[halbermensch]

Because the whole "Free Cities" thing is part of the old Libertarian wet dream of establishing instant Utopias on whatever scrap of "unclaimed" land they salvage from somewhere (some rock or coral reef somewhere... or in this case, lands belonging to an indigenous group seen as too weak to defend itself). Where the world will finally see how efficient and truly egalitarian we can all live once the bane of Coercion has been abolished once and for all. And the sun will never stop shining, etc. You know, John Galt and his valley in Colorado, etc.

In any case, the current generation's de-facto "John Galt" (Peter Thiel) is one of the key backers of the Honduran project, so (despite the abuse of posting guidelinbes) that makes it very much a Libertarian topic.

[jbelich]

Except that the Free City concept wasn't dreamed up in a libertarian vacuum. It's worked over and over again, building wealth, growth, and sustaining economies for centuries.

Having a guy wacked b/c he's a nimby definitely misses the point though... </facepalm>

[halbermensch]

Except that the Free City concept wasn't dreamed up in a libertarian vacuum.

Except the way Thiel & Co mean it, it was. There's no way you can compare their schemes with historical examples with HK, Trieste, the Hanseatic League etc (if that's what you're thinking).

[halbermensch]

Umm, the people he represents weren't protesting that "Free Cities" are being built near their property (their "backyard") -- rather, that outsiders are proposing to build them on their property.