Archive for category Bioshock Infinite

In the game Bioshock, an underwater society called Rapture was created to help the talented and super productive individuals escape political and financial oppression imposed by most existing societies.

Quoted from the game:

Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

‘No,’ says the man in Washington, ‘it belongs to the poor.’
‘No,’ says the man in the Vatican, ‘it belongs to God.’
‘No,’ says the man in Moscow, ‘it belongs to everyone.’

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose…

Rapture.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor,
where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality,
where the great would not be constrained by the small.

The premise of a utopian floating island city, and similar related concepts have been tried before, but so far they have been mostly unsuccessful. The big exception is the cruise ship industry which in many ways is already a successful, profitable, large scale floating society. However, it is heavily tourism focused and doesn’t generally house permanent residents.

Now, the vision of a permanent alternate society, unencumbered by the legacy of existing settlements is close to reality. The Seasteading Institute has gotten significant funding for it’s Poseidon Project.

It is curious how such a society would deliver all the traditional services of existing societies such as food, police, courts to resolve disputes, child care, health care, etc. It is even more curious to imagine the types of benefits such alternate societies may deliver: reduced ecological footprints, alternate transportation systems, or a wealthy elite that is free to fund more grandiose dream projects without the encumbrance of a parasitic welfare state.