if only I was reading it on a beach in the Bahamas…
And you know? I think it makes sense. As the book points out, there’s already numerous floating cities upon the oceans RIGHT NOW. They’re called cruise ships, and thousands (if not millions) of people can attest to the success that these ships represent in terms of cutting edge technology, safety, comfort of living, significant economic advantages, numerous employment opportunities and plenty of entertainment and leisure activities as well. But even if you were to completely ignore the positive boon to humanity that cruise vessels represent, there’s still numerous shipping lines and oil platforms that successfully provide homes and employment to many as well. Plus, one of the big selling points of Seasteading (in addition to the obvious ones of wealth and freedom), is the capability to offer a green alternative to the extreme pollution and unhealthy lifestyles created by land-based cities.
Additionally, as the authors are quick to point out, many different floating sea colonies may offer many different types of living environments for people. If you don’t like the way things are done in one ocean city, simply move to another. As the intention is for these colonies to be autonomous (free from any land based governments, restrictive bureaucracies, underhanded corporations or the friction that comes from land-based groups of people), a hopeful future for humanity seems to become that much brighter.
Want to know more? Check out The SeaSteading Institute, and enter into a whole new world of great promise for the future 
Note: The above artwork was created by yours truly. It was a fairly quick piece, but it was a lot of fun creating. Feel free to share, or let me know if you have other cool ideas for futuristic sea-related cities!
Source: Libertopia Cartoon – Seasteading…the future is now?