Here's an off-the-wall idea that has some appeal to me ... as a long-time Transtopian fantasist and world traveler.... <\/p>\n
The desert island nation of Nauru needs money badly, and has a population of less than 15,000 <\/p>\n
There are problems with water supply, but they could surely be solved with some technical ingenuity. <\/p>\n
The land area is about 8 square miles. But it could be expanded! Surely it's easier to extend an island with concrete platforms or anchored floating platforms of some other kind, than to seastead in the open ocean. <\/p>\n
The country is a democracy. Currently it may not be possible to immigrate there except as a temporary tourist or business visitor. But I'd bet this could be made negotiable. <\/p>\n
Suppose 15,000 adult transhumanists (along with some kids, one would assume) decided to emigrate to Nauru en masse over a 5-year period, on condition they could obtain full citizenship. Perhaps this could be negotiated with the Nauruan government. <\/p>\n
Then after 5 years we would have a democracy in which transhumanists were the majority. <\/p>\n
Isn't this the easiest way to create a transhumanist nation? With all the amazing future possibilities that that implies? <\/p>\n
This would genuinely be of benefit to the residents of Nauru, which now has 90% unemployment. Unemployment would be reduced close to zero, and the economy would be tremendously enlarged. A win-win situation. Transhumanists would get freedom, and Nauruans would get a first-world economy. <\/p>\n
Considerable infrastructure would need to be built. A deal would need to be struck with the government, in which, roughly, <\/p>\n
To ensure employment of the relocated transhumanists, we would need to get a number of companies to agree to open Nauru offices. But this would likely be tractable, given the preference of firms to have offices in major tech centers. Living expenses in Nauru would be much lower than in, say, Silicon Valley, so expenses would be lower. <\/p>\n
Tourism could become a major income stream, given the high density of interesting people which would make Nauru into a cultural mecca. Currently there is only one small beach on Nauru (which is said to be somewhat dirty), but creation of a beautiful artificial beach on the real ocean is not a huge technological feat. <\/p>\n
It would also be a great place to experiment with aquaculture and vertical farming. <\/p>\n
What say you? Let's do it! <\/p>\n
P.S. <\/p>\n
Other candidates for the tropical island Transtopia besides Nauru would be Tuvalu and Kiribati; but Kiribati's population is much larger, and Tuvalu is spread among many islands, and is also about to become underwater due to global warming. So Nauru would seem the number one option. Though, Tuvalu could be an interesting possibility also, especially if we offered to keep the island above water by building concrete platforms or some such (a big undertaking, but much easier than seasteading). This would obviously be a major selling point to the government. <\/p>\n
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Continued here: <\/p>\n
Let's Turn Nauru Into Transtopia - blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here's an off-the-wall idea that has some appeal to me ... Continue reading