this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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[–] Doctor_Satan@lemmy.world 13 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I just wish they would be honest with their naming schemes. Stop with the "freedom this" and "freedom that" nonsense. They don't give a good goddam about freedom and we all know it. They are just trying to build "company towns" with touchscreens. We've already been down this road. You can slap all the lipstick you want on it, but it's still a fucking pig.

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Its spelled Freedumb now.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

elon's already wanting to build musklandia in texas.

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 12 points 2 hours ago

government officials ending every phrase with, "brought to you by carls jr" is getting more real of a likelihood all the time.

[–] GenXLiberal@lemmy.world 11 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

I guarantee those execs think they will be building Star Trek / Federation level society. But the comment above is right, it will be Cyberpunk just with shittier technologies driven by “the invisible hand of the market” or some other drivel.

[–] Doctor_Satan@lemmy.world 9 points 2 hours ago

Oh they know exactly what kind of cities they want to build. The wealthy have been wanting their slaves back since 1865.

[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 2 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

I believe the federation in Star Trek doesn't even use money

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 points 54 minutes ago* (last edited 53 minutes ago) (1 children)

they only allowed it on ds9 space station , when dealing with other races. in the form of latinum. also barring the marque colonies.

[–] Snowclone@lemmy.world 1 points 31 minutes ago

DS9 just threw the whole concept of a utopia out all together. With some pretty great results, so I'm OK with it.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

They do, they don't inside the federation because it's in practice largely post scarcity. Outside of federation space they use federation credits (likely based on stores of rare hard/impossible to replicate materials) and specifically around ds9 the currency was gold pressed latinum.

Also voyager with replicator rations and Holodeck time.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 1 points 1 hour ago
[–] RaptorBenn@lemmy.world 13 points 5 hours ago

Cyberpunk 2025

[–] Azal@pawb.social 39 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

[–] jameslkent@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

They should absolutely do this because tech bros cannot do municipal government and they will spend years throwing all of their money into a nuclear powered bitcoin mining boondoggle with open sewage that produces nothing.

[–] SabinStargem@lemmings.world 3 points 2 hours ago

Fordlandia, multiplied by the 1%. If that removes billionaires from our society for good, I approve.

[–] imvii@lemmy.ca 37 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

These zones would allow wealthy investors to write their own laws and set up their own governance structures which would be corporately controlled and wouldn’t involve a traditional bureaucracy.

Why do I read this as incel rape cities?

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 13 points 8 hours ago

You know what? They should approve it. Give all the MAGAts free homes there and they can all suck trumps dick their. Let the rest of us live in an actually productive and healthy society.

[–] TheDeadlySquid@lemm.ee 13 points 8 hours ago

Ironically, “Freedom Cities” not free.

Every time an oppressor wants to enslave people, they use "freedom" as an excuse.

Exhibit A: People's Liberation Army. Its not a conquering, its liberating 🤣

Or Exhibit B: Maga

How do people ever get fooled by this? Its so dumb

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Holy shit, it's the Burbclaves from Snow Crash.

[–] MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago

Or the corporate entities from Jennifer Government.

[–] spacequetzal@lemm.ee 19 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

More people need to play BioShock to understand why this is a bad idea.

[–] SabinStargem@lemmings.world 3 points 2 hours ago

No, no, Rapture was an EXCELLENT idea. Let's send Trump, Musk, and all the rest down there, and watch the results on television. It would be cathartic.

[–] Srh@lemmy.world 14 points 8 hours ago

Or look at the history of company towns

[–] Zzyzx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

They keep trying this shit even though it never works. (Like there's literally no pictures of this actually, totally existent place. But it's a paradise. Trust me.)

[–] gabbath@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

First off, this video is obligatory watching on the topic. Go watch it now if you haven't.

Ok, back to Próspera. From the Wikipedia article:

The company is financed by several investors and venture capital firms, including Balaji Srinivasan, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen, through the venture capital company Pronomos Capital.

It's literally the same guys, and they're trying it in the US too btw.

That Balaji guy in particular is the one who came up with the idea of "freedom cities", which he calls network states. He's also a follower of Curtis Yarvin, obviously, and just like him he's a two bit fascist crank who thinks he's of superior IQ.

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[–] civil_drive@sh.itjust.works 24 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Libertarians do not understand how society works.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 11 points 11 hours ago

The baseline, no. The thinkers are just trying to restablish slavery.

[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

And who is stupid enough to move there? Ffs

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 3 points 1 hour ago

People with no choice, my friend.

[–] KingCake_Baby@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

"techno-feudalism"

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 17 points 11 hours ago
[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 15 points 11 hours ago

Christ, why did we have to get the Shitty Dystopia versions from Snow Crash, Jennifer Government, and every Gibson novel, but none of the cool and fun shit like flying cars, off-planet living, and advanced medical/cybernetic tech.

Gonna have the corpo company town again. Instead of an online walled garden it’ll be a walled city with it’s own currency that gets traded at a steep loss if you try to go anyplace nicer. Keep you in your place.

[–] Montreal_Metro@lemmy.ca 14 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I think it’s hilarious that they are so dumb that a satire movie like RoboCop is regarded as blueprint for the future. How cartoonishly evil do they have to be?

[–] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

They've been trying to do this for years

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] gabbath@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Yep. It's my go-to video explainer for "freedom cities" aka network states.

[–] conicalscientist@lemmy.world 17 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

These tech libertarians never stop trying to make their own company towns.

Here was a recent failed attempt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidewalk_Toronto

Also this piece never gets old. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/l-p-d-libertarian-police-department

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

This is one of my favorites:

A Libertarian Walks into a Bear

It would be funny if a billionaire shit ass wasn't doing this exact thing on a national level.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 16 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Yay! Corporate towns! I look forward to be paid in company script!

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[–] chetradley@lemm.ee 75 points 17 hours ago (8 children)

In September of last year, the podcast Behind the Bastards did a two part series on right wing blogger Curtis Yarvin, his connections to Peter Theil, and his influence on JD Vance. I highly recommend these episodes for anyone who wants to know where this is all headed.

Yarvin has, for years, pushed the notion of RAGE (retire all government employees), and his dark enlightenment movement centers on dismantling democracy and installing a neo-feudalistic system of government in which oligarchs rule as kings.

This is not some crazy new proposal that will be ignored by the people in power. This is the endgame. The oligarchs and right wing fascists Trump has surrounded himself with have been pushing this for years, just waiting for their moment.

If you don't think this is a big deal, then you probably won't realize until it's too late.

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[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 20 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Isn't this how RoboCop starts.

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[–] PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 182 points 19 hours ago (11 children)

Those already have a name - company town.

They failed the last time they were tried and will fail again.

[–] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 8 points 11 hours ago

America is truly going back to its roots. American towns, ethnic cleansing of native populations, all that's missing is chattel slavery (of course we still got that modern slavery). This crumbling empire deserves to collapse, and collapse quickly

The Un-American, yet totally American | Company Towns

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