Pirate Wires Our Government Is Broken: Charter Cities & Fixing Infrastructure w/ Kelsey Piper & Patri Friedman
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May 30, 2025 
Kelsey Piper, a senior writer for Vox focused on improving government, joins Patri Friedman, GP of Pronomous Capital and co-founder of Seasteading, to explore groundbreaking ideas for reforming governance. They discuss the evolution of charter cities and seasteading, and how these concepts might offer solutions to bureaucratic stagnation. The duo also examines the historical attempts at creating autonomous zones, reflecting on political reform and the potential challenges in a rapidly changing world. Their insights spark a thought-provoking conversation about freedom and governance.
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Governance as Technology
- Governance is a technology that can be improved through experimentation and iterations.
- Peace, wealth, and stability have led to government stagnation, reducing innovation in governance.
Wealth Enables Bad Governance
- Wealthy, stable regions tolerate poor governance more than less stable ones.
- Having more at stake enforces better governance due to immediate consequences.
Seasteading Harsh Consequences
- Chad and Nadia faced treason charges in Thailand for building a seastead, sparking a daring escape to Singapore.
- This illustrates the real-life dangers of challenging established state control with seasteading.