"I thought the whole point of a seastead was to get out from under...
· Comment — Archer T. Ships replied to Scott Chelette's comment. · View on Facebook · Markdown source
"I thought the whole point of a seastead was to get out from under the thumb of nation states?" It is, for some people. But colonizing the ocean is a technically difficult task, and you need to crawl before you can walk. Early seasteads will need to be near shore for re-supply, jobs, access to healthcare, etc. "But in general, wealth naturally attracts thieves thus the concern about the cost of private security." Cruise ships exist, oil platforms exist, and do not face many physical threats. "Presumably groups of seasteaders will voluntarily fund private security, but what happens when a member of the group decides to free ride? Do the others force or extort payment - for a good reason! And doesn't this coercion - no matter how logical or soft - eventually look like the very nation state they sought to renounce?" It may be that, like pollution, a certain amount of coercion is unavoidable for humans to flourish. However, I think that if we can lower the barrier to forming new governments and moving between governments, many people will choose governments that are much less coercive than most existing governments.