Note: This is the handout from a talk given to the San Diego Futurist Salon on August 6, 2004.

---

Seasteading: How And Why To Create New Sovereign Territory On The Oceans

• So...what is "Seasteading"?
  • Definition: "To Homestead The Oceans"
  • Term coined by Wayne Gramlich
  • Also refers to our specific project and approach
• Two-Part Talk
  • Why
    • Why build seasteads at all?
      • A technology for revolutionizing the business of government
    • Why build seasteads our way?
      • Realism, realism, realism
  • How
    • Structure
    • Infrastructure
    • Business
• For more detail, see the book
  • "Seasteading: A Practical Guide to Homesteading the High Seas"
  • Draft available online at http://seastead.org/
• Why Seastead?
  • Many reasons
    • Settle the next frontier
    • Make use of more of the Earth's surface
    • Practice for space
    • Most important: technological solution to inefficient government
  • Why is government inefficient, and why are seasteads a solution?
    • Note: more detailed explanation at http://clevername.net/patri/socs/commented/drawer/dynamic_geography.html
    • Laissez-Faire: Efficient but Not Stable?
      • We have detailed theories about the benefits of a free economy.
      • We have empirical evidence that free economies produce wealth.
      • Yet disappointing empirical evidence for the stability and robustness of economic freedom.
      • More democracy, more government spending.
    • Why Government Spending?
      • Public Choice Theory, etc. etc.
      • Its all about incentives
        • People respond to changes in incentives
        • Government has bad incentive structure
        • Technology is a powerful way to change incentives.
        • The technology of floating cities will dramatically change the incentives facing governments.
    • The Industry of Government
      • High cost of switching providers:
        • Leave job
        • Sell House
        • Pack possessions
        • Apply for citizenship
        • Result: Bad market feedback!
        • Result: Exploitation not innovation.
      • Huge barrier to entry
        • Consider Iraq
        • All land is claimed, and sovereignty is not for sale
        • Result: Few firms
        • Result: Little competition
      • Not a good industry!
    • Government on Modular Floating Cities
      • Low barrier to entry
        • "Buy Land, They've Stopped Making It" becomes false.
        • Build new territory.
        • Don't have to win an election or fight a revolution to have a new country.
        • Build piece by piece as necessary.
      • Low cost of switching
        • Territory can be dynamically re-arranged because ocean is fluid.
        • Entire buildings can move between political jurisdictions
        • Easy to leave means hard to exploit.
        • Federalism resurgent
    • Result: Government Becomes a Competitive Industry
      • Land: a small number of large, static service providers who poorly serve customers.
      • Ocean: Many small, dynamic, innovative firms competing.
      • Like any industry, we can be confident that competition will make government more efficient and effective without knowing exactly how.
      • Technology, not political conversion.
    • Optimistic or Pessimistic?
      • Can we be free on land?
      • Geography of space even more fluid than ocean.
      • Necessary feature holds for 71% of the earth's surface and 99.99999% of the universe.
  • Why do things our way?
    • other ways don't work
    • our way
      • Incrementalism
      • financial realism
      • technological realism (no seacrete, no OTEC)
      • Political realism
      • compromise
• How to Seastead
  • "How" includes
    • Structure
    • Infrastructure
    • Strategy: How to realistically get from here to there.
  • Structure
    • Needs to handle waves
    • Submerged flotation chamber, ballast
    • Multi-level platform
    • Long spar
    • Design Features
      • Spar presents low cross-sectional area to waves.
      • Doesn't rock like a boat.
      • Free-floating (can be anchored).
      • Multiple platforms can be connected in a hexagonal grid.
      • Ferrocement - cheap and durable.
      • Cost: $25-$150/sq. ft. (labor, materials, infrastructure)
    • Future - breakwaters
  • Infrastructure
    • Already a solved problem (think cruise ships)
    • Many things will be imported.
    • Water
      • Rain
      • Reverse Osmosis
      • Future: Solar distillation (maybe)
    • Food
      • Import
      • grow in hydroponic greenhouses
      • Future: aquaculture
    • Power - PV, wind, fuel
      • PV panels
      • wind turbines
      • good old diesel generators
      • Future: wave power
    • Misc infra
  • Strategy
    • How Not To Make It Happen
      • Depend on undeveloped technologies (OTEC, seacrete).
      • Depend on the appearance of a mysterious angel investor.
      • Trying to get investment or donations with no proof of concept.
      • Trying to tackle too big a problem at once.
    • How To Make It Happen
      • Stick to realistic and mature technologies.
      • Have reasonable ideas for funding.
      • Demonstrate the concept before expecting outside money.
      • Incrementalism: a series of small, reasonable stages.
    • Business ideas
      • Low-regulation place to do business
      • Lots of other options
    • Our specific plan
      • Background research, raise some interest
        • Book
        • Website
        • Resources
          • Required: lots of time, a little money
          • Sources: Patri.
      • Baystead Prototype
        • 3K-10K sq. ft.
        • Moored in San Francisco Bay.
        • Resources
          • Required: $200K-$600K, 4-10 residents.
          • Sources: Recruit residents from publicity, pool of interested folk. Don't need many, they need a little money
          • Sources: Money mostly from residents (who then own Baystead). A little from project supporters.
        • Goals
          • test design, infrastructure
          • experiment
          • publicity (give tours, get articles written about us, etc.)
          • proof of concept - we are serious! This is real.
      • Seastead: Timeshare Resort
        • 20K - 200K sq. ft
        • International waters (perhaps Med. Sea)
        • Timeshare
        • Resources:
          • Required: $3M - $15M, 20-200 residents (mix of permanent, timeshare)
          • Source: Residents from publicity in previous stage
          • Source: Money from residents. Possibly some from real estate investors.
      • Then...
        • Getting started is the hardest part.
        • Over time, economy will evolve beyond just a resort.
        • Number of permanent residents will increase.
        • Additional platforms/groups built.
• Acknowledgements
  • Co-authors: Wayne Gramlich and Andy House.
• http://seastead.org/