Image 01 Image 03

The Ultimate, and Penultimate, Resort…

The Ultimate, and Penultimate, Resort…

CEI has published a study about private property laws in outer space by Rand Simberg, one of the best people qualified to write on the topic. In sum, Simberg claims that the U.S. should recognize claims on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids and gives a loose foundation for the U.S. government’s access to establishing recognized property rights beyond Earth.

It’s a fun read, if nothing else, and it’s nice to think about final frontiers in this day and age.

And though space may be the final frontier, it doesn’t have to be the final resort for humanity: Seasteading is my favorite libertarian pet project. Over the course of the past year, some alums from the Seasteading Institute have set up shop.  Blueseed aims to undermine the inefficient visa programs that truncates the talent that Silicon Valley execs can recruit. US immigration policy is a slow and cruel process, let’s hope competition from Blueseed marks the beginning of  reform.

 

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.

Comments

There’s no penalty for illegal immigration, according to the current and previous presidents actions in this matter.

I balance that against the amazing number that seem to be staying. I’m sure they catch some and deport them, but what are the number vs those who sneak in and make it? I’m certainly not against someone surviving, but I am against a government that doesn’t seem to be doing much about it. This is one thing that bugs me most: if you have a law against this, why does it get under-enforced? Why are states having to think about passing laws that duplicate the governments job?

    It depends on the individual.

    If you’re illegally here doing cheap labor and you supplement your life with social services designed for and funded by Americans: no problem.

    If you’re a law-abiding individual with high-order skills, your ICE paperwork had damn well better be impeccable.

1. Interesting post. Given the nature of engineering, I expect a lot of trial and error before a seasteading project succeeds. Even though there’s no assurance of success in the foreseeable future, the concept is well worth pursuing.

2. But if Blueseed is such a great entrepreneurial concept, why are they soliciting PayPal donations from the public?

3. Blueseed aims to undermine the inefficient visa programs that truncates the talent that Silicon Valley execs can recruit.

Afaic Silicon Valley is primarily interested in hiring the skill sets du jour, cheap. To paraphrase a science blog I follow, our “shortage” of technical talent is similar to our “shortage” of $100 first-class airfare to Paris.

4. US immigration policy is a slow and cruel process, let’s hope competition from Blueseed marks the beginning of it’s reform.

IMHO our immigration system may be so dysfunctional that it’s impossible to reform. We’d have to scrap it and start from scratch, especially with personnel. That doesn’t seem politically practical at present.

5. As an American professional (and a veteran), I don’t think US jobs should be open to every qualified individual worldwide. At the same time I recognize the value of immigrant talent to the country, and I believe that exceptional talent, e.g. the top 1% of the top 1%, should be welcomed and attracted. As a citizen, I feel entitled to a degree of economic protection. At what point does that protection become societally harmful protectionism? Dunno. I consider myself a libertarian, but I’ve never seen a convincing analysis that reconciles libertarianism and the nation-state. (Some wag said that libertarianism is the perfect system for a united world whose inhabitants reproduce like amoebas!)

radiofreeca | April 6, 2012 at 5:03 pm

What’s REALLY interesting is the price model. Call it $3K for their top-of-line suite. You save:
* apartment rent ($2K+)
* no need for car ($500/mo lease), gas, repairs, tolls
* CA income tax (11%; if you make $120K, you save $1K/mo in taxes)
* all the time spent commuting (90 mins each way = 3hr/day)
* all the time spent doing groceries, drycleaner, etc.

So even as a regular US citizen, it looks pretty nice: work the same hours/week, but save 3+ hours each workday to do whatever you want. And stress drops tremendously.

The drawback is that it’s a move (like any other), but people in Bay Area move to cut their commutes, so they’re used to it.