Help build an entirely new civilisation on “a floating structure the size of Manhattan”? Kickstarter, you shouldn’t have! What was once the provenance of nano watches and Robocop statues has now gone full supervillain with Arc Island, a brave new world that’s just $US50,000 away.
It’s an impossible dream, really, one that seems even less plausible the more you hear about it. Let’s set aside the engineering and financing quandry for now and take a look at how the USS Utopia will operate, according to entrepreneur Ben Way’s vision:
Some of the early stage concepts I would love to try on the island are: -Complete energy independence -No physical currency -Micro Democracy -Virtual Government -Flat rate tax
Dreamy! Mostly meaningless, but dreamy!
Now you’re asking yourself: how can my money help transform Ben Way into a modern-day Prospero? Well, it can’t, really. Because actually doing something like this would cost gabillions of dollars. The $US50k will go towards “[engaging]the relevant architectural and engineering talent required to pull together the basic strands of the concept”. In other words: donate your money, sure… but be ready to just watch it float away. [Kickstarter via The Next Web]