Trump's weird new 'freedom cities' and the Network State cult
Can't happen? Well, there are two more years of a Trump Administration to go. . .and remember Gaza 'Riviera' planning; Venezuela 'planning,' and Greenland 'planning' - something is up! Get involved, people.
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Why do Trump, Thiel and Andreessen want to build new cities?
Gil Duran 13 Aug 2024
"Freedom Cities." Hmm, where have we hear this idea before? Photo by Morgan Lane / Unsplash
The Point: In another bow to Peter Thiel and the weird Network State tech cult, Donald Trump's campaign platform has a plan to create new charter cities (so-called "Freedom Cities") on federal land. It's a clear indicator of his willingness to sell out the country to his far right Silicon Valley benefactors. In fact, Thiel and Marc Andreessen are funding an entire company - Pronomos Capital - dedicated to building such futuristic tech cities around the world.
The Backstory: " Kamala has nothing like this on her website," declared Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini on Twitter yesterday. His post included text from Trump's campaign website that promises to build "Freedom Cities":
President Trump will work to open up the American Frontier, holding a contest to charter new cities where families and individuals can have a new shot of the American Dream.
Trump Campaign is All-In on the Network State cult
True, Kamala Harris has not proposed the creation of bizarre new cities through some kind of gameshow competition. For one thing, it's not clear why such cities are needed - unless, of course, you are familiar with one of the stranger ideas floating around certain tech circles these days.
The Network State cult, a frequent subject of this newsletter, calls for the creation of private cities ruled by non-democratic tech governments. "Freedom Cities" seems like a slight Republican rebranding of the concept. The adoption of the idea suggests that Trump's team - which announced the plan last year - has been searching for ways to align with Weird Tech for quite some time.
Many news outlets wrote about Trump's plan for new cities in 2023, but I can't find one that mentions the term Network State. It's likely that reporters were totally unaware of the concept back in 2023. But in 2024, the idea deserves a fresh look because the same people behind these proposed Network State cities are putting all of their money behind Trump's campaign.
Network State in a nutshellTo recap: The Network State cult calls for the creation of new tech-controlled sovereign cities that would essentially act as miniature countries. These independent territories can be created in one of two ways. The first is called Voice . This route entails using the political system to take over existing city governments through elections. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan is currently trying the "voice" method in San Francisco, where he is spearheading a tech-funded campaign to capture control of City Hall. (How do I know this is a Network State project? Because Tan has described his project as such.) The second method is called Exit. The "exit" method involves finding a bare piece of land that can be built up into a new tech city, ideally with tax breaks or other exemptions from "host governments." Prospera, on the island of Roatan in Honduras, is an example of this: a tech-run Special Economic Zone where certain rules don't apply. Prospera has become a mecca for unregulated gene therapy experiments. And then there's our local version: California Forever. This proposed tech city in Solano County was supposed to go to voters for approval on November's ballot, but it has been delayed due to massive community opposition. California Forever denies being a Network State project, but Andreessen is one of its investors. In addition, Balaji Srinivasan - the main evangelist of the Network State idea - has strongly suggested that California Forever is a Network State project. (Note: Srinivasan has clearly derived his ideas from J.D. Vance associate Curtis Yarvin, who calls these tech-governed dictatorships "patchworks" or "realms" rather than network states.) This is an important detail because Andreessen, Srinivasan and Thiel are working closely together to make the Network State a reality. |
Pronomos: A Network State Company
These three even have an entire company dedicated to building such cities around the world. Pronomos VC promises to build "the cities of tomorrow" with "better laws" for "better lives." Thiel and Andreessen are major funders of Pronomos, where Srinivasan is an advisor. Pronomos' founder is Patri Friedman, grandson of conservative economist Milton Friedman.
From the company's website:
Decades of research on economic development has shown that the primary determinant of prosperity is the quality of a country's laws and the integrity of its courts, administrators, and other legal institutions.
When institutions are outmoded, corrupted, or failing, the result is untold human suffering. Workers are trapped in low wage jobs and dangerous working environments, children don't get educated, adults can't get quality healthcare, and people can't start businesses to support their families. Yet, upgrading national institutions is notoriously difficult, and consensus on country-level changes should be slow and deliberate.
'Freedom Cities' = Network State
The basic idea - creating sovereign company cities with different laws to help a chosen few escape the problems of wider society - is clearly the same as Trump's little freedom cities. He announced the plan for these new cities as part of a "quantum leap" plan that also includes flying cars. This seems like a clear nod to the "accelerationism" movement sweeping certain parts of tech.
Trump's inclusion of Network State ideas in his official campaign platform raises many questions: Who will live in these cities? How will they be governed? Who will profit most from their creation? How will they deal with fierce, bipartisan community resistance like that which derailed California Forever? Where is this "American frontier" of which Trump speaks? How did this strange and dystopian cult idea make its way into Trump's campaign platform?
https://www.thenerdreich.com/trumps-weird-freedom-cities-and-the-network-state-cult/
Trump's "freedom cities" sound like the Network State cult's plan to build tech-governed sovereign territories backed by Peter Thiel.
By now we know that Trump does not ever miss a money making scheme, and a chance to be 'king' or settle for "glorious leader.'
We have not heard much about this. . . and yet there is this: Starbase Texas (A Elon Musk 'joint' already existing with its own mayor and governance rules apart from the State of Texas.)
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By now we know that Trump does not ever miss a money making scheme, and a chance to be 'king' or settle for "glorious leader.'
We have not heard much about this. . . and yet there is this: Starbase Texas (A Elon Musk 'joint' already existing with its own mayor (Musk 'rendered') and governance rules apart from the State of Texas.)
He's certainly doing the best he can to make a buck out of the presidency, while the national debt soars which my grandchildren in Milwaukee and all other American grandchildren will have to pay, and do so while it's hot as hell because of global warming. Of course that's if our grandchildren survive school shootings. .
They have a (billionaire tech) movement inside a movement. . . I suspect we will hear more about it once the midterms are over. . . Trump is right now stifled by how efficient the pushback (lawsuits) against his aspirations for the country are coming (fast/furious).
I have read there was a hearing and protest meeting about "California Forever" - in October 2026. (Some leading) Billionaires want to control the (tech future) on their own terms by weakening our rule of law and establishes new cities on empty lands-here and around the world-where they can run/regulate/control all or nearly all aspects of governance as CEOs. (Atlas Shrugged - John Galt (sovereign individualism) comes to mind.)
I guess they want to run the cities like mini-1984s.
Are you talking about 'greed'?
Yes and no, this is "Silicon Valley" using AI (datacenters) to control and automate their way to controlling the world. Trump is 'big' into this: Remember, he is 'gung-ho' on AI being unregulated (So is Vance). It's all part of a larger plan, and first it requires taking control over our government. . . thankfully, the democrats may be getting some power to investigate this matter inside-and-out.
Yes, the billionaire class (some not all - Musk for sure) are looking past the citizenry to run the 'table' on controlling the world and having their way with it. Trump being a leading 'proponent' since he is willing to anything damn near for wealth-sake.
Well, maybe 'Greed is Good' in America.
Greed usually means whatever it takes to get rich and wealth. . . What is your opinion of greed in China. . .is greed good, friend Buzz?
As you know greed is one of the seven deadly sins. In my more than 2 decades here I have never witnessed it on a personal level but I am aware of it having been practiced However it is more recently very severely punished should it cause death, injury or sickness. Although incidents of it are very rare these days, it has been reported on the English TV news and in English language newspapers here.. I coubt that there is a country in the world where it does not exist.