2026-09-18 15:28 UTC
Replies (17)
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@impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 2026-09-18 19:54
There was a theory (disputed and in some cases discredited) that basically said this is why most historical empires started around a river surrounded by desert. Their subjects were more willing to put up with oppression because going somewhere else was hard.
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@fonix232@fedia.io 2026-09-18 22:48
If y'all have played Bioshock... Rapture was a libertarian fever dream. No taxes, no regulations, everyone free to do whatever they want. Look how that turned out. (also I never really understood how that could even work, even a regular city needs constant maintenance, one under the sea, exponentially more so. Building it alone costs a fortune, maintaining it too, and as a closed ecosystem, and you either need to fund the maintenance somehow, or use slaves - admittedly, Big Daddies were indeed slaves but that came later on. Without taxes, nobody cleans the common areas, nobody fixes the ventilation, broken glass, etc., because there's no money pool to pay the workers from, buy the raw resources and tools from, and so on)
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@BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 2026-09-19 05:57
What? I mean why are we out here in this canyon.
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@HikingVet@lemmy.ca 2026-09-18 15:37
They think they will start a new kingdom with them as a ruler. What it means is they are gonna get murdered in a bunker.
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@xkbx@startrek.website 2026-09-18 15:56
Yes, I did play Bioshock
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@frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 2026-09-18 16:13
Exactly. Who's gonna volunteer to be the servant class for the journey and beyond? Your children would be born into slavery.
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@IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 2026-09-18 16:01
To be fair, they can already do whatever they want, consequence free, in the continental US. The Mars exploration and ocean bases may just be honest “let’s do cool science fiction shit (and profit off government contracts to do so)”.
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@driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 2026-09-18 16:16
That’s because of the implication
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@Sanguine@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-09-18 20:31
They know that the reality is they could never truly defend themselves if the tide turned. I have a theory that the reason they are ramping up so rapidly now is they see the writing on the wall and are behaving like a cornered animal. They’ve already done too much to be forgiven so the only option is to accelerate their end goal even though its clearly undercooked. The smartest thing they can do is to nationalize their companies into any applicable public utilities. Liquidate the rest and set up some sort of charitable trust or some nonprofit that will help sort funds into various social programs. Then slink off and live off the wealth they stole. Bar them and their family from starting new business endeavors for 100 years.
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@rafoix@lemmy.zip 2026-09-18 16:41
That would make it real easy to claim that they are drug traffickers and blow them up without any due process. Apparently it’s perfectly legal.
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@AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net 2026-09-19 14:03
When Libertarians are in charge, garbage lines the streets and bears attack. When Republicans are in charge, gas prices skyrocket and everyone gets explosive diarrhea. Put that on a t-shirt.
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@postscarce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-09-18 16:22
This is why Musk and co are trying to speedrun robot development.
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@Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2026-09-18 18:41
Might as well call it Epstein Island
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@sik0fewl@piefed.ca 2026-09-19 01:39
Nice to see some philosoraptor.
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@crowcore_explorer@piefed.blahaj.zone 2026-09-18 16:13
first thing I thought about when bezos did his we’re gonna move workers to space schtick.
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@Bo7a@piefed.ca 2026-09-19 12:04
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qZA63ckKxXQ| I do my own dishes now. I’ll do my own dishes then.
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@boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2026-09-19 14:12
They do and it seems to be going OK for them, not sure about how it is for the workers. Honduras did allow them to open up a second location that’s manufacturing focused so it seems there’s SOME benefit to the local economy? They have to pay 12% tax to Honduras on the city’s earnings IIRC, but I’m not sure what the city’s own tax rate is. AFAIK, low but not 0. If you’re a millionaire, you might like it there. It’s like a resort with offices and coworking spaces. Compared to nice locations in the US, it’s actually kinda cheap. Compared to anything in South or Central America it’s very expensive, compared to at least eastern europe, it’s still expensive. If I was a multimillionaire tech bro trying to become a billionaire tech bro with a startup, I’d probably go. Not so much because of the regulations but because it’s a stunning location they managed to plant their colony on.