Free Cities Podcast

Timothy Allen talks with Niko Laamanen. This week it's another dispatch from my recent visit to BTC Prague. My guest is Niko Laamanen, a Finnish gentleman who left an unfulfilling life as a construction engineer to start a publishing house specialising in the dissemination of content promoting ideas of freedom and liberty in all its myriad forms, or in Niko’s own words, “Stuff you don’t really learn at school but maybe you should.” Konsensus Network, as it is called, is a project that was born out of the emerging Bitcoin movement and has grown and evolved in a way characterised by the traits of what is known as a 'starfish organization', which is essentially, a leaderless, open-source network of collaborators… more on that, of course, from Niko in our conversation along with discussions about digital nomadism, ‘escaping the matrix,’ the importance of books and content curation, as well as Niko’s views on the progress of worldwide Bitcoin adoption and why he chose to move to the Portuguese island of Madeira, which has become somewhat of a Bitcoiner hotspot in recent times. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 ⁠⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠⁠ TIMESTAMPS 0:30 - Introduction to today's episode. 3:24 - How did you become a bitcoin publisher? 6:12 - Selling all of your possessions. 11:27 - The turning point of the journey. 16:54 - Running a book publishing company. 22:40 - The power of reading books. 27:11 - How a leaderless organisation can work. 33:05 - Emergence of management at a starfish organisation. 39:22 - What is praxeology? 42:15 - What was your uneasiness when you decided to create a starfish organisation? 48:32 - Favourite books of all time. 54:43 - Why did you decide to move to Madeira? 1:00:39 - How to get a residence permit. 1:06:27 - How is bitcoin adoption going? 1:11:39 - The importance of not making bitcoin mandatory. 1:15:00 - Madeira’s human capital TWITTER: Niko Laamanen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/OmniFinn Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Konsensus Network: https://konsensus.network/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Casey Given. Casey is the president and executive director of ‘Young Voices’ which is a non profit agency that aims to cultivate the next generation of libertarian thought leaders in policy, journalism, and academia, or as Casey himself describes it, "A talent agency for heterodox thinkers". Casey has an interesting connection with the Free Cities movement through his undergrad student days and UC Berkley where he hosted a number of prominent seasteaders at the university's libertarian club which he founded. In this conversation we discuss Young Voices’s strategy for creating change in the media, both the legacy version and the new media landscape of soundbites and social influencers. I’m also lucky enough to get some excellent advice from Casey on the best way to get the Free Cities narrative out there in the mainstream. All in all this is a grreat conversation if, like me, you are sincerely interested in having a direct impact on hearts and minds. Many thanks to Casey for being so candid and accommodating with his time. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 ⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠ TIMESTAMPS (0:30) Introduction to Casey Given. (3:09) What does Young Voices do? (12:16) Is A.I. nullifying writing? (20:51) What is your personal background? (21:55) What what are the ideals that you're most interested in finding in your talent? (27:30) Online communities forming in real life. (33:31) The current state of the libertarian movement. (38:57) The difference between liberalism and libertarianism. (44:36) Rising ideology against freedom and culture. (49:55) Navigating the chaos of the internet. (56:27) How to get a job without any experience? (1:02:24) What’s your advice for spreading the Free Cities message? (1:09:43) Radical decentralisation. (1:12:04) What is your connection to Seasteading? TWITTER: Young Voices: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/YoungVoicesOrg Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Young Voices: https://www.young-voices.com/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Rahim Taghizadegan. Today on the pod I have for you a very interesting conversation I had at BTC Prague with the Free Cities Foundation’s chief economist Rahim Taghizadegan. Rahim is an Austrian economist who is actually from Austria, which was a first for me, but he is also a physicist (specialization in nuclear physics and complex systems), philosopher, investor and entrepreneur who has written more than a dozen books. In this conversation we begin by investigating the historical significance of citadels and in particular their modern day incarnation as the Bitcoin citadel meme. From here we take a tour through many topics such as government inefficiencies, military technology, geopolitics, CBDCs and the collapse of the fiat system. All in all, I think that the whole discussion could be summed up quite nicely with Rahim’s statement ‘How not to live in a dystopian world'. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS (0:30) Introduction to this episode. (3:23) The meme of the bitcoin citadel. (10:09) The difference between a citadel and a city state. (17:24) The origin of the bitcoin citadel meme. (25:30) Is the Bitcoin citadel meme a progression from historical citadels. (29:29) How would a decentralized city order arise within mega states? (31:38) What does the geopolitical landscape look like in 2023? (39:00) What is your prediction of the future of Europe. (41:29) How will the state fail. (46:11) What is the biggest threat to the state? (50:31) Why is there never enough public money available from the state? (1:01:04) UBI is a stupid idea. (1:04:45) Examples of government projects that have not worked. (1:07:16) CBDCs will never work. (1:16:42) The future of politics and politics becoming irrelevant. (1:21:09) Governments mining bitcoin and buying gold. (1:27:07) Cinese hash rate and banning bitcoin. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 ⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠ TWITTER: Rahim Taghizadegan: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/scholarium_at Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Bitcoin Citadel Origin Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1lfobc/i_am_a_timetraveler_from_the_future_here_to_beg/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Raphaël Lima. Today we have a conversation with one of our FCF esteemed ambassadors by the name of Raphael Lima. Raphael is what I would call a Libertarian Influencer. In his home country of Brazil, his daily youtube show “Ideias Radicais” has over 650k subscribers. He is also the founder of both the Free Market Institute in Brazil and settee.io which is a company that in their own words 'helps our customers to live and do business without borders’… in other words they help people move around the globe to jurisdictions that treat them better. In our discussion we touch upon all aspects of Raphaël’s work in promoting the ideas of Libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism and Free Cities. From the importance of getting your ideas out there at a grass roots level by telling relatable stories to the common person, to having a robust plan to bring ideas of liberty in to the political mainstream in Brazil, a country which, I have heard from a number of people recently, currently houses the biggest Libertarian movement in the world. This is one for the digital nomads amongst you as well since I get to dive into Raphaël's list of top places to relocate to in 2023. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 ⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠ TWITTER: Raphaël Lima: ⁠https://twitter.com/Ideias_Radicais Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Ideias Radicais: https://www.youtube.com/@ideiasradicais Settee: https://www.settee.io/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Andreas Hellmann. Today we’re back in Lisbon for a brief conversation I had with Andreas Hellman who I managed to intercept just before he went on stage at LibertyCon. Andreas is the director of outreach, tax and regulatory policy at Tholos Foundation which is the international arm of Americans for Tax Reform. As a passionate advocate for the free market Andreas speaks critically of the workings of big government and its tax policies. We discuss questions such as: Where do government policies do most harm? Why do governments keep getting larger? What would be the optimum size for a government? Andreas also reveals the implications to Free City models of large intergovernmental 'tax harmonisation', a term straight out of the playbook of Orwell’s ministry of truth in my opinion. I finish the discussion by posing the question “How much should we pay for governance? All important issues if you’re into the idea of keeping governments competitive. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 ⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠ TWITTER: Andreas Hellmann: ⁠https://twitter.com/ahellmanndc Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Tholos Foundation: https://tholosfoundation.org/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Titus Gebel. I’m back this week with Titus Gebel for another conversation and the subject of our discussion this time is Medieval City-States. Titus is of course very knowledgable about governance models from this time in history and we spend our time exploring the rise and fall of free imperial city models and what it might have been like to live within such a system as well as discussing what, if any, lessons we may be able to learn from these historical Free Cities in oder to apply them to their modern day incarnations. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE Prague, 14-15 October, 2023 https://libertyinourlifetime.org/ TIMESTAMPS: 00:30 - Intro and welcome. 03:38 - Life in a medieval city-state. 09:30 - How did the empire benefit from the city-state? 15:02 - The role of merchants in city-states. 22:53 - What were markets like in the Middle Ages? 25:35 - Innovation and business in the middle ages. 30:47 - Rules of the city. 36:22 - Private property rights in city-states. 42:36 - The decline of the medieval city-states. 49:24 - What we can learn from the city of Venice? 57:15 - What can we learn about the optimum size of a Free City? TWITTER: Titus Gebel: ⁠https://twitter.com/titusgebel⁠ Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Tipolis: ⁠https://tipolis.com/⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Pierre Corbin. Pierre is a film director and co-founder of the world's first Bitcoin film festival. This conversation with Pierre is a deep dive into his latest film 'The Great Reset and the Rise of Bitcoin' which reflects his ideas and observations of the current macro economic situation that we all find ourselves in. Some of the many subjects touched upon in this episode include: The gold standard, Venetian war bonds, Ming Dynasty hyperinflation, debt cycles, social networks, Chat GPT, ESG, CBDCs, AI, UBI, the IMF …. Apparently, if you love acronyms… you’re gonna love this episode. So stay tuned. Enjoy the conversation TIMESTAMPS: 00:30 - Introduction of episode 02:50 - ‘Triangle of Sadness’ and ‘Babylon’ 07:50 - Does art change people’s minds? 12:30 - What is the gold standard? 19:40 - China’s experiments with paper money 27:46 - Debt cycles 33:30 - The problem with kicking the can down the road 38:57 - The tulip bubble and inflation 44:21 - Inflation and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) 50:04 - CBDCs are a central planner’s wet dream 53:32 - The main problems with central bank digital currencies 1:00:55 - Universal Basic Income 1:05:16 - How many jobs will be lost by AI? 1:11:16 - The difference between fiat culture and hard money culture 1:17:55 - CBDC timeline 1:21:37 - Stablecoins vs. Bitcoin 1:32:01 - Facebook’s Libra project 1:36:10 - Nuclear energy and climate change 1:40:41 - Nuclear Power in France and Germany 1:45:06 - Selling excess energy to the grid 1:51:55 - Green energy for small communities in Africa. 1:54:46 - Sabbatical and new film project TWITTER: Pierre Corbin: https://twitter.com/CierrePorbin Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Pierre Corbin: https://www.pierrecorbin.com/ Bitcoin Film Festival: http://bitcoinfilmfest.com Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Titus Gebel. It's another of my discussions from Montenegro again this week and this time it’s part one of two conversations I had with none other than the founder and president of the Free Cities Foundation himself, Titus Gebel. Now, since most of you will know who Titus is I will keep this intro brief. Obviously he has done many interviews before so I tried my best to keep this conversation away from the usual Free Private Cities talking points and delve a little deeper into the history of different city state models and their modern day incarnations. I also got to probe a little into Titus’s own history and motivations as well as some of his predictions for the future of the idea that government should be a service. We recorded together on two separate occasions and part 2 of this conversation will be a deep dive into medieval city states which is a discussion I’ve been pining to have for many months now, so look out for that one over the next few weeks. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS: [0:29] Introduction to the episode. [2:23] Are there any novel questions about Free Cities? [8:22] Working examples of Free Cities. [12:28] Dealing with dispute resolution. [17:52] Negotiating with governments. [23:30] How has Monaco remained independent? [28:21] Protecting Free Cities with law. [35:27] Medieval City States. [39:33] We don't want one family to rule. [46:44] The cyclical nature of top-down governance. [59:15] Describing Free City models for different demographics. [55:53] What is the Hanseatic League? [58:26] Does a Free City have to be a city? [1:01:40] What is your motivation? [1:11:54] Founding Free Cities on ideological commonality. [1:16:59] New frontiers. [1:21:44] The fall of the Roman Empire. [1:25:53] Why do empires fail? [1:32:20] The dark ages of the Roman Empire. [1:40:47] Brexit and the future of Free Cities. [1:46:55] We are watching society fall apart. What can we do? TWITTER: Titus Gebel: https://twitter.com/titusgebel Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Tipolis: https://tipolis.com/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with David Friedman. Today's guest needs no introduction… He is an esteemed economist, legal scholar and libertarian thinker who has for many, redefined their understanding of individual liberty and the dynamics of human society. But did you know he was also a connoisseur of medieval cooking? Well, you’re about to find our as I sit down for an hour with David Friedman. As you would expect our conversation makes many twists and turns and we cover a fair bit of ground. From the intricacies of Romani legal codes and the judicial system in 10th century Iceland to the conversational faux pas one might encounter in a 21st century Bardic circle and even, 'What are the most feasible governance models that could be employed on an asteroid colony?'. Plus, as you will hear, David is quite candid when it comes to expressing his concerns with the Free Cities model. This podcast was recorded in a room full of people, so listen out for cameos by David’s daughter Rebecca and FCF’s Peter Young. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS [0:30] Introduction. [5:02] Medieval reenactment. [7:10] My persona is a North African Berber from about 1100. [12:46] What’s a classic 10th century recipe? [16:43] Mediaeval cookbooks and rules. [21:42] The Amish and the Romani. [28:20] How do you come to a consensus on tribal law? [33:00] Obvious problems with the Free Cities model. [39:52] Free Cities need mobility. [46:03] What are your reservations with seasteading? [50:12] There are no frontiers left on the earth. [52.03] Asteroid colonies TWITTER: Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: David Friedman: http://daviddfriedman.com/ David Friedman Substack: https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Andreas Baumgartner. We’re back in Montenegro again this week with a conversation I recorded at the so-called pop up city of Zuzalu. I’m talking with a gentleman who has very deep ties to the Free Cities movement, working as he does in the economic development space. His name is Andreas Baumgartner and he has spent the last 25 years working in the political and legal side of the space with the likes of the Metis Institute, Tipolis and Praxis to name but a few. Andreas has a wealth of practical knowledge on the nuts and bolts of actually negotiating with governments during the establishment and running of Special Economic Zones and semi autonomous jurastictions etc which is somewhat of a rare occurrence in my experience due to the emerging nature of the whole Free Cities ecosystem In our conversation he is keen to emphasise the importance of trying to work with host governments and highlights the strategies he has learnt to employ when approaching them as well as commenting on the current limitations faced by the movement with particular regards to the process of incentivising different demographics to move to new jurisdictions. This is a fascinating and informative discussion. The first of many I hope as this movement continues to evolve. Andreas doesn’t just talk the talk, he very much walks the walk as well and I appreciate that about him very much. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction 03:02 Andreas Baumgartner's Background 04:46 Experience with Governments 11:24 Best Approach to Free Cities Projects 12:23 The Feasibility of Taking Action in the European Union 13:11 Examples from an African Government 14:53 Exciting Regions for Exploration 17:38 Exploring Possibilities in Europe 18:10 Optimism for EU Member States 19:44 The Role of the European Union and Member States 20:14 Early Involvement in Projects and Regulatory Narrative 21:17 Integrated Zones: Business and Residential Functions Combined 23:12 Moving Special Economic Zones into Residential Areas 25:42 Strategies for Attracting People to Stay in Special Zones 26:37 The Challenge of Building a City for a Mobile Population 29:47 Personal Experience with Family Considerations in Choosing a New Place 32:05 Balancing Community Development with Location Selection 32:28 Conclusion: A Dual Approach for Successful City Building 33:30 Concessions and Preferences for Moving 34:11 Trade-offs between Attractiveness and Familiarity 35:40 Staying in Comfort Zone vs City Development 36:03 Optimism and Reality 37:53 - Awareness of Mobility Restrictions 38:32 - New Models of Living Together 39:28 - Pioneer Role in Mitigating Carbon Footprint 41:01 - The Importance of Green Technology in Free Cities 42:23 - Online Communities vs Real-Life Communities 43:28 - Importance of Intentional Communities 44:59 - Purists vs Pragmatists 46:25 - Turning Ideas into Reality 46:59 - Importance of Compromise 48:11 - Understanding Sovereign Indian Nations 49:29 - Examples of Future Frontiers 52:42 - Loss of Frontiers in the Digital Age TWITTER: Andreas Baumgartner: ⁠https://twitter.com/fDiIntelligence Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: fDi Intelligence: ⁠https://www.fdiintelligence.com/ …