you've heard of seastead but what about ice steading?

[Anon136]

This just came to me and i thought i should get it out there. Sure it would be cold as balls but it would be so much cheaper than trying to buy or build some sort of massive ship. The cold could be dealt with by just making really warm structures as well as heated tunnels connecting peoples steads to hubs, could get pricy but again still cheaper than a cruise ship. Since your stead would technically be in international waters you would be totally legitimately sovereign in terms of international law.

perhaps it would be easier than you might at first thing to connect structures to each other in such an extreme ice environment because tunneling through ice is a lot easier than tunneling through rock.

of course everything would be expensive but with individual sovereignty the society would be so much more productive it could potentially more than compensate. Also most members of this society would be forced to attempt to earn a living somehow over the internet. It would create an interesting environment, perhaps 99% of the population is a super hard core computer nerd or cutting edge entrepreneur?

[mintymark]

The US Dept defence tried something like this. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Iceworm

It didnt work, as far as I can see because the ice moves and cuts the tunnels. Interesting though. That link should enable you to find other online references to this.

[Anon136]

The US Dept defence tried something like this. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Iceworm

It didnt work, as far as I can see because the ice moves and cuts the tunnels. Interesting though. That link should enable you to find other online references to this.

doesnt take too much times thought to come up with another idea other than tunneling in the ice. What about inflatable tubes made out of flexible but highly strong material that you flood with warm air right before you use it (you know instead of keeping it warm all the time which would get expensive).

Basically what im getting at is that government is not very creative and a bunch of determined and moderately wealthy sovereigns would be a different matter entirely.

[Monster Tent]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Byrd_Land

Its possible...might need to build a geodome though.

I wonder if you could claim it for "the internet" and bitcoin would become its national currency ?

[Anon136]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Byrd_Land

Its possible...might need to build a geodome though.

I wonder if you could claim it for "the internet" and bitcoin would become its national currency ?

im thinking such a thing would only become a reality after/if bitcoins make libertarians some of the wealthiest people on the planet. So thats a long winded way of saying yes, yes it would.

[ShireSilver]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pycrete
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habbakuk

[Anon136]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pycrete
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habbakuk

super cool, thanks for those contributions!

[grantbdev]

Maybe we won't have to worry about that pesky ice in a few decades 

[caveden]

If you're willing to go as far as that, why not homesteading Antarctica?

I'm not convinced the per capita costs of living on such hostile places is really higher than the cost of building sea platforms. Not to mention that bootstrapping would be much more complicated, as you really need to isolate yourself. Bootstrapping a seastead in places like the Mediterranean or the Caribbean would probably be much easier.

I would never be among the pioneers of an "icestead", and I'm a libertarian and a great fan of the concept of seastead. But well, I already have a hard time understanding how can so many people handle life in places like Canada, Russia or Scandinavia... I'm definitely not made for these frozen places.

[MoneyIsDebt]

Cheaper and warmer to buy a small African nation...