South African movie director Neill Blomkamp, the creator of District 9, has finished a new sci-fi movie, Elysium, where the richest people live on an exclusive space station, while the rest live on an overpopulated and impoverished Earth. Judging by the trailers and what I've read about the story it seems to be a great movie. I find it refreshing to see an original sci-fi movie, which actually provokes discussion about important issues.
The idea, which sounds extreme, could become reality in the future.
The rich always look for nice places to live where they don't have to pay any taxes. If space is such a place then that's where they'll go.
One of the people who would welcome such an idea is Peter Thiel, billionaire and co-founder of PayPal and Facebook. He now wants to create a new libertarian state out in the ocean by using huge platforms as building blocks.
When he created PayPal he wanted to create a new currency, free from any state. Now that didn't work but he did create a good company. He seems to be an idealist but with a sense of knowing how to do business. If this idea of creating a free country in the ocean should become reality it'll probably fail at becoming the libertarian utopia Peter Thiel dreams about but it could very well become a good business, just like PayPal.
On the other hand if Peter Thiel really does create a truly free state with low taxes and minimal government would such a state be successful? Wouldn't it eventually just turn into an over socialized state with rampant deficits just like any other state? Or would it become a thriving society and set a new standard for nations to aspire to? Or perhaps it would become a new tax haven for the rich?
My guess is the state would eventually fail. There are plenty of other tax-havens to choose from and creating a utopia of any kind has never really succeeded. States always grow, in the sense that the bureaucracy grows. Politicians tend to promise more and more to the people and social programs become larger while no one really thinks about the long term economic consequences.
It's good to have dreams but when realizing those dreams it's best to have a clear and concrete goal. Otherwise the end result will probably become something different than what was intended. Especially when we're talking about an ambitious idea like creating a libertarian utopia.
I'd love to see Neill Blomkamp and Peter Thiel in a discussion debating over the responsibilities of the 1% and how to create a viable society. These are questions that are as important as ever and to which we have to find answers.