Who woulda thunk it? There really is a Galt's Gulch, and the libertarians who bought into it are tearing each other apart:
Many have wondered about the status of Galt's Gulch Chile (GGC), the libertarian community that was planned and sold in lots as a liberty oasis for those who wished to live freedom before they died. My husband and I purchased an option on 1.25 acres in July 2013. Others bought 10- or 25-acre lots and some invested in the agricultural side of the venture; extremely savvy investors committed small fortunes....
Shortly after purchasing, I received an unsigned email through the webform of a site I maintain. It informed me that GGC was a fraud. One reason: GGC lacked water rights. In Chile, purchasing surface land and water rights are two separate processes. GGC is desert terrain, rather like California, and water rights are absolutely necessary for a community to be established.
It turned out the email came from a disgruntled former employee of the Galt's Gulch development, who'd tried to get "hush money" from the developers to not tell investors about the water rights situation.
A GGC celebration was held in November 2013. The alleged purpose was for people to finalize the selection of lots and other paperwork. No selection took place because no zoning permits had been obtained. A GGC celebration was held this April, with my husband and me in attendance. Indeed, I was the opening speaker. ....The alleged purpose was for people to finalize the selection of lots and other paperwork. No selection took place because no zoning permits had been obtained.
It turns out there won't be any zoning for any lots smaller than 10 acres.
I had the opportunity to ask a question of the salesman who showed my husband and me "our property." I claimed it because I fell head over heels for the most beautiful tree I've ever seen. I felt an instant connection as though the two of us were old souls who had found each other. I could believe it, I could see it... waking up each morning and having coffee under that tree, telling it about my plans for the day. Months later, in a Skype conference, I asked the then-GGC-alienated salesman, "When you 'sold' us the property, when you printed out a photo from your phone that read 'Wendy's tree,' did you know you could not legally sell us the lot you were offering?" He said, "That is correct."....
GGC owes immense debts to vendors in the closest town of Curacavi.....hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to hardware stores, service providers... ordinary Chileans who are acutely harmed by the project's malfeasance.
Lawsuits are apparently in the works. But even if they succeed, the defrauded purchasers may not get much out of them. As a commenter to the blog post points out, the developer who is now the sole owner of the project has transferred all his funds into a maze of bitcoin transactions; since Chile doesn't regard bitcoin as a currency, and doesn't recognize contracts paid by bitcoin, it looks like all those libertarian investors are going to enjoy their freedumb of the marketplace with neither their hard-earned funds nor their cozy little homesteads in Galt's Gulch.
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