Free Cities Podcast

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/ …

Timothy Allen talks with Thomas Walker-Werth. Today’s show was one of my favourite interviews from our recent trip to LibertyCon in Lisbon. Thomas is an associate editor at The Objective Standard, and as a former town planner in the UK he has much to say about the designing and organising of Free Cities. In this conversation, we take a deep dive into the reality of what its actually like planning towns as well as making some predictions about the prospect of designing places to live in outer space, particularly mars. Thomas has uniquely informed opinions on the morality and practice of governance in these future frontiers which, prior to our conversation was not something I had ever thought about before. Other topics covered include: New urbanism, 15 minute cities, post modernism, flying cars, environmentalism, collectivism and we discuss the role that Elon Musk might play in the future of alternative governance models. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS (0:10) Introduction to the show. (2:42) What was your career direction after high school? (7:42) High street zoning laws. (12:05) The problem with the 15 minute cities concept. (15:59) Centrally planned cities. (20:51) Why postmodernism is a rejection of the enlightenment (24:51) Does the postmodern idea have any validity? (29:50) How to plan your own development. (34:00) The problem with the American model of retail. (37:44) Are we going through a period of technological optimism? (41:57) Avoiding the sound of road traffic. (46:01) Where does moral value come from? (51:43) What did you think of Dubai? (57:50) Planning in outer space. (59:52) 101 on how space will be colonised. (1:04:22) Colonising Mars. (1:11:44) Space colonisation and governance. (1:14:30) The difference between authoritarianism and legitimate law enforcement. (1:16:50) The difference between earth frontier colonisation and space colonisation. (1:23:23) Creatives are always complicated personalities. (1:28:06) How many people will die in a space race? (1:31:24) Environmentalism is a rejection of humanity. (1:38:05) Decentralisation vs. centralisation. (1:40:52) City states and borders. (1:44:07) What kind of governance models do you favour? (1:50:02) Is America the best country on earth. (1:52:44) Will we ever see a culture of freedom on earth again? (1:55:37) Setting up a new state. TWITTER: Thomas Walker-Werth: ⁠https://twitter.com/knutsvanholm⁠ Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Thomas Walker-Werth: ⁠http://walker-werth.com/ Innovation Celebration Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0lZputc8jW5xxJkDlUGqBZ The Objective Standard: https://theobjectivestandard.com/author/thomas-walker/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Knut Svanholm. Knut is a former sea captain turned Bitcoin author/philosopher. He’s written a number of well known Bitcoin books including 'Sovereignty & Independence', 'Everything Divided by 21 Million' and his latest work: 'Praxeology: The invisible hand that feeds you'. This is a pretty long and meandering conversation and there is a fair amount of thinking out loud going on… so do bear with us. Subjects covered include, Bitcoin, Praxeology, human action, governance models, life on the sea, monetary history, central planning, education, universal basic income, central bank digital currencies, military history, religion, spirituality and we get to answer the eternal question "Is bitcoin is a cult?" Enjoy the conversation TIMESTAMPS 03:36 - What is bitcoin? 10:49 - You are your Bitcoin. Can you be your gold? 16:06 - Bitcoin is like the rules of chess. 22:04 - Bitcoin as a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. 28:38 - What is praxeology and how does it work? 32:13 - Man must act on his free will. 39:02 - How do you measure people’s desires? 45:27 - Praxeology as a robust science. 49:16 - What is praxeology and why is it important? 56:42 - Why did you decide to become a sea captain? 1:03:21 - How do you feel about seasteading? 1:08:43 - Sailing is a meditative experience. 1:14:41 - Pondering the future. 1:22:10 - What does praxeology teach us about human behaviour? 1:26:05 - Philosophical thoughts on sailing. 1:32:01 - Governments vs. Private places that govern themselves. 1:35:49 - There is only one human right. 1:42:53 - The internet is an excellent tool for meeting the people you want to meet in real life. 1:48:20 - All human problems stem from the desire for a free lunch. 1:54:16 - Ceremonial Burial and the afterlife. 2:03:24 - Decentralisation vs. decentralisation. 2:09:36 - Is central planning ever necessary? 2:15:59 - Collectivist vs. individualist. 2:28:53 - How the free market works. 2:36:23 - Intellectual armour vs. physical weapons. 2:40:10 - The next form of competition. 2:47:15 - Why bitcoin is an important strategy in competition? 2:52:38 - How would a government demand everyone hand in their bitcoin? 2:59:46 - The problem with the base layer. 3:05:46 - Zero marginal cost in a deflationary world. 3:11:41 - The destructive power of taxes and inflation. 3:17:18 - The base layer of trust. 3:20:51 - Fees and Bitcoin. 3:27:02 - The difference between bitcoin and gold. 3:30:41 - The spiritual realm of Bitcoin. 3:39:10 - Bitcoin & religion. TWITTER: Knut Svanholm: https://twitter.com/knutsvanholm Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Knut Svanholm: https://www.knutsvanholm.com/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Montelibero community member Jose Birkin. This conversation was my first in Montenegro within the Montelibero community. Montelibero is an intentional community of mostly Russian speaking libertarians that appears in our free communities directory. Myself and Peter Young traveled there last month on a fact finding mission to see what kind of progress is being made in their quest to become 'a role model of liberty in practice in Montenegro'. Due to it’s decentralised nature, there are no spokespeople as such who can speak on behalf of the community as a whole but one individual who goes by the name of Jose Birkin (not his real name of course) stepped up to answer my questions about the ins and outs of running a start-up intentional community such as this. A quick word of warning before you dive in. For an hour or so we ended up talking quite intensely about the blockchain tokenomics system that the community uses to transact internally, track ownership of land titles and make community decisions etc, and this part of the conversation may become a little tedious for some of you since I was not of the opinion that one needs to use a blockchain in this situation. As a result I did rather labour the point somewhat in order to get the whole thing straight in my head. Long and short of it is…. whilst I still think that their solution is not necessarily a good long term one, I now understand their reasons why they chose it. Other than that we talk about the history of the community, the pros and cons of building in Montenegro and how the community functions without having any one person in charge. I also get to ask the question “Who will build the roads?” which is always a pleasure, so look out for that one and look out also in the future for more interviews that I conducted whilst I was there with further residents of Montelibero who have either bought land or property there. Montelibero is an exciting experiment and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I would like to offer another big thank you to the community who welcomed us with open arms during our time in the country. Enjoy the conversation. TWITTER: Montelibero (English): ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/theMontelibero Montelibero (Russian): https://twitter.com/MonteliberoFSPE Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Montelibero Telegram Chat: ⁠⁠https://t.me/FSPE_Montenegro Montelibero Website: https://montelibero.org/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Marek Tatała. Marek is the VP of the Economic Freedom Foundation which is a Polish grant giving organisation in a similar vein to Atlas Network. Alongside funding relevant projects they also work on advocacy and political lobbying, believing in any way that bridges can be built to help integrate free market and classical liberal ideals into general society. Our discussion revolves around the work of the foundation and we touch upon many related subjects including the decentralisation of nation states, Polish Political trends, global free market success stories and whether or not membership to the EU is a net benefit or not. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS: 00:10 - Introduction of the episode. 02:17 - What is the political landscape like in Warsaw? 03:51 - What is the role of the Economic Freedom Foundation? 09:50 - Pension reforms in Poland. 15:56 - How do you reach out to people outside the free market bubble? 20:57 - The ruling party in Poland. 26:57 - Is it fair to expect a classical liberal party to win elections? 31:50 - The idea of decentralization. 34:55 - What is the incentive for a state to decentralize? 41:21 - Polarization in society. 47:18 - The difference between classical liberalism and libertarianism. 53:47 - Poland's integration into the EU. 59:47 - Free trade in the EU and trade wars. TWITTER: Marek Tatała: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MarekTatala⁠ Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠ WEBSITES: Economic Freedom Foundation: ⁠⁠https://wolnagospodarka.pl/en/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Federico Fernández. Federico is the CEO of ‘Somos Innovación’ also known as ‘We Are Innovation', which is a network of more than 30 think tanks based in Latin America and Europe dedicated to promoting progress through innovation, the adoption of new technologies and human creativity. Unsurprisingly, the main focus of our discussion is innovation in all of its many incarnations. We examine the eternal struggle between regulation and innovation and dive into some of Federico’s opinions on inventive governance models, in particular Estonia and its innovative E governance system. Enjoy the conversation. TIMESTAMPS: [0:10] Intro to the podcast. [2:50] The USA is still the home of innovation. [7:32] The culture of failure in Silicon Valley. [14:27] Every disruption brings a period of instability. [19:52] Innovation and Regulation. [25:26] Advocacy & research. [28:16] Innovations in governance - Estonia. [35:41] Reducing or eliminating red tape. [41:06] What are the trends in Europe right now? [44:17] Can Free Cities work? [53:09] Indexes of Innovation. [58:44] What's your favorite & most exciting innovation? TWITTER: Federico Fernández: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/gabrielhdm⁠ Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠ WEBSITES: We Are Innovation: ⁠⁠https://weareinnovation.eu/ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠