Post: #1

There are few new frontiers into which a man can flee to escape the smothering embrace of the nanny-state and the ever-encroaching police state.

But what if a man could build his empire in a libertarian city-state -- and perhaps even conduct commerce between such bastions of freedom?

Envision a worldwide network of Galt's Gulches spread across the world (reference to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand).

Some outside-the-box thinkers are presently trying to create such autonomous zones of free enterprise and personal liberty.

I first read about this project several years ago. It is now slowly becoming reality.

Quote:Startup Cities To Become Reality
Yago / November 30, 2013

A few months ago I promised, that in November, I would be able to provide an update on the creation of a radical new kind of free, autonomous legal zone (see video below). Well the time is here. Right now, I can only give a high level update, but over the next few weeks there will be much more exciting information to share. So here goes:

The first zones, called ZEDE, are going to be in Honduras. And yes, that is zones, plural. The legislation that has been passed in Honduras makes creating a zone incredibly easy. In an upcoming update, I will publish the laws and add some commentary – but creating a zone is going to be far easier than almost anyone imagined. Barriers to entry will be low so that competition is high.

We are not out of the woods yet. Things could still go wrong, either due to internal politics in Honduras or due to outside pressure. This will continue to be true even after the first zones are set up. But at this point I am confident that the odds are in our favor. Primarily due to the genius of one man (more on that later).

The reason for my confidence is multi-fold:

New constitutional changes were introduced that ended the original objections of the Honduran supreme court
The legislative framework has been voted by an overwhelming majority of the Honduran parliament
The framework laws have been published and enacted into law
The core executive council, whose duty it shall be to oversee the creation of the zones has been formed
In the most recent elections, which took place last week, the votes are in. The law’s supporters are firmly in power
President-Elect Juan Orlando Hernández, was the leading promoter of the law in parliament. Now that he has been elected president, he has made clear that the creation of the ZEDE will be his administrations “key initiative”

Momentum for the creation of the free zones is only gaining momentum. The tone of conversations has turned from skepticism to hope and pride.

Other Central American counties, and in particular Guatemala and Panama are watching this development closely (and their leaders have indicated differing degrees of support). Additionally, elites in countries in other regions of the developing world have begun to take a more active interest. I and others who have been working on this project are seeing leaders reach out to us to quietly begin conversations. There is a surprising degree of high-level support for the plan. And if the zones are a success, there is going to be immense competitive pressure in the region for other countries to also create free zones, in order to stay competitive. We may have multi-country jurisdictions come into existence quite rapidly. This is a geo-political black swan of epic proportions just waiting to happen.

We owe an immense debt to the tireless efforts of many brave and relentless Hondurans who are taking a huge leap to try correct the ills of their country. In particular the genius of one man, Octavio Sanchez, is behind this project is becoming a reality. Sanchez has been planning this methodically for over 20 years, he moves with the slow implacable force of magma and the political guile of a benevolent Machiavellian prince. We are lucky he is on our side. I can guarantee that hard-core libertarians are going to be disappointed with the first zones (but they have never created such zones whereas Octavio will).

However, he has architected a plan which I think may be the greatest piece of political genius since the formation of the US constitution. The political changes will occur at exponential pace, slow and imperceptible at first, and then suddenly, they will be everywhere. (I will devote an essay to this – but at this point it will only be available on openocracies.org. If you are interested, sign up for access to the social network below.)

For the time-being, the plan is to continue to maintain the low media profile of the project. Over the next few months however, more information will be released to the press and other public relations efforts will be underway. A lot of this is going to be done on a private basis, with the central government maintaining a lower profile. In the meantime, we are creating a member-only website to continue to provide more information about the project. The website will include a social network, built on the diaspora protocol, that we hope will help allow supporters from around the world to coordinate efforts. You can register for an invite at openocracies.org

http://edanyago.me/2013/11/30/startup-ci...e-reality/


There is a video embedded in the attached news story. I have also attached it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-oySaDJHoI

Post: #2

Nice post. Thinkers have been saying for a while that in the future were are going to see the growth of "free zones", semi- autonomous regions and self governing city states similar to those that existed in the Middle Ages. The giant, centralized, authoritarian welfare state is an artifact of the Industrial Age, which is rapidly coming to an end and being supplanted by the Digital Age, which allows efficient functioning on a much smaller scale.

Post: #3

Those zones are liberty are going to look great when the maras and cartels come to play a visit.

Post: #4

Free zones sound a lot like the Wild West.

Post: #5

It's a lovely idea, but...

What if I am an eccentric billionaire and I decide to buy a bunch of amphibious vehicles and hire a bunch of mercenaries, and then invade your "start-up city" and hold everyone hostage until a hefty ransom is paid?

Who will defend you? The government of Honduras? The United States?

If the U.S. offers protection, then you have to offer something in return. In other words, you will have to become a client state of the U.S., just like Western Europe since 1945. Your start-up city may offer lower taxes, and a less intrusive government, but you will never be as free as you'd like.

The most important freedom a start-up city would have is the freedom to choose to become a client state of the U.S., or of Russia, or of China. There's always a feudal lord to serve.

Post: #6

(12-28-2013 03:24 AM)Icarus Wrote:  It's a lovely idea, but...

What if I am an eccentric billionaire and I decide to buy a bunch of amphibious vehicles and hire...
Who will defend you? The government of Honduras? The United States?

If the U.S. offers protection, then you have to offer something in return. In other words, you will have to become a client state of the U.S., just like Western Europe since 1945. Your start-up city may offer lower taxes, and a less intrusive government, but you will never be as free as you'd like.... client state of the U.S., or of Russia, or of China. There's always a feudal lord to serve.

The love of Big Brother runs rampant. Small autonomous areas can survive. Take Switzerland. Almost everyone has a gun. They have a comprehensive defense plan to avoid invasion. Hitler called off his invasion because he knew he could not maintain control of Switzerland. Also, the Swiss are productive and provide goods and services that people want so there is no reason to destroy them.

As soon as the US dollar reaches its intrinsic value, no one will want to be a client state of the Feds.

Post: #7

(12-21-2013 07:03 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  Free zones sound a lot like the Wild West.

The "Wild West" of Hollywood and the real Western US of that time are not the same.

Hollywood makes us think people in the "Wild West" constantly pulled out their six shooters over any minor disagreement.

Post: #8

(12-28-2013 03:47 AM)buja Wrote:  Small autonomous areas can survive. Take Switzerland. Almost everyone has a gun. They have a comprehensive defense plan to avoid invasion.

Switzerland is a very special case. It is a landlocked country in the Alps, its geography and topography make an invasion extremely difficulty. It is an old, proud country where all males serve in the military, and in which 100,000s of reservists have assault rifles at home. And nationalism motivates people to offer resistance to any invasion.

When you start a new country, how are you going to defend it? Lee Kuan Yew did a magnificent job in Singapore, but he was the only one to have succeeded. You need to create a national identity and nationalistic fervor so that people will want to volunteer to defend your country. If you rely on mercenaries for your defense, you will have trouble. Mercenaries will wait until there's a crisis that makes you need them, then they will charge 10x what the contract says. Because they can extort you like that.

Let us not forget that Monaco depends on France for its national defense.

Post: #9

I forgot about Singapore...another good example.

I agree that mercenaries are not the way to go.
The Hessians didn't serve the British well.
People fighting for their home can be very determined against a better financed enemy...like Vietnam.

Wise and determined people can find ways to survive. San Marino managed to not get swallowed up by the Italian juggernaut.
Or Monaco by the French.

The world is moving away from big empirical governments... The fall of the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia. Czechoslovakia. The possibility of Scotland.

Post: #10

^^^^^
So you're honestly comparing the motivation and ability of a bunch of tech-startup geek to the Vietnamese?

Post: #11

Aren't people also doing this in New Hampshire?:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project

Post: #12

Most of the sci-fi literature always envisions a future with a global unified government or the presence of more superstates. Can any of you think in any book in which the author envisions a different future. With freezones or special districts. Think the opposite of 1984.

Post: #13

(12-28-2013 03:24 AM)Icarus Wrote:  It's a lovely idea, but...

What if I am an eccentric billionaire and I decide to buy a bunch of amphibious vehicles and hire a bunch of mercenaries, and then invade your "start-up city" and hold everyone hostage until a hefty ransom is paid?

Who will defend you? The government of Honduras? The United States?

You are reading way too much into the word "autonomous." These fee trade zones will be similar to Hong Kong, which is an autonomous free trade zone located within a host country.

So, if mythical billionaire-backed mercenaries attack such a city, then they also attack the host country. Enough said.

Post: #14

(12-28-2013 05:55 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  These fee trade zones will be similar to Hong Kong, which is an autonomous free trade zone located within a host country. So, if mythical billionaire-backed mercenaries attack such a city, then they also attack the host country.

Yes, but China is infinitely scarier than Honduras...

Being protected by Honduras is not exactly the pinnacle of deterrence.

This whole "let a thousand nations bloom" is a wonderful idea, and I would love to see it happen. But its implementation is difficult. Security is a challenge. Small countries need to become client states of a superpower to be protected. Pax Americana.

Post: #15

(12-28-2013 06:12 PM)Icarus Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 05:55 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  These fee trade zones will be similar to Hong Kong, which is an autonomous free trade zone located within a host country. So, if mythical billionaire-backed mercenaries attack such a city, then they also attack the host country.

Yes, but China is infinitely scarier than Honduras...

My point was simply that if no one is attacking Honduras, then no one is attacking a city-state inside the border of Honduras. And I do not see anyone attacking Honduras. Will someone declare a war on an entire nation just to attack a city? That makes no sense to me.

Quite frankly, if these city-states are as successful as Hong Kong and Singapore, then the billionaires will be living in them -- not attacking them. They will have the best police forces that the free market can provide.

Post: #16

(12-28-2013 06:16 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  Will someone declare a war on an entire nation just to attack a city? That makes no sense to me.

You don't need to declare war. You can just engage in piracy. A small city-state without serious protection is like an anchored cruise ship waiting to be pillaged in a quick raid.

Somali pirates have shown that a few men with assault rifles, RPGs, and not much to lose can cause a lot of damage when the U.S. Navy is not effectively protecting vital maritime trading routes. Same could happen to city-states.

Post: #17

Maybe the city will be floating:



   



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/...98574.post



I'm down to live in an independent city state. Fuck the rules.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fre...s_in_Dubai


Keeping these places safe will be easier than you think. The point of these places is to keep out the undesirables out in the first place, like white men or feminists.

Post: #18

You could do this in Detroit. A man with enough cash could buy up a lot of property and take over the city government. You could operate the port as a free trade link between US and Canada. Import people, fresh water, hemp fiber, cuban cigars.

Post: #19

(12-28-2013 07:15 PM)calculus Wrote:  You could do this in Detroit. A man with enough cash could buy up a lot of property and take over the city government. You could operate the port as a free trade link between US and Canada. Import people, fresh water, hemp fiber, cuban cigars.

Santiago, DR would be a perfect place. That valley is large enough to build anything, labor is cheap. That valley itself is fertile enough to feed the Caribbean own its own. The mountains protect from hurricanes and invading forces, and there's plenty of fresh pussy in the surrounding areas.

Basically, you would never run out of the necessities:

Food
Rum
Pussy

edit-Plus the foundations are already there. The guv is corrupt and foreigners have been coming in and stowing money for decades. Shit, some of the small coastal towns are basically already liberty zones. You can buy your way out of murder already!

Post: #20

(12-28-2013 07:15 PM)calculus Wrote:  You could do this in Detroit. A man with enough cash could buy up a lot of property and take over the city government.

Why compete with the government? The government does not like competition.

Why not just buy a few hundred acres of desert country somewhere in the Southwest, and start a small community of like-minded people? Like the Amish. Why not go for "internal exile"? Why not take advantage of the protection offered by the U.S. military and police, without subjecting oneself to the ideological oppression of modern society? Kids could be homeschooled.

If the Israelis can grow tomatoes in the Negev Desert, you can do the same in the Mojave.

Post: #21

"Bill Gates took a huge slice of pie, but he didn’t take it from me. By starting Microsoft, he baked millions of new pies. He made the rest of the world richer, too. Entrepreneurs create things.

"Over the past few decades, the difference in wealth between the rich and poor has grown. This makes people uncomfortable. But why is it a problem if the poor didn’t get poorer?"

- John Stossel

http://reason.com/archives/2014/01/08/eq...us-liberty

Post: #22

These libertarian utopias are impossible for the same reason that matriarchal societies are impossible: they either implode as a result of too many externalities, become overrun by other kinds of societies that were more successful in the long run, or make the transition into a more sustainable society by themselves.

Post: #23

I read once about particularly shitty countries warming up to the idea of ceding part of their sovereignty to private institutions, like companies or entrepreneurs, which would then run that part of the country and not the government.

The idea being that some countries are just SO FUCKED UP that only radical ideas can save them.

One such radical idea is letting rich white dudes take control and rape your resources. If it creates a safer, stable country... isn't it worth a shot?

We have to accept the reality that some places are beyond help, at least according to traditional ideas. Severely corrupt and dangerous places mean that people - young children and women - are dying and starving.

I say let the West give it a shot.