After making his seed donation to co-found the Institute in 2008, Peter Thiel predicted, “Decades from now, those looking back at the start of the century will understand that Seasteading was an obvious step towards encouraging the development of more efficient, practical public sector models around the world.” But he did not believe he could accomplish this transition alone. Today, on the eve of the Institute’s five-year anniversary, we ask you to help fulfill our vision with a generous tax-deductible donation.
We are entering everyone who donates between now and April 30 into our anniversary raffle, giving community members the chance to win either an autographed copy of “How to Start Your Own Country” by Erwin S. Strauss (priceless) or a brand new ASUS 21.5″ LCD monitor ($175 value).
Five years ago, the Institute set out to illuminate a practical course to overcoming the legal, economic, and technical obstacles of seasteading. What began as an online open-source thought experiment, moderated by Patri Friedman in his spare time, has progressed into a worldwide movement of technology enthusiasts, humanitarian entrepreneurs, and maritime professionals. We are now on the verge of creating seasteading technology capable of revolutionizing the way that rules evolve and governments operate.
The media spotlight on the Institute, a result of our movement building, has put pioneers with actual business plans in touch with one another. Acting in isolation, a potential seasteading entrepreneur has some small chance of success. Empowerment and a much higher chance of success comes from collaboration with a team of enthusiastic seasteaders and expert advisors. This has taken place through events like our 2012 Seasteading Conference, attended by 100 forward thinkers with backgrounds in engineering, ocean law, aquaculture, and high-tech innovation.
Research on the ocean’s legal and physical environment, which would cost millions of dollars or be completely unavailable, is now available freely to all. Our most comprehensive legal paper, The True Obstacle to the Autonomy of Seasteads, by O.Shane Balloun, was recently published in the University of San Francisco Maritime Law Journal. The theoretical foundations of our mission have been promoted to the realm of rigorous academic debate, with publication of Patri Friedman and Brad Taylor’s Seasteading: Competitive Governments on the Ocean, in the leading economics journal Kyklos.
Our 50+ member ambassadors team is engaging ever wider circles from around the globe, speaking at TEDx, hosting large public events, and establishing relationships with prominent figures in fields relevant to seasteading.
We are already nearing the critical mass of talented and experienced individuals who believe that seasteading is not only desirable, but eminently achievable. Even more excitingly, we have the potential to create thousands of new seasteaders next year when Simon & Schuster publishes the long-awaited book, Seasteading: How Ocean Cities will Save the Environment, Feed the World, Cure Diseases, and Launch Millions Out of Poverty, authored by Patri Friedman and Joe Quirk.
With your help, we are breaking through to the Blue Frontier sooner than we imagined was possible. We hope we can count on your donations to ensure that the next five years bring major change, with the Institute positioned at the helm of a powerful movement of innovators and entrepreneurs.
