, Columnist
Go Wet, Young Man
Don't dismiss the idea of establishing human settlements at sea. Think of cruise ships.
It's a start.
Photographer: David McNew/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Following the election of Donald Trump, some Americans are asking whether they should move to Canada. Yet a more radical idea is re-emerging as a vehicle for political liberty, namely seasteading. That's the founding of new and separate governance units on previously unoccupied territory, possibly on the open seas.
Imagine, for instance, autonomously governed sea platforms, with a limited number of citizens selling health and financial services to the rest of the world. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence might make the construction and settlement of such institutions more practical than it seemed 15 years ago.