Originally published at: Mystery land buyer in California turns out to be Silicon Valley investors, to build utopian community | Boing Boing
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Silicon Valley investors?
Has everyone forgotten Paulville?
Perhaps they should name their new utopia Landland, in honor of Sealand.
I was just listening a podcast about this sort of a thing.
TrueAnon Episode 314: Life, Liberty, and Squat Chilean Businessmen
In this spiritual followup to our previous episode on Charter Cities, we get a glimpse at Galt’s Gulch Chile. We investigate how a farming community built on Ayn Rand’s principles fell into a freaky web of lawsuits, arrests, freaks, pencil mustaches, and a shooting at a Chilean protest by an American YouTube economist in a yellow vest.
And of course there’s:
Wealthy tech bros buying up land to start a community run according to their techno-libertarian ideals? I can’t imagine any way that could possibly go right.
Curious what laws will make it into their charter. Presumably lowering age of consent and establishing that blood transfusions for hire are easily obtained at all hospitals.
Stand back stand back! Shambling tin-foil lunatic breaking off from hunting the Loch Ness monster to say: this is all a quasi-Russian scheme to eventually declare secession from the U.S!, and as such is being a bit funded by none other than Putin and the boys! Reference #1 | Reference #2 | Reference #3 (BBC!) | …etc. Of course, i can’t be proven wrong as it’ll never get beyond the “Future Site of Hill Valley Community” billboard [insane snigger]
…what with all the bitcoin, sister states on Mars, and NFT investor opportunities and all
Tabula Ra$a is literally the name of the libertarian community in the Zoey Ashe series.
Burbclaves.
If they are looking for suggestions for naming this incipient Fire Festival nightmare, I’ll suggest Randland.
Meet the HMO.
Obligatory Frank Fontaine quote:
These sad saps. They come to Rapture thinking they’re gonna be captains of industry, but they all forget that somebody’s gotta scrub the toilets. What an angle they gave me… I hand these mugs a cot and a bowl of soup, and they give me their lives.
Also, since we’re reminding everyone of the guaranteed debacles known as “Libertarian ‘communities’” (there’s a paradox for you), here’s another:
Wow what an original idea, i’ve never heard this before.
Indeed! And I’m certain it absolutely couldn’t go horribly wrong.
Most of these “tech bros” turn out to be investment venture capitalists, and tech is just the sexy ingredient in their elixir.
I wonder how many people with good ideas can’t get funding because they aren’t a good fit with the current Silicon Valley ideological necrosis?
Cult communities have a history in California.
Silicon Valley couple who bought abandoned ‘Holy City’ reported to be Scientology’s biggest donors
Back in the 1920s, a man named William Riker bought the land and called it Holy City. Riker considered himself a pastor, preaching ideologies of temperance, celibacy, and racial and gendered segregation, and with the help (and deep pockets) of his followers, built a small town on the property. The settlement included houses, a gas station, a radio station, and for a short time, a zoo.
(The Roaring Twenties were also a big time for cults.)