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Comment by Kilimanjaro | Hacker News Reader

Retarded about the platform. Why not use an island instead?

Actually, Patri's primary reason for building free floating nations is because of an economic concept he calls "dynamic geography".

http://seasteading.org/seastead.org/new_pages/dynamic_geogra...

Basically, he postulates that the reason current governments suck is that there is a high barrier of entry into the industry and a high cost for consumers to switch providers. But a ruler of an archipelago of seasteads who passed an unpopular law might wake up to find all the residents have moved their platforms. Seasteading puts competitive pressure on the government industry and provides incentives to govern wisely.

Also see Patri's Econ Talk podcast:

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2008/10/patri_friedman.html

Unsurprisingly, this and many other questions is covered in their FAQ and extended FAQ sections. This was 2 click away from the homepage in a very well thought-out and easy to navigate website.

http://seasteading.org/book_beta/Alternative%20Strategies.ht...

Retarded about the platform. Why not use an island instead?

Actually their plans are very well thought out. (And apparently you didn't read them before you decided to critique.)

Basing a platform on the principle of a Spar Buoy gives them immunity to just about any rogue wave or tidal wave nature, given enough clearance. Their larger designs could ride those out, while most buildings on an island would be toast.

Also, nature's not making new sovereign islands at a particularly useful rate.

If you know of an easy supply of islands that aren't already claimed by some country, I'm sure they'd love to hear about it.

Could build one - shallow water (that might be the hard bit), artificial base then a thick layer of imported rock/soil. :)

Shallow water would probably fall within another sovereign's nautical territory.

agreed. I find it interesting that in light of this, the photo on the home page clearly shows the platform within some country's water.

yes, probably. Though they do discuss the fact that current plans will put the building within the USA's territorial waters.

Only as an interim step. I'd see if the island of Nauru would lend them their sovereignty in exchange for their continued existence as sea levels rise. The island would only become a mooring point, but as long as they could build up just one spot above sea level, they'd still exist.

This has actually been done - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Minerva

Unfortunately, Tonga claimed the island and kicked them out.

The current set of countries are protective of their oligopoly.

Generally, some nation will come and take it from you. Wolf Hilbertz developed an technique to electrically accrete limestone out of sea water and was using it to build a micronation, but it was almost certain that it would be seized by Mauritius when it broke surface.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saya_de_Malha_Bank#Artificial_i...

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