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Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age
Imagine a capitalist paradise. An island utopia governed solely by the rules of the market and inspired by the fictions of Ayn Rand and Robinson Crusoe. Sound far-fetched? It may not be. The past half century is littered with the remains of such experiments in what Raymond calls “libertarian exit.” Often dismissed as little more than the dreams of crazy, rich Caucasians, exit strategies have been tried out from the southwest Pacific to the Caribbean, from the North Sea to the high seas, often with dire consequences for local inhabitants. Based on research in archives in the US, the UK, and Vanuatu, as well as in FBI files acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, Craib explores in careful detail the ideology and practice of libertarian exit and its place in the histories of contemporary capitalism, decolonization, empire, and oceans and islands. Adventure Capitalism is a global history that intersects with an array of Fidel Castro and the Koch brothers, American segregationists and Melanesian socialists, Honolulu-based real estate speculators and British Special Branch spies, soldiers of fortune and English lords, Orange County engineers and Tongan navigators, CIA operatives and CBS news executives, and a new breed of techno-utopians and an old guard of Honduran coup leaders. This is not only a history of our time but, given the new iterations of privatized exit—seasteads, free private cities, and space colonization—it is also a history of our future.
304 pages, Paperback
Published July 5, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 2, 2023
This book really shines in a well researched retelling type of non fiction and less so in the complicated webs of “how we got there” build up that lead to tangential off shoots I found a bit tedious.
December 12, 2022
i learned so much about libertarian history and had an absolute blast reading this. it was an adventure for me too! it's so well researched and so mean. actually lol'ed when it was pointed out that the rich guy that kept trying to build island libertarian utopias in the 60s and had to collaborate with the shadiest people possible to snatch land from places that were trying to decolonialize was trying to create and enforce his ideals with a hefty amount of violence and authoritarian control.
March 22, 2023
This brilliant book is a feat of storytelling. It details the dismal history of wealthy, far-right libertarians' plans to escape from the reaches of governments and to form their own societies. The colorful cast of antiheroes includes tech millionaires, fixers, coup plotters, mercenaries, and opportunists. Their projects reek of neocolonialism as they scour the world for "available" (read "stealable") land. And if they can't find land, they're quite happy attempting to colonize the ocean or outer space. "Adventure Capitalism" is a warning as well as a history. I recommend it very highly indeed.
October 6, 2022
A quickly paced easy-to-read book on the history of wealthy people's attempts to exit the state and create right-wing libertarian utopias based on the nonsense found in Ayn Rand's god-awful novels.
March 26, 2023
Interesting
May 1, 2023
Content interesting and overall a great book. One downside is some chapters felt a bit longer than necessary, especially the chapter on the New Hebrides (Chapter 4). This was the longest chapter and could have been cut in half. Otherwise, well written with plethora of useful footnotes. Other reviews sum up nicely, so I'll leave it at that.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews