this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
627 points (98.9% liked)

politics

21724 readers
4713 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

[–] [email protected] 5 points 18 hours ago

Hey guys, have you heard this new punk band? They got this weird lead singer called Johnny Silverhand...

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

These zones would allow wealthy investors to write their own laws and set up their own governance structures which would be corporately controlled and wouldn’t involve a traditional bureaucracy.

Why do I read this as incel rape cities?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Cyberpunk 2025

[–] [email protected] 3 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (3 children)

We already have those; ZEDEs in Honduras & I think India used to have one called Lavasa & it failed😂

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They should absolutely do this because tech bros cannot do municipal government and they will spend years throwing all of their money into a nuclear powered bitcoin mining boondoggle with open sewage that produces nothing.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 22 hours ago

Fordlandia, multiplied by the 1%. If that removes billionaires from our society for good, I approve.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 20 hours ago

elon's already wanting to build musklandia in texas.

[–] [email protected] 212 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Those already have a name - company town.

They failed the last time they were tried and will fail again.

[–] [email protected] 135 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But before they failed, they stole a ton of labor/profit from the residents.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] [email protected] 185 points 1 day ago (10 children)

A city run by a corporation is the opposite of a "freedom city"

[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 day ago (4 children)

It's freedom from government regulations, many of which stem from the last time we let companies set up their own towns. What could possibly go wrong?

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You know what? They should approve it. Give all the MAGAts free homes there and they can all suck trumps dick their. Let the rest of us live in an actually productive and healthy society.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

The problem is that they're also tanking the economy. Many people won't have the economic freedom to choose their employment.

Already, people don't really work in Amazon warehouses because they want to piss in bottles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

If that free home is on Mars, sure.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago

Every time an oppressor wants to enslave people, they use "freedom" as an excuse.

Exhibit A: People's Liberation Army. Its not a conquering, its liberating 🤣

Or Exhibit B: Maga

How do people ever get fooled by this? Its so dumb

[–] [email protected] 86 points 1 day ago (11 children)

In September of last year, the podcast Behind the Bastards did a two part series on right wing blogger Curtis Yarvin, his connections to Peter Theil, and his influence on JD Vance. I highly recommend these episodes for anyone who wants to know where this is all headed.

Yarvin has, for years, pushed the notion of RAGE (retire all government employees), and his dark enlightenment movement centers on dismantling democracy and installing a neo-feudalistic system of government in which oligarchs rule as kings.

This is not some crazy new proposal that will be ignored by the people in power. This is the endgame. The oligarchs and right wing fascists Trump has surrounded himself with have been pushing this for years, just waiting for their moment.

If you don't think this is a big deal, then you probably won't realize until it's too late.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

Thanks for the heads up, I'll give it a listen. I've been hearing about the network state since I saw someone link this here a few months ago.

https://www.vcinfodocs.com/what-is-the-network-state

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Ironically, “Freedom Cities” not free.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

More people need to play BioShock to understand why this is a bad idea.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Elon is literally a fan of Blade Runner. He just Identifies with the CEOs of megacorps rather than the suffering poor.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

No, no, Rapture was an EXCELLENT idea. Let's send Trump, Musk, and all the rest down there, and watch the results on television. It would be cathartic.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago

Or look at the history of company towns

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Libertarians do not understand how society works.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They keep trying this shit even though it never works. (Like there's literally no pictures of this actually, totally existent place. But it's a paradise. Trust me.)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

First off, this video is obligatory watching on the topic. Go watch it now if you haven't.

Ok, back to Próspera. From the Wikipedia article:

The company is financed by several investors and venture capital firms, including Balaji Srinivasan, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen, through the venture capital company Pronomos Capital.

It's literally the same guys, and they're trying it in the US too btw.

That Balaji guy in particular is the one who came up with the idea of "freedom cities", which he calls network states. He's also a follower of Curtis Yarvin, obviously, and just like him he's a two bit fascist crank who thinks he's of superior IQ.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 98 points 1 day ago (3 children)

“ You load 16 tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go I owe my soul to the company store “

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Holy shit, it's the Burbclaves from Snow Crash.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I just started that book like a week ago, Even just the first couple pages and it was like "oh... oh no", even got the meta verse in there

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Christ, why did we have to get the Shitty Dystopia versions from Snow Crash, Jennifer Government, and every Gibson novel, but none of the cool and fun shit like flying cars, off-planet living, and advanced medical/cybernetic tech.

Gonna have the corpo company town again. Instead of an online walled garden it’ll be a walled city with it’s own currency that gets traded at a steep loss if you try to go anyplace nicer. Keep you in your place.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

The cool tech is why they want network states or 'freedom cities'.

Unregulated biotech research is how ~~we~~ they get cybertech and biohacking. So oligarchs can outlive the rest of us.

It's all in their plans for the network state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpPTRcz1no&themeRefresh=1

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

@tree_frog @RememberTheApollo_ high on their own supply, though. A lot of government regulation is there to make sure the plebs feel just happy *enough* that they don't rise up. I'm not advocating anything, just to be clear, but if people have nothing to lose then they start... trying stuff. Wasn't the final straw that started the French Revolution the price of bread?

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 day ago (8 children)

According to interviews and presentations viewed by WIRED, the goal of these cities would be to have places where anti-aging clinical trials, nuclear reactor startups, and building construction can proceed without having to get prior approval from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Yes because the first thing I think needs regulations is fucking nuclear power!

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›