Promoters of Seasteading Meet in San Francisco

They're called "Seasteaders," a 21st Century twist on the 19th Century Homestead concept. Their ambition is to build freestanding political entities in the Pacific Ocean off the San Francisco coastline. Among the enthusiasts are ex-Pay Pay zillionaire Peter Thiel, and Patri Friedman, nephew of free-market theorist Milton Friedman.

"Seasteaders" are currently meeting in San Francisco to discuss and celebrate their ideas for creating these artificial island oases. The San Jose Mercury News has covered the story, noting some of the Silicon Valley wizards and financiers involved in the event.

What's so striking about the participants' goals and ambitions is their reasoning for embarking on such a project. Their stated (pardon the pun) common denominator is a concept of freedom hatched in libertarian philosophy. The world, in their view, has become a hopelessly restrictive arena. Their proposed, man-made islands would presumably create the libertarian paradise these partisans to the cause so devoutly desire.

There's something profoundly sad about this phenomemon. These disaffected libertarians often possess considerable wealth. They're largely free to do whatever they want. Yet, the messy, demanding world continues, in their view, to be inconvenient, even obstreperous. The inability of these libertarians to reconcile themselves to those that do not share their political and philosophical perspective creates a sense of melancholy, combined with a craving for release from the coarse, gross everyday world. The subsequent desire to a more "pure" environment leads to schemes for the realization of utopian ideals.

The Swimming City
an example of a seastead

History shows this drive for a utopian state tends to breed intolerant regimes. The development of philosophically "pure," isolationist-style political entities is also entirely in the American vein (the Puritans and the Mormons come to mind). Ironically, the desire to live on artificially created Pacific islands hugging the California coastline continues the westward movement of restless American expansion partly generated by this lust for political freedom.

The Seasiders, over time, might make a different, unwanted contribution to the American story. It's entirely possible the "Big One" Californians have dreaded may shake San Francisco right into the Pacific. Then the island Seasteaders can reinvent the Atlantis myth for their island-born grandchildren.