--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nearly half the earth's surface is…" description: "\"Nearly half the earth's surface is unclaimed by any country, so seasteads would be startup countries on the blue frontier. Patri Friedman is a Google e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/038/joe-quirk-25236_competing_nearly-half-the-earth-s-surface-is-uncla_374187.jpg" --- # Nearly half the earth's surface is unclaimed by any… ![“Nearly half the earth's surface is unclaimed by any country, so seasteads would be startup countries on the blue frontier. Patri Friedman is a Google engineer and theorist of political economy who realized that if society floated, it would completely change the nature of governance itself. If…” quote by Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/038/joe-quirk-25236_competing_nearly-half-the-earth-s-surface-is-uncla_374187.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/038/joe-quirk-25236_competing_nearly-half-the-earth-s-surface-is-uncla_374187.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/038/joe-quirk-25236_competing_nearly-half-the-earth-s-surface-is-uncla_374187.jpg) > “Nearly half the earth's surface is unclaimed by any country, so seasteads would be startup countries on the blue frontier. Patri Friedman is a Google engineer and theorist of political economy who realized that if society floated, it would completely change the nature of governance itself. If seasteads are modular and can be moved about, allowing people to choose new societies, we'd create a market of governance providers, competing to attract residents.” [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Floating habitats could become independent, mobile nations, creating a market of competing governance models. **In simple terms:** Floating nations could let people pick their own governments. Key Takeaway Explore modular, mobile governance options. Themes governance innovation freedom competition Mood optimistic visionary Type theoretical speculative When to use this quote - urban planning - policy design - community building - environmental adaptation Key Concepts political economy seasteading market dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How would laws apply on moving platforms? - What incentives attract residents? A Different Perspective Challenges include legal recognition and resource sustainability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Competing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competing/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Seasteads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-seasteads-3407189/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Google](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/google/) [Governance Seasteads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governance-seasteads-3407187/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-economy/) [Seasteads Modular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasteads-modular-3407190/) [Seasteads Startup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasteads-startup-3407188/) [Society Floated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-floated-3407191/) ## Related quotes > [As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/as-in-the-instances-of-alchemy-astrology-witchcraft-and-other-such/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“The hope is that a fundamental flaw in our current political economy may be surmounted, without confronting any serious political–economic questions. 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Ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley/our-political-economy-and-our-high-energy-industry-run-on-large/) [William F. Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-f-buckley/) > [It's called political economy because it is has nothing to do with either politics or economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-leacock/it-s-called-political-economy-because-it-is-has-nothing-to-do-with/) [Stephen Leacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-leacock/) > [There is no part of the administration of government that requires extensive information and a thorough knowledge of the principles of political economy, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/there-is-no-part-of-the-administration-of-government-that-requires/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“Without being aware that I was following in my father’s footsteps, I read, before I went to Cambridge, Mill’s Logic and Political Economy, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/without-being-aware-that-i-was-following-in-my-father-s-footsteps-i/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [We propose in the following Treatise to give an outline of the Science which treats of the Nature, the Production, and the Distribution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassau-william-senior/we-propose-in-the-following-treatise-to-give-an-outline-of-the/) [Nassau William Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassau-william-senior/) > [The parallel existence and mutual interaction of "state" and "market" in the modern world create "political economy"; without both state and market there could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/the-parallel-existence-and-mutual-interaction-of-state-and-market-in/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [The prevailing ideology of the modern west - which is political economy - is in the doghouse. Having failed to notice atmospheric pollution, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/the-prevailing-ideology-of-the-modern-west-which-is-political-economy/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [“The failure of India's public institutions to keep pace with the dramatic political, economic and social transformations under way has led to severe gaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-vaishnav/the-failure-of-india-s-public-institutions-to-keep-pace-with-the/) [Milan Vaishnav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-vaishnav/) > [Bourgeois political economy ... never gets to see man who is its real subject. It disregards the essence of man and his history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/bourgeois-political-economy-never-gets-to-see-man-who-is-its-real/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) ## More by Joe Quirk > [If seasteads advance blue-energy technologies, they'll create blue jobs. Millions of poor people living under exploitive governments are looking for a better choice. Seasteads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/if-seasteads-advance-blue-energy-technologies-they-ll-create-blue/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [I think our children will be living on floating cities, and they will look back on the 20th Century, when people lived in primitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/i-think-our-children-will-be-living-on-floating-cities-and-they-will/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Evolution is variation and selection. If you can vary alternatives, and select among them, improvement emerges. It works in technology, in apps, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/evolution-is-variation-and-selection-if-you-can-vary-alternatives-and/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [“Hominids are all the Neanderthals, australopithecines, Homo habili, Homo erecti, etc., the upright-walking apes of which we are the only surviving species.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/hominids-are-all-the-neanderthals-australopithecines-homo-habili-homo/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Seavilization will be better than civilization, and we have nearly half the world's surface to discover it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/seavilization-will-be-better-than-civilization-and-we-have-nearly/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [A lot of Pacific island nations are sinking below sea level; they could easily transition slowly into becoming floating nations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/a-lot-of-pacific-island-nations-are-sinking-below-sea-level-they/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Oil platforms are a technology for floating permanently on the high seas, and cruise ships are a technology for self-governance on the high seas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/oil-platforms-are-a-technology-for-floating-permanently-on-the-high/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [We're going to draw a new map of the world, with French Polynesia as the centre of the Aquatic Age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/we-re-going-to-draw-a-new-map-of-the-world-with-french-polynesia-as/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Seasteading could be the means by which humanity will live sustainably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/seasteading-could-be-the-means-by-which-humanity-will-live-sustainably/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Seasteads are a technology for anybody to form an alternative community based on their unique values - for communities to organize themselves however they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/seasteads-are-a-technology-for-anybody-to-form-an-alternative/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [You can't create the future unless you imagine it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/you-can-t-create-the-future-unless-you-imagine-it/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [People can leave seasteads, or people can choose them, and people can create new seasteads if they want. This fluidity will engage an evolutionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/people-can-leave-seasteads-or-people-can-choose-them-and-people-can/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [That's the marvellous thing about seasteads; if a government fails, there's nothing much the people who live there can do about it. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/that-s-the-marvellous-thing-about-seasteads-if-a-government-fails/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Americans are very mobile and move around and choose the communities they want. On the ocean people would be even more mobile and empowered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/americans-are-very-mobile-and-move-around-and-choose-the-communities/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Thinking about seasteading requires us to free ourselves of these broad political categories we're stuck with on land. People can make whatever community system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/thinking-about-seasteading-requires-us-to-free-ourselves-of-these/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) [Explore all 23 Joe Quirk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) ## More Competing quotes > [When you reach that competing point, when you reach that time when the gun is about to go off, everyone's level is pretty much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apolo-ohno/when-you-reach-that-competing-point-when-you-reach-that-time-when-the/) [Apolo Ohno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apolo-ohno/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [I have no social life. There is no time for one. Once in a while I may go to dinner with a friend but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-halliday/i-have-no-social-life-there-is-no-time-for-one-once-in-a-while-i-may/) [Liz Halliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-halliday/) > [I competed every day as a professional football player... You've got to like competing. That's how your team gets better, when you have competition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herm-edwards/i-competed-every-day-as-a-professional-football-player-you-ve-got-to/) [Herm Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herm-edwards/) > [There are 16 year olds competing at the olympics and i still push on pull doors & struggle getting through the whole day without a nap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-eastwood/there-are-16-year-olds-competing-at-the-olympics-and-i-still-push-on/) [Scott Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-eastwood/) > [I love nothing more than going out there and competing. And baseball's my outlet to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-fried/i-love-nothing-more-than-going-out-there-and-competing-and-baseball-s/) [Max Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-fried/) > [I've always worked closely with the designers and whoever's making the costumes. Comfort is the last thing you want on your mind when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristi-yamaguchi/i-ve-always-worked-closely-with-the-designers-and-whoever-s-making/) [Kristi Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristi-yamaguchi/) > [I don't think anybody who carries a rifle carries the future. Because I don't believe that you can really change the world by killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/i-don-t-think-anybody-who-carries-a-rifle-carries-the-future-because/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [America breeds ambition and while that can be a good thing, sometimes it's not. Ambition also breeds competition and that can be a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaka-khan/america-breeds-ambition-and-while-that-can-be-a-good-thing-sometimes/) [Chaka Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaka-khan/) > [I'll miss the competitive side and the camaraderie of being around the players and competing each and every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scottie-pippen/i-ll-miss-the-competitive-side-and-the-camaraderie-of-being-around/) [Scottie Pippen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scottie-pippen/) > [Being away from the game and just remembering why I love competing and all of that, I think it helped me tremendously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-keys/being-away-from-the-game-and-just-remembering-why-i-love-competing/) [Madison Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-keys/) > [Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. 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