Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Seasteading Institute Building Island Lairs For Aspiring Supervillains



While being an entity for less than a year, The Seasteading Institute has caused waves recently (ba dum dum) by advocating construction of a fully self sufficient island platform that could be permanently occupied (pending resupply and/or successful food production one must assume) by a supervillain and his entourage.

From dvice: "This 160,000 square foot deck, held together by super-strong carbon-fiber cables, was created by offshore oil rig designer Marine Innovation & Technology. It's supported by floating, stabilizing pillars to minimize the effects of huge ocean waves, powered by an auxiliary diesel generator that can move it along at 2 knots, and includes a desalinization plant for all your water needs."

In addition to being a swank getaway in international waters or platform from which to launch your tsunami-generating fusion-powered pulse weapon, the Seasteaders insist that with a large number of these leviathans roaming the oceans, the social fabric of our society will become more aligned with 21st century values in that citizens of the world will be able to move about freely and choose to align themselves with 'niche governments' which more adequately address their interests. Mmmkay.

Anyway, this particular platform will retail for about $50 million, which is a pretty reasonable price to pay for what amounts to a small independent island nation. I would name my platform Carl, a nation perpetually warring with its arch-nemesis, Chad. Breeding a little zealotry into the people of Carl will get them motivated and increase production while the threat of reprisals from Chad is negligible given the fact that it is landlocked in the middle of the Sahara. It's a win/win for me as the High Priest of Carl, so who has $50 mil for me? You can have the big bedroom.