/snip/
> Beyond this, the only importance to the transhumanist agenda I can see to
> formation of terrestrial extra-national enclaves in the near term is the
> potential need of a secure base for research and development beyond the reach
> of current nation states who may attempt to ban key technologies. IF (and
> it's a big "if") an offshore base were crucial for such work, then development
> of a terrestrial extra-national enclave could be important. This would
> obviously be important only in a very brief transitional period, as getting
> such efforts off-planet would be a much, much safer course of action: The
> factors that made submarines important strategic technology in the 20th
> century will make spacecraft much more so in the next.
Why, yes, of course! Let's build a *spaceship*, fly to Mars and just claim the
whole damn planet. Off you go! Mmm, you'd probably still need some kind
of island as a launch base of course...A new focus for the transhuman effort?
Seriously, if this isn't a project worth considering, then I wouldn't know what
is...
Extropia: the mutual aid organization for the survival of extremely rapid and
profound future technological and social change (a/k/a Singularity). Primary
goal: establish a permanent independent space habitat (a Marsbase makes
most sense for obvious reasons).