jbrenner assigns HOMEwork - Planning Atlantis
An assignment I give my students in almost every course I teach is what I call a questions and issues sheet. Students are asked to come up with a list of at least 25 questions and issues on a process design, product design, or failure analysis of my choosing. Students start by brainstorming either by themselves or in groups for 0.5 to 1 hour, and then categorize their questions and issues into the following categories: technical/engineering, economic, legal, regulatory, quality, environmental, safety, health, logistical, project management, and social impact. It is better for the questions and issues to be in the form of a question such that the question can be answered with a yes/no or a number. In that way, the exercise serves as a checklist to keep the project on track. Points are given for the number of questions, category coverage, identification of all of the key issues, depth of insight, creativity, and for thoroughness of the list. A critical issue not considered is often the project killer. Your assignment is to participate in this exercise for the development of a physical Atlantis.
Something like a large scale deep water oil platform you built on would be an interesting option too. Deep water for docking cargo would not be an issue on one of those either.
I think fixing up an old hotel is the best bang for the buck, but it lacks many of the virtues of a remote location. I like the idea of a small island off the US with an incubator / hackerspsace / hotel there. If it's part of the US, though, you lose the immigration benefit for startups with founders from different countries. I like Blueseed's notion of a ship, but their website has been down; I think they failed.
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/isla...
their "astralloy-v". -- j
I still think the real-world logistics of an island Gulch involve too many vulnerabilities in defense, travel, infrastructure supply and maintenance, and population capacity to provide the stable business environment we need.
A real Gulch wouldn't be a commune or a country club and should try to avoid those pitfalls. As I mentioned elsewhere, a land-based network of communities might be best. Create an alternate economy hidden in plain sight. Subcultures of various kinds already exist in this country. This website and others represent a primitive Gulch network, now. To strengthen it, beyond rhetoric, would require a secure banking and business environment first.
For example, a "retired" person who no longer produces a product may still produce value. He or she is no longer working the production line, but they can still add value by teaching process, procedures and most important of all ethics.
If I have misread your intent, I apologize but something about your statement just doesn't come off right.
I'm reminded of the first 'real job' I ever had. We either chose or were assigned 'mentors' who, amongst other things, showed us where the rest rooms and cafeteria were but also introduced us to the engineers and managers of the organizations we would be working with towards mutual/joint/combined success.
Some time after I internalized the local map of bathrooms, cafeteria and partner-organizations, I could make contributions to their successes, too. (ease off on the potty-jokes, ok? Oh, wait.. that reminds me of a problem I discovered in one of the drains in a men's room at HP a few years later, which also led me to the discovery that "the system" at that division had no input device to learn about or correct the problem I discovered. That should have been a red flag right there...)
Also, Hugh Akston was Galt's mentor and professor, but it was a much younger Galt who invited Akston to the Gulch. ALL adults take the Oath. Remember the fish girl in AS? She just provided fish to the community and she wanted to be a writer. Dagny experienced her first feelings of jealousy in meeting her. It is said that Rand included the fish girl as a cameo for herself in the Gulch. Value for Value. ;)
I hope your parents are bearing up well and you as well. take care
http://www.katsandogz.com/onchildren.htm...
Example: Grandma taught you how to knit but you haven't even thought about it in 30 years. You know how to knit.
Does that make sense?
I also know how to shear sheep, and have the sheep and about ten bags of poor-quality wool, very dirty wool. Anybody need a sweater?
Still, there exists a technique called double knitting. Here it is: http://knitting.about.com/od/colorknitti...
Actually, I can cut a mean cake - into 7-10 even pieces. And I can march with the best of them. Lol
Just repeat after me, "I - state your name - swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
One week before I got sent to Coventry.
As, I've previously mentioned, I'm more for a land-based network of communities. I see the Gulch, not as a retirement community, or commune, or country club; but, as a place where people with varied interests, skills, and resources come to live and work with others based on respect for the principles of man's rights (Gulch Values).
An island or a boat isn't going to be big enough for the Nation we want to rebuild. Nor, for the large numbers of people that already realize something is not right with the country that once showed the world what is possible to men...and will gravitate to communities where those rights are rationally upheld.
Why are Ayn Rand's books still as popular as they are? ...because there are lots of people out there trying to make sense of the legitimized irrationality they see around them? I think those sales are kind of like an anonymous barometer of that yearning. If we are in a battle of ideas to make our lives free, then we don't need to physically withdraw from those which could join us. Let's find ways to create 'islands of sanity' for our own sakes that will, consequently, be a beacon to others searching for a rational place to live.
Come back to Texas, if the weather wipes you out. We'd be glad to have you as a neighbor.
Had a lot of fun with several in Alongapo, Yakuska, and Hong Kong along with some Aussie Black Shoes.
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."
John Adams
I don't think the U.S is beyond repair. The founding fathers gave us a pretty damned good start, and maybe it isn't too late to get it back on track.
So for question one may I suggest...
1) Can we reform the U.S.A. back into a republic based on personal liberty (turn the U.S. into Atlantis)?
... A hypothetical flowchart bifurcates almost exponentially at that point.
If the answer is yes, however, the "American Atlantis" could be used to point the way for the rest of the world.
I call this the "Halfway there" option. It uses what we have to build what we want.
.
I, for one, believe that aiding the collapse will only usher in a period (I believe to be measured in centuries not mere years or even decades) of collectivist oppression. Similar to the dark ages after the Mongols defeated the Romans. Unfortunately, the current version of mongols have much better tools and means to enforce the oppression.
Another alternative is to repeal the 17th Amendment. And/or change congressional representation to 1 per county.
I'm a problem solver by profession. There are always ways to improve a system. I've not yet seen one where the whole thing was better off being totally junked.
I'm going to wait about a week for feedback total.
The US could be repaired if a sufficient number of Americans had the willingness to repair it, but the American public is too invested in what they can get from their government. John F. Kennedy would be disappointed in this generation in that respect.
The Republicans actively bash anyone who makes a serious attempt at correcting the situation, so they are only somewhat better than the Democrats who are actively leading a charge over the cliff.
The founding fathers gave us a republic, Over the past 100 years we have not kept it. In 2012, it could have been reasonably argued that America could have been repaired, but when it doubled down on socialism, the debt reached levels that are beyond the tipping point. When Romney got blamed for losing the election for making his infamous 47% statement to donors, he didn't realize that he was underestimating the percentage that were beyond hope of convincing of the merits of the founding fathers.
Thanks for your service. My Goddaughter just graduated from Great Lakes boot camp this past Friday. I support the Navy 364 days a year.
I once went fishing in Lake Erie on a 20 footer and before we left the captain gave me some nasty jerky. Not long before I was chumming myself. LOL But I caught almost all of the fish(Perch)!!!
Problem is of late, the only service academy that is putting people in harms way is the Army, and anyone capable is going to go to a different service. Not an excuse, but a reality.
Great ideas from members of the Gulch, but first we need deep pockets to fund this project. That’s up to other members to work on. Here is what I can do; that is to purchase the following from the internet and by phone with the funds:
1. A small sea going freighter w/cranes for under a mil.
2. A Port Engineer to inspect the vessel, register it in Panama.
3. Hire a retired/semiretired Captain, First mate, and Chief Engineer.
4. Ablebody Seaman from one of the merchant marine halls.
5. 5-20mm Oekilon Cannons (WWll reconditioned vintage) w/ammo
6. 5-35mm Bofors w/ammo
7. Ship supplies through a Ship Chandler(NY, Texas, Louisiana, or California)
8. Foodstuff’s from Commodity Broker-Chandlers.
9. Temporary housing assemblies: prefab containers.
10. Portable desalination modules.
11. Diesel Generator Set and Fuel.
12. Two crates of Tokarev TT 33 7.62x25 semi-auto pistols and ammo.
Then have all above delivered to the Island of Atlantis.
In international law, the Montevideo Convention on the Right and Duties of States sets down the criteria for statehood in article 1: The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
The first sentence of article 3 of the Montevideo Convention explicitly states that "The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states."
Under these guidelines, any entity which meets all of the criteria set forth in article 1 can be regarded as sovereign under international law, whether or not other states have recognized it.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as an independent subject of international law does not meet all the criteria for recognition as a State (however it does not claim itself a State either), but is and has been recognized as a sovereign nation for centuries.
The doctrine of territorial integrity does not effectively prohibit unilateral secession from established states in international law, per the relevant section from the text of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Final Act, Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration:[34]
IV. Territorial integrity of States
The participating States will respect the territorial integrity of each of the participating States.
Accordingly, they will refrain from any action inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations against the territorial integrity, political independence or the unity of any participating State, and in particular from any such action constituting a threat or use of force.
The participating States will likewise refrain from making each other's territory the object of military occupation or other direct or indirect measures of force in contravention of international law, or the object of acquisition by means of such measures or the threat of them. No such occupation or acquisition will be recognized as legal.
In effect, this states that other states (i.e., third parties), may not encourage secession in a state. This does not make any statement as regards persons within a state electing to secede of their own accord.
Economic sovereignty extends 250 miles.
All countries enjoy sovereign rights in the airspace over their territory, including their territorial waters, which nowadays extend 12 nautical miles from the shore. Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZs) come into play in airspace beyond that. Under the U.S. definition, an ADIZ is a zone in which civil aircraft must identify themselves and may be subject to air traffic control if they intend to travel from international airspace into sovereign airspace. (Most regulation concerning nonsovereign airspace relates specifically to civil aviation, leaving the rules for military aircraft somewhat up in the air, as it were.)
has an executive summary of their preliminary findings. It doesn't look like much of a value. I would rather be near a country that won't bother us than pay that much. One interesting thing, however, was the first comment about Honduras having passed legislation giving greater autonomy to developments like what we are discussing.
I don't presume *you* went along with the shutdown. It is just a recent event with polling data that suggests the number of staunch anti-collectivists in the United States. Apparently, we are legion.
Now assume that only one in ten or twenty anti-collectivists would want to or be able to join Atlantis. We are looking at a fairly sizable city state there.
My First Five Questions:
1) Can anyone join Atlantis?
2) Should Atlantis limit it's founding population?
3) Can you buy your way in to Atlantis?
4) Could you sell your holdings in Atlantis to a non-citizen?
5) Should there be more than one Atlantis?
1) Conditionally.
2) The founding population will, most likely, be limited by initial support structure; housing, food supplies, power production, etc.
3) Depends. Looters with money won't be welcome. They produce nothing which adds to the value of the enclave.
4) No. You can sell to an established citizen or to one whose credentials have been established and passed by the "immigration board".
5) Let's get the first one up and running before seeding colonies.
A point or two on #2 and #5 that relate to the safety of numbers.
Although there are numerous examples of smaller forces overcoming larger ones in warfare, generally one would prefer not to attack Atlantis without at least a three to one advantage. Assuming all able-bodied citizens in the reserves of a modern defense force, three to six million defenders should require at least around ten million soldiers in the looter force. That is nothing to sneeze at.
Given that the enemies of Atlantis may wish to destroy it even more than they would like to plunder it, not having all your eggs in one basket might not be a bad idea.
Edit--Fixed Grammatical Error 12:55 CTD
B.T.W. as this is a movie site, have you seen Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium"?
Elites pull off to space platform. Somehow they are the only ones who are successful. The rest of the world wants desperately to get into "Elysium". During a coup, the world gets citizenship (Loots Elysium).
Collectivist movie, but if you think the US and Europe have immigration problems consider what happens if Atlantis stops the motor of the world.
Atlantis won't stop the motor of the world, we'll just let it wind down. As for the immigration problem, it is one of the main reasons I have been advocating a reasonable naval force to withstand such, an island being the location of Atlantis.
I know it is in the US, but a Key West lagoon with 62 acres (mostly water) up for auction with an assessed value of over $6000 with $180 in back taxes and a top bid of $770 with only two days left. I wonder if any of it is buildable.
The Profs $500k figure would yield 3-6 million Americans who could afford to buy into Atlantis. (Do you get a family discount?).
B.T.W. The "number of millionaire's" figure comes from http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/01/1...
1) Anyone can apply to join Atlantis, but there will be a board to decide who is permitted much like country club admission. We do not want people in Atlantis who are going to cause enough of a disruption that we might eventually have to ask them to leave.
2) Atlantis' founding population will be limited as much by affordability of a space as anything else. I was guesstimating 20-50 citizens (at least at first).
3) Buying one's way into Atlantis will be necessary to some extent, but a rich liberal will not be accepted.
4) Sale or inheritance of Atlantis holdings to non-citizens is possible if the non-citizens are willing to live by Atlantis' code. Otherwise, Atlantis citizens will make a reasonable offer to buy out the non-citizen.
5) Multiple Atlantis sites are possible. In fact, some prefer multiple sites. Many prefer simply a virtual Atlantis, and judging by the lack of enthusiasm I have seen from most of the Gulch citizens, I don't think we have critical mass to go forward at this time.
I had a mechanical engineer once tell me that the value of an engineering education wasn't in all the facts you learned, but that it's value was in that they teach you how to think about the world.
To be quite honest, I thought you were just making your point in said fashion. I would be really surprised if 20 to 50 of you all actually disappeared.
I agree completely on what it would take to leave and start fresh, and on the value of an engineering education.
I have designed a solar collector that produces both electricity and steam. I have also designed a Multiple Effect Desalination Unit that uses the steam output to desalinate seawater or brackish groundwater.
A solar farm of Bradford Collectors will economically provide for all of the energy and water requirements of an Off-Grid Community.
including water for agriculture.
Atlantis must be self sustaining in every way.
The manufacture, installation, operation and maintenance of Bradford Collectors and associated systems can provide many jobs for the citizens of Atlantis.
The city of Independence, Texas as proposed by Glenn Beck provides many ideas on the organization of a community like Atlantis.
I agree that it should not be dependent upon the outside world for survival, but it would likely do so merely to maintain convenience/productivity items.
1. MYOB Mind Your Own Business
2. The right to say No and be respected for it.
As to the rest -- carry on.
Demand = f(Cost, amenities available, ...)
2. Do we have the electrostatic dynamo? If not, how do we generate power?
3. Find a good source of potable water--a stream, a river, or even wells.
4. How will you recruit, train, equip, and deploy a militia to guard Atlantis?
5. Will the Gulch have a navy? Even if it's just the one ship?
6. How many commodities might one trade in the economy? Gold and silver coin, of course--but why not receipts for oil, coal, timber, and so on?
7. Full-reserve banking. No more fractional reserves.
8. Temporary solutions for goods Atlantis might need but cannot produce itself.
9. Organization: is it largely a feudal society, with major landowners keeping up roads and having rents or other profits pay for them?
10. Information and communications.
11. Competing and parallel infrastructure for power, water, information, etc.?
The Gulch will have a navy, but to start, it will be Ragnar's pirate sloop. The international trade issue is one we will need to consider carefully, lest we be "discovered". Regarding landowning, road upkeep, etc., I like what Temlakos and radical are suggesting, but there may not be enough land to even have what we would call roads. That really depends on how big Atlantis is. The purchasing of shares is a key issue to define.
A perfect distribution of solar energy has already been accomplished by God. Why is the solar energy industry so focused on feeding into the Grid. The Grid under government control will be a tool of oppression of the populace. Your electricity rates will "skyrocket", as promised by Barak.
My designs will be most economical in regions which are not served by the Grid and do not have adequate drinking water.
About No. 11: the only reason the Gulch didn't have competing infrastructure was that Midas Mulligan, as *the* landowner, contracted with Dick McNamara to string the wires, lay the pipe, etc., and paid for it from the rents that Francisco d'Anconia and other primary leaseholders paid him. And also because John Galt was the sole electric-power provider, because he had a technique for it that was as cheap as the air. Literally. Absent that, I see no reason for competing and parallel infrastructure.
coal and wood fired powerplants to provide additional power after Hiraghm comes in and blows up all the windmills.
I assume, by the way, that the *economy* is a feudal one, but the *civil* organization is a Committee of Safety, consisting of the major landowner and a few of the wealthiest individuals, or their proxies, or company officers.
I wrote the Atlas Shrugged articles on Conservapedia. I proposed that John Galt, Francisco d'Anconia, and Ragnar Danneskjöld served as Atlantis' first Committee of Safety. John attended as Midas' proxy; Francisco attended as the largest primary leaseholder; and Ragnar attended as the contract mercenary. The Committee of Safety would be open to anyone willing to fund, maintain, or command such troops, crews, and/or installations as would enhance the physical security of the Gulch, and, when necessary, keep law and order. I proposed that Hank Rearden would join this Committee after Francisco liberated him from the outside, and Dagny would become a de facto member the instant she took The Oath on a New York street corner, with Francisco there to "administer" it.
see - http://www.conchrepublic.com/history.htm...
Still gets me smiles when I visit.
They even have the moon controlled already!
Any ideas, let me know, I am ready to go.
http://mapcarta.com/16553598
https://www.google.com/search?q=rendova+...
I can't help but think back to those days when someone talks about colonizing Mars or the Moon. Minus 30 is a warm summer day on Mars.
Antarctica is a tropical paradise in comparison, and it has air and water, plus lots of raw materials. In some ways it is the last terrestrial frontier.
What Mars needs most is another, bigger moon.
If you want a gulch in orbit, scale Vesta in from the asteroid belt, park it in a Lagrange orbit.
1). Who is currently capable of multitasking in at least three different areas of expertise as it relates to survival and everyday living?
"'You know, I don't think that I really believe it—all that's happening to us these days. It's happening all right, but I don't believe it. keep thinking that insanity is a state where a person can't tell what's real. Well, what's real now is insane—and if I accepted it as real, I'd have to lose my mind, wouldn't I?...'"
"'Do you?' she asked.
"He had thrown his story at her, sentence by sentence, as if trying to knock the smile off her face, an odd, unmoving smile of bitterness and triumph; he had failed. 'It's a national catastrophe! What's the matter with you? Don't you see that it's a fatal blow? It will break the last of the country's morale and economy! We can't let him vanish! You've got to bring him back!'"
"'The picture now is this,' said Wesley Mouch. 'The economic condition of the country was better the year before last than it was last year, and last year it was better than it is at present. It's obvious that we would not be able to survive another year of the same progression. Therefore, our sole objective must now be to hold the line. To stand still in order to catch our stride. To achieve total stability. Freedom has been given a chance and has failed. Therefore, more stringent controls are necessary. Since men are unable and unwilling to solve their problems voluntarily, they must be forced to do it.' He paused, picked up the sheet of paper, then added in a less formal tone of voice, 'Hell, what it comes down to is that we can manage to exist as and where we are, but we can't afford to move! So we've got to stand still. We've got to stand still. We've got to make those bastards stand still!'"
"'We started with no time limit in view,' said Galt. 'We did not know whether we'd live to see the liberation of the world or whether we'd have to leave our battle and our secret to the next generations. We knew only that this was the only way we cared to live. But now we think that we will see, and soon, the day of our victory and of our return.'"
"'When?' she whispered.
"'When the code of the looters has collapsed.'
"He saw her looking at him, her glance half-question, half-hope, and he added, 'When the creed of self-immolation has run, for once, its undisguised course—when men find no victims ready to obstruct the path of justice and to deflect the fall of retribution on themselves—when the preachers of self-sacrifice discover that those who are willing to practice it, have nothing to sacrifice, and those who have, are not willing any longer—when men see that neither their hearts nor their muscles can save them, but the mind they damned is not there to answer their screams for help—when they collapse as they must, as men without minds—when they have no pretense of authority left, no remnant of law, no trace of morality, no hope, no food and no way to obtain it—when they collapse and the road is clear—then we'll come back to rebuild the world.'"
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