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Seasteading

7 min read

Part of Federalism and exit.

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Every episode (5)

Who argued it

Joe Quirk ×3 · Patri Friedman ×2 · Tom W. Bell · Michael Strong · Charlie Deist

Competitive Governance · Special Economic Zones · Charter Cities · Foot Voting · Entrepreneurship · Economic Freedom · Libertarianism

Background

Definition and rationale

Seasteading is the building of dwellings offshore in the ocean, outside the territorial limits of any country, so that residents can form their own micro-nations. Bob Zadek introduced the topic as forming your own country offshore and described the Seasteading Institute as promoting the building of mini-countries offshore Seasteading (2009). Patri Friedman, a co-founder of the institute, defined seasteading as homesteading the high seas: where pioneers once headed west to homestead open land, every bit of land has now been claimed by some government, so the oceans are to be opened as the next frontier for human advancement Seasteading (2009).

Friedman framed the case in terms of experimentation rather than a single preferred system. He said his personal political passion was for free markets and free countries, but that the idea would work even if libertarianism turned out to be wrong, because trying out many political systems would show what works instead of arguing about it from political bias Seasteading (2009). He compared the current arrangement to an industry of government with only a few large firms — the existing countries — that are too big to innovate, and said seasteading would allow many small, experimental countries, like government startups Seasteading (2009). Zadek summarized the concept as a sea-based Silicon Valley incubator for new countries, and Friedman agreed, likening it to an industry in which customers can easily switch from one provider to another Seasteading (2009).

Citizenship and taxation

Zadek asked whether seasteading presupposes that participants surrender their United States citizenship. Friedman answered that the institute’s answers differ by time scale. In the short term, people would keep their existing citizenships; he noted that those who live and work outside the United States get the first $90,000 in income tax-free, after which they owe taxes to the United States Seasteading (2009). In the medium term, he anticipated that people, especially wealthier ones, would obtain citizenships from countries offering economic citizenship — paying a fee or making an investment in exchange for citizenship — and he observed that fewer such programs exist than before 9/11 Seasteading (2009). In the very long term, roughly 40 to 50 years out, he said seasteads would be large enough to issue their own passports, have them recognized by other countries, and let people give up their citizenships Seasteading (2009).

Friedman also described a change in United States tax law: it had once allowed the IRS to keep taxing people for ten years after they gave up citizenship, but this had been replaced by a one-time exit tax treating a person as if they had sold all their assets, which he said strangely made sense for United States tax policy Seasteading (2009).

Governance as a market

In a later episode, Joe Quirk, president of the Seasteading Institute and co-author with Friedman of the book Seasteading, placed the project in a historical sequence. He cited ancient Greece and its island city-states, Venice, the Hanseatic League, and the American frontier as instances of a mechanism in which the liberty to choose among different governance entities drives improvements in government Michael Strong on Creating a World in Which All Humanity Flourishes (2017). He noted that more than 4,000 special economic zones exist worldwide, that they vastly outnumber city-states, and that 45% of the world’s surface is unclaimed by any existing nation-state, leaving room to experiment with new governance models Michael Strong on Creating a World in Which All Humanity Flourishes (2017). Quirk said he is co-founder of Blue Frontiers, which planned to start on a small scale in French Polynesia, establishing small floating islands with significant regulatory and administrative autonomy Michael Strong on Creating a World in Which All Humanity Flourishes (2017).

On the 2020 episode, Quirk repeated the homesteading formulation and said almost half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any nation-state, describing the blue frontier as still uncolonized and as a destination that would be reached long before space Vote to Float (2020). He said the first seastead had already been built off the coast of Thailand, with more to be sold in Panama through the company Ocean Builders, and that startup societies would follow along the equator on the high seas Vote to Float (2020). Zadek characterized the project as do-it-yourself political environment creation, in which political environments compete for residents and people can pick among many alternatives, much as they move among states Vote to Float (2020).

Construction and concrete projects

Quirk described Ocean Builders as having set up the largest 3D printer in Latin America in Panama and as selling a single-family seastead called the SeaPod, modeled after the iPod, at a price cheaper than the average American home Vote to Float (2020). He explained the structure by analogy to a wine bottle floating with four-fifths below the water, with a house on top, able to withstand waves as high as five meters, and with underwater rooms looking out on fish Vote to Float (2020). He said every unit built increases the amount of life on the ocean because solid floating structures attract life and coral, making the approach environmentally restorative rather than merely sustainable Vote to Float (2020).

Quirk said he and Tom W. Bell met with government ministries in Panama and presented the project at the presidency, though the president was not there, and that Ocean Builders was trying to arrange a special maritime zone for a seasteading community, including plans to buy a cruise ship and a cargo ship to float in that zone Vote to Float (2020). He described a hoped-for next step beyond the special economic zone — a more free-floating zone — and, as technology improved, movement onto the high seas with a seasteading flag and flagging registry, for which the institute was negotiating with registries Vote to Float (2020). Asked who would be drawn to the life, he answered: pioneers, digital nomads, cryptocurrency professionals, and people who want to be part of something new, comparing the SeaPod to the covered wagon of the blue frontier Vote to Float (2020).

Across episodes: from vision to projects

The topic appears in three episodes spanning roughly a decade, and the treatment shifts from definition and philosophy toward implementation. In 2009, Friedman explained what seasteading is, why exit beats voice, and how citizenship and taxation might work at short, medium, and long time scales Seasteading (2009). In 2017, Quirk situated the idea in a history of competitive governance and named Blue Frontiers and French Polynesia as a small-scale start Michael Strong on Creating a World in Which All Humanity Flourishes (2017). By 2020, Quirk and Bell discussed special economic zones, a first seastead off Thailand, Ocean Builders’ SeaPods in Panama, and negotiations over a maritime zone and a flagging registry Vote to Float (2020). The constant across the episodes is the mechanism of choosing among jurisdictions; what changes is the concreteness of the examples.

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