New at Reason: Brian Doherty on Whether Libertarians Belong At Sea

August 4, 2010

The libertarian movement has always had members who wanted to create as free a life for themselves as they could while living in a statist world, whether through such expedients as black market countereconomics, survivalist escapism, or, in the most recent example of what is sometimes called “libertarian Zionism,” heading for the high seas in artificial floating countries. That’s the goal of the Seasteading Institute, co-founded by Patri Friedman, the grandson of libertarian luminary Milton Friedman.

The weekend before last, Senior Editor Brian Doherty attended what was essentially a second annual festival for the seasteaders. As Doherty reports, it was an attempt by libertarians and other freedom-lovers to gather on the water in an atmosphere of fellowship and fun, and begin working out the theory and practice of unregulated aquatic living.

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