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Floating city for startups makes waves among entrepreneurs

By | May 12, 2012, 10:55 AM PDT

Blueseed, the startup ship that will bring Silicon Valley to the open waters, is quickly gaining steam among entrepreneurs. The company recently released a report announcing that it already has 133 startup firms interested in becoming tenants of its floating city.

Of this group of interested entrepreneurs, 38 percent say they would be ready to move in now and 30 percent say they would be ready to set sail within the next six months.

The idea behind the company is to provide tech startups with an atmosphere in which they can perfect their products and produce new ideas in the company of like-minded individuals. The main draw is that the “city” will float on international waters, making it possible for tech professionals all over the world to stay close to the hub of innovation—Silicon Valley.

Because the vessel will sit only 12 miles from the coast of San Francisco, international entrepreneurs will only need tourist or short-term business visas, not tough-to-get work visas, to stay on board. By creating more space for foreign workers, the company’s creators hope the ship will fill a big void in the U.S. economy.

“Instead of reinventing the wheel, Blueseed will extend Silicon Valley to the world, fueling innovation, economic growth, and job creation that would otherwise not exist due to immigration restrictions,” the company states on its website, also providing the example that each year, the U.S. has 38,000 new graduates in computer science but creates a massive 144,000 job openings in the field. Blueseed, its creators claim, will help fill that gap with international workers who were previously unable to stay in the U.S. for lack of a work visa.

The company also says that its ship will help workers in the U.S. by providing jobs for Americans ranging from vessel crew to legal advising.

Investors, entrepreneurs, engineers and developers will be able to live and work on the ship for a monthly rate of $1,200 per person, a price that includes living quarters and office space. Ferries will be available daily to transport the professionals back to San Francisco daily.

While the company has yet to purchase a ship for the endeavor, it has drawn up a few vessel ideas. It is set to take off by third quarter 2013.

[via Venture Beat, Popular Science]

Images: Blueseed

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Sarah Korones

About Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2012 to 2013.

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones

Contributing Editor

Sarah Korones is a freelance writer based in New York. She has written for Psychology Today and Boston's Weekly Dig. She holds a degree from Tufts University.

Follow her on Twitter.

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones does not have financial holdings that would influence how or what she covers.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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+2 Votes
+ -
Sounds like...
...a 21st Century "Galt's Gulch".
Posted by JohnMcGrew@...
14th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
FLOATING OFF-SHORE CITES
Yes...and let's pollute our oceans even more until they are completely dead and us with them! Dead oceans mean a dead planet!
Posted by mcritz7
Updated - 14th May 2012
+2 Votes
+ -
Actually
Blueseed will take the cars of 1000 entrepreneurs off the road, and replace them with two ferries.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
16th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Actually actually
The 1000 cars will still be on the road... they will just be parked in a different place, near the embarcadero.
Posted by andrea46@...
22nd May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Not really
I'll come from India for example, and I won't buy a car once I arrive at SFO. I'll take the shuttle to Half Moon Bay, then the ferry to Blueseed. On weekends, I'll take the ferry then the shuttle to SF or SV.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
26th May
-1 Votes
+ -
Don't worry too much
Lots of technical issues such as ocean conditions, repairs, etc. just glossed over like its no big deal. Feasability issues are infact material. Really low probability this is going to actually happen. And if it does, who cares? An aricraft carrier only has about 6,000 people on it. How big did they say this was? Also it could be killed with legislation. Our government is a joke, but if they think they aren't getting their cut of the action, they might actually do something.
Posted by maszsam@...
23rd May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
I'm thinking...
...that the government can't do too much to legislate this out of existence if it's in international waters. Fun things can happen when you're in international waters. But...you may be right. Knowing this government, they'll find SOME way to destroy it, as they do with anything that is innovative and creative and a good idea.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
Really?
You enviro-alarmists are just too much. Living in a ship on the ocean is NOT polluting the oceans, and is NOT going to kill the planet. Stop with the hystrionics. Seriously. It's very annoying.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
What's very annoying is your Luddite attitude towards the environment
There has never been a scientific issue over which there has been so much scientific hard evidence, let alone the scientific consensus. 95+ percent of serious, peer-reviewed scientists agree that the Climate Destabilisation is man made. 10 hottest years ever measured: in the last 10-12 years. But no, the current heatwave and drought, that's all in our imagination.

The environmental effects of living on a ship has yet to be calculated. But computer geeks are a stubborn lot, that doesn't accept hard science when it means not running 5 laptops at the same time.
That ship could use tidal energy, wing, solar etc.
But, knowing my dominantly right wing geek friends, they will be arrogant about it, and use too much oil to be cost effective.
Posted by TheSteelGeneral
24th Aug
0 Votes
+ -
Yep
That's EXACTLY what it sounds like. And it's a damn fine idea, if you ask me.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
+5 Votes
+ -
Talk about moving high paying jobs offshore
What's next after high-tech start ups? Should the US allow companies to set up offshore sweatshops as well in order to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping cheap chinese goods into the US? Just setup your business, brothels, legal drugs, you name it, just 12 miles from shore and it's ok? I think there will be a groundswell of immense proportions in the US of people insisting that the 12 mile limit for a variety of regulations be extended 200 miles offshore, just like fishing grounds, etc. In your article, you stated that there are something on the order of 144,000 computer science jobs created annually but only 38,000 graduates. If that's true, why are so many people with computer science degrees out of work? Could it be that most of those jobs have already been shipped offshore, where employer's don't have to pay US taxes, or provide benefits, or are held legally accountable for their actions? All this ship does is move those offshore workers closer to a US time zone, which is the biggest problem facing offshore providers. As for providing jobs for US workers, crew and legal advisers? Cut me a break. I'm writting to my senators and congressmen now. I advise everybody who reads this do the same.
Posted by PSFTGURU@...
14th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Be happy to;
But what should we tell our representatives. The twelve mile limit is an international standard, depending on which country your fighting with at the moment.

I agree with all you say but if they cannot be influenced by common sense I see little that can be done nationally.

Honestly some of Americas largest corporations do worse that this daily and much of it illegally. I am up for going after them first setting a standard for everyone to follow.
Posted by TTCW
Updated - 14th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
How Blueseed will create jobs...
...is very simple. Google and Yahoo have immigrant co-founders. Now they are hiring a total of like 30,000 people.

Blueseed will host startup entrepreneurs. Startups create jobs. The next Google can be created on Blueseed, and then hire tens of thousands of Americans.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
16th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Hire 10,s of thousands?
They are already off shoring tens of thousands of jobs, to workers without OSHA, Workers' Compensation coverage, EPA regulations, etc. This is only a depraved methodology to hire cheap foreign labor. Thousands of computer science degree holders can't find work. We (the USA) need to force businesses making products overseas or off shore to comply with all the regulations US based businesses have to comply with. That will demonstrate which country is really efficient and creative. Minus the huge wage disparities and environmental scofflawing, US workers can out do anyone.
Posted by st5vJVC2um
18th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Why thousands of Computer Science degree holders cant' get work...
...is because they're underqualified, overpaid, or both.

Assuming, of course, that this is true. Citation needed.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
26th May
-1 Votes
+ -
Stop and think
The whole reason US labor is so expensive is because of government interference. Government regulations. Government taxes. Government union laws. Excessive government environmental regulations. And all the paperwork and legal fees that come with government interference. Now we have Obamacare, which will make it even worse on businesses. Look, the purpose of business is to make a profit for the owners/investors. In the process of doing this, they create jobs for other people, because the businesses that can operate with just one or two people to run them are few and far between. Businesses know that, if they want to keep their employees, they have to pay them a fair wage and create a decent environment in which to work. The laws of supply and demand, applied to labor, take care of the majority of problems government supposedly intervenes to fix. All that happens when government intervenes is that things get needlessly complex and ASTRONOMICALLY more expensive. At some point, it simply ceases to be worth doing business in such an environment. People decry the profit motive, but nothing gets done unless the people involved can profit from their involvement. The more profit potential, the more likely something is to get done, and the better it gets done. When you diminish the profit potential of an activity, through excessive taxes or regulation, you diminish the likelihood of a thing getting done well, if it gets done at all. Also true is that people seek pleasure and avoid pain. If you increase the amount of pain involved in an activity, you decrease the amount of that activity, because people don't like pain. It's simple human nature. But government, especially Liberal/Socialist government, simply doesn't understand this or they don't care, so they work AGAINST human nature and only end up destroying people's incentive to do anything worthwhile. And this country is filled with useful idiots who encourage this stupidity. We need to smarten up and stop punishing people for trying to be successful.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
Utah
Also, Utah already has already stolen many Sillicon Valley businesses, these aren't coming back. The word is now: "Go East, young geek man, go East!"
Posted by TheSteelGeneral
24th Aug
-1 Votes
+ -
Jeez...
Us taxes and regulations are crippling to business. We have one of the most business UNfriendly environments in the world. Is it any wonder businesses and their jobs go overseas? Once, we were the business center of the world. The Founders built us a country where people could engage in free enterprise without the crushing burden of government ruining everything. Over the intervening centuries, the protections on enterprise have been steadily stripped away - admittedly, SOME for the better, but most for the worse - and now we have an environment where daily, businesses have to decide whether to shut down, go bankrupt, or leave, just to survive. And when they do any of those things, we lose jobs and our economy suffers. Meanwhile, China - an ostensibly Communist country - is trouncing us at our own capitalist game. If we want to maintain our standard of living, we need to get government off the necks of business. This ship is an attempt to do that. It's an attempt to stay in the US, but avoid the crushing weight of government. If it's stopped, these businesses will simply go elsewhere, and take their high-paying jobs with them. I don't understand why Liberals don't get that very simple idea. BUSINESS IS OUR FRIEND, NOT OUR ENEMY.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
-1 Votes
+ -
I'm with PSFTGURU.
I was sensing a basic "wrongness" while I was reading the article, and GURU's comments articulated it perfectly.
Posted by Darlene Waters
14th May 2012
+3 Votes
+ -
PSFTGURU is uninformed
Here's a study from Kauffman Foundation:

http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx

"Of the overall 12 million new jobs added in 2007, young firms were responsible for the creation of nearly 8 million of those jobs."

Blueseed will host startups, and startups create jobs. "GURU" doesn't quite seem to understand how startups work. Sadly, neither probably do the senators and congressmen he's going to write to.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
16th May 2012
-3 Votes
+ -
I didn't read your article
But I assume from the quote, that it is negative. Startups fail regularly, so these jobs would only be temporary, and most likely created for foreign workers such as yourself?
Posted by janitorman
22nd May 2012
+3 Votes
+ -
I did read the article
and it is not negative - more a neutral rewording of a press release.
Posted by RedPete
23rd May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
End Runs
Spend the same amount of energy correcting visa laws and influencing your congress to do it's job.
The benefits will be felt by all, not to mention money, energy and resources saved.

It's called social media, maybe you've heard of it.
Posted by TTCW
14th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
If immigration laws could be fixed, they'd already be fixed
The founders of BlueSeed are immigrants who've been through the ringer navigating the United States' impossibly complex and unfair immigration policies. Yes, this is an end run around those issues because they want to spare new immigrants the grief that they went through trying to establish successful business ventures in the high tech industry where most of the qualified talent DOES NOT LIVE IN THE U.S. and cannot get H1-B visas. They're not taking existing American jobs away from Americans, they are CREATING NEW JOBS FOR EVERYONE.
Posted by terry.floyd@...
14th May 2012
+2 Votes
+ -
Insane leadership.
The Bush administration is the one that changed this in their fear of the all things sensible. Several organizations including Brookings found that half of the start ups in America had at least one immigrant partner. I don't think either side of our insane political system seems to be talking about this. Arizona may not understand the difference between a techey and a druggie but we don't need them to change congress.

I am not exactly off the information grid and I have certainly not seen this discussion going on for some time. We recently influenced everyone in congress over the internet security bills. I was the first to write my senator and in a few days she got lambasted and flipped positions so fast her back may still be out.
Posted by TTCW
14th May 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Bipartisan mess. You can blame both sides if you are honest.
In case you were not aware, almost 100 percent of the US immigration laws written since the mid 1960s was authored by and/or sponsored by the late Senator Ted Kennedy. That and health care were pet projects.

It took bipartisan support to get all of the immigration laws through Congress with old Teddy leading charge every time for the democrats.

The current immigration quota system, implimented under Bush, was Teddys pride because it favors allowing larger numbers of immigrants from Latin America verses Europe and Asia.

That is because Teddy had personal affiliations with leftist radicals in Latin America going back to his brothers presidency.

The current Secret Service prostitute fiasco is nothing compared to some of the trouble JFK got his brother out of in those same nations.

Why do you think Joe (Joe for oil) Kennedy has such good relations with Venezuela to get his cheap oil? The family has deep roots in Latin America.

The visa system changes slowed the immigration of conservative leaning people from Asia.
Posted by Hates Idiots
Updated - 16th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Startups create most jobs
Here's the study from Kauffman Foundation:

"Of the overall 12 million new jobs added in 2007, young firms were responsible for the creation of nearly 8 million of those jobs."

http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/where-will-the-jobs-come-from.aspx

PSFTGURU is uninformed.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
Updated - 16th May 2012
+7 Votes
+ -
Do not agree
I think they are trying to beat taxes and get low cost employees. If they need more qualified talent, why not partner with some colleges to get more people aware of shortage. Companies used to train employees, this was much better because after investing the time to train, they did not find it so easy to dump workers. Why must we pay to train their workforce. This is another example of corparate welfare.
Posted by dennyinusa
Updated - 14th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Welfare?
I'm not sure what you mean by "this is another example of corporate welfare." BlueSeed is not taking one penny of taxpayer money from U.S. citizens. They are being funded by private investors and venture capital firms, and are not seeking any government grants. No one is aksing YOU to "pay to train their workforce." The startups that launch on BlueSeed will hire their own highly skilled workers who are already trained in their home countries and who simply wish to work in the fertile technology industry of Silicon Valley, but the ridiculous U.S. immigration policies prohibit them from doing so.
Posted by terry.floyd@...
15th May 2012
+2 Votes
+ -
trained in their home countries?
Are you sure of that? While in Universitiy I saw immense numbers of immigrant computer students training in the US and trying to get work visas to work in the US. So yes, they ARE taking away jobs from Americans. If their home countries were so great, and if regulations on US based businesses are so awful, why don't they simply start their startups over there, in their home countries? Because their home countries are incredibly corrupt, demanding bribes at every turn, nationalizations of private property, etc. It seems to me that they have benefited from the US market, and simply want to avoid obeying OSHA, EPA, and other regulations which level the playing field between the employees and employers, and between the environment and polluters.
Posted by st5vJVC2um
18th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Blueseed will host startups
Blueseed isn't some software company that "needs talent".

Blueseed will allow foreign startup entrepreneurs like me to start businesses near Silicon Valley. These businesses will hire people. US, in its stupidity, doesn't allow us to do that. NYC Mayor Bloomberg called this "National Suicide" - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-15/u-s-immigration-policy-risks-suicide-bloomberg-says-1-.html
Posted by Praveen Mittal
16th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
What?
They aren't asking for anything from the government, they are simply circumventing government meddling - something EVERY smart business learns to do sooner or later, lest they be destroyed by it. No one minds paying some reasonable taxes (especially if those taxes are actually used for things the government is constitutionally obliged to do, rather than things it is NOT obliged to do or is constitutionally prohibited from doing), and everyone acknowledges the need for REASONABLE, SENSIBLE regulations, but our government has gone off the rails. It is now IMPEDING business and creating bottlenecks and needless expenses, not to mention crushing taxes and regulations. It is simply smart business to try to avoid these things as much as possible. I, for one, am glad these folks are even trying to remain in the US, rather than doing what I would argue is the most profitable thing, and going somewhere with less government interference...somewhere they're actually wanted and appreciated.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
+5 Votes
+ -
I call bull...
....where most of the qualified talent DOES NOT LIVE IN THE U.S. and cannot get H1-B visas...

The problem is that corporations want to pay 10 to 12 dollars an hour for expertise that has taken may years of hard study and work to gain. These financial analysts and c-level executives somehow feel that their degrees are valuable while computer science degrees are not. They want top notch talent at burger flipper prices and feel entitled to get it via any means possible. But ask any one of them if they'd be willing to take the kind of pay they're wanting to offer for a job that requires so much work, study and continuing education to maintain ones skill set and see how quickly you get laughed out the door.
Posted by cnoevil@...
22nd May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
One thing we often overlook...
...is that, if we actually had sound money and a sound economy, $10 - $12 would be very decent money. It's not decent money right now, because our money is, in reality, nearly worthless. If our money was actually backed by something with actual value (gold, silver, platinum, etc), the aforementioned amount of money would be significant. Again, the root problem is government, which through various means, distorts and disrupts business and the labor market. We have to stop looking at the symptoms, and start looking at the disease.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
+1 Vote
+ -
Visa laws couldn't be fixed
And people have spent way more than Blueseed $500k.

Look at these acts:
Startup Visa Act - www.startupvisa.com
Startup Act (Senator Moran)
IDEA Act (Congresswoman Lofgren).

No progress on any of them. Congress isn't doing ****, excuse my French.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
16th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Ummm...
Have you actually TRIED to "correct" laws or influence congress? It's damn near impossible - certainly EXTREMELY expensive and time-consuming, and often not worth the effort. We have nearly ceased to be a representative republic. Congress no longer cares what the individual has to say. It's just easier, more profitable, and less painful to simply circumvent the government by either leaving altogether, or doing something like this. If one REALLY wants to have a positive influence on government, one needs money and influence, and those things can only be gained by earning them with successful business ventures. The harder it is to be successful, the smaller our voice becomes, and the less impactful each citizen becomes. Of course, the government knows this...
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
-1 Votes
+ -
Right Idea with Wrong Tool
A floating sweat shop for foreign workers is ripe with potential for human abuse.

What this idea has RIGHT is that legal immigration of talent is a driver of economic growth. We should harness this as a tool for BUILDING the American economy.

Suppose that we could screen the world's 7 billion population and offer US citizenship to 1 million talented people... who either pay into the system up front or are likely to be productive workers and entrepreneurs who will pay taxes to the USA. With their families this could add 3 million to our population. Do that 10 years in a row, and we would have expanded our population by 30 million or 10%.

This in turn would increase our GDP by far more than 10% (as residents spend money locally and create follow-on jobs), smooth out the boomer age curve, strengthen the housing market, and help pay for the coming debts and expenses of maintaining the US infrastructure. Heck, we could require that a certain percentage buy homes in Detroit, and thereby specifically revitalize that failing city along the way.

30 million new Americans would be the creative explosion and demand jumpstart that we need to prosper in the coming decade. There are very few countries in the world who have the extra space, well developed infrastructure, clean environmnent, tolerance for diversity, high security, low corruption, and support for English (the world's favorite #2 language) as the USA. Neither Europe nor China or Japan could ever use immigration as a FUNDAMENTAL GROWTH STRATEGY. We can.

Last point: I always hear US programmers for example, complain "But bizguy, my pay is already falling - I can't find a job - importing programmers from India or Bulgaria will just hurt my salary." This is a WRONG prediction. US programmers ALREADY compete with Indian and Bulgaria and that salary pressue will be there like it or not! The only question is whether those other people are spending their paychecks and contributing taxes and building strong businesses in foriegn economies... or in ours. US programmers have far more to gain from a thriving American IT scene than they do from denying entry to talented co-workers.
Posted by BostonBizGuy
Updated - 14th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Influx of immigrants to the US is a strategy for success
BostonBizGuy has it right. I don't have a problem with jobs going to programmers from India, as long as they live here and pay taxes here and enjoy the same benefits and protections as American workers. Our incredibly successful economic growth during the last century was due more to an influx of new blood than birthrate. When social security started, there were 35 workers paying taxes for each senior citizen supported. Today, there are 3 workers paying taxes for each senior citizen supported. We can't produce workers fast enough through the birth of US citizens, so we might as well let productive workers come here and pay taxes to support all those retiring boomers.
Posted by PSFTGURU@...
14th May 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Even better...
...get rid of Social Security altogether (for those not at, or near retirement age), and instead require employers to maintain retirement accounts for their employees that follow them where ever they go. Instead of sending the money to the government, where it's raided and wasted, actually place it in a retirement account where it will increase in value. Allow a certain percentage of it to be invested in stocks or whatever, but the bulk of it to simply sit in private savings. This way, we don't have to worry about how many workers there are for every retiree.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
What a GREAT IDEA!
This is a wonderful idea! Let's encourage poor, but well-educated third world immigrants to come to the U.S. with their families to build new lives in a free country, but let's FORCE them to buy our empty, dilapidated foreclosed homes in crime-ridden Detroit to help restore the real estate market! And if they don't like living there, we can always build a fence around the development so they won't be able to leave! That's the kind of America we want to show the world. The Land of the Free and home of the brave!
Posted by terry.floyd@...
14th May 2012
+4 Votes
+ -
No fence needed
A single immigrant moving to Detroit might get mugged, but one million will do something amazing. After all, the best way to convince a man to improve a piece of property is to make him the owner of it.
Posted by BostonBizGuy
14th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
That is exactly how it happens
U. S. history shows what the majority of the immigrants endured during many economic downturns; it???s slavery with a different name, and in different colors. Look at what happen to the Palestinians in Plan of Partition 1947.
Posted by Dan Nabbith
27th May
+1 Vote
+ -
Sweat shop? Huh?
You're right that "US programmers have far more to gain from a thriving American IT scene than they do from denying entry to talented co-workers.", and in many other places in your comment, but I don't understand how you came up with the idea that Blueseed would be a sweatshop.

What sort of sweatshop could last for a minute, if all the people onboard were online 24/7?

How about all the press coverage? Even one dude who feels "exploited" can cause a PR disaster that would doom the project.
Posted by Praveen Mittal
Updated - 26th May
+3 Votes
+ -
Spending their paychecks in the US? Not!
If they're twelve miles and a boat ride away from the nearest Wal-Mart, they're just going to spend their paycheck at the company store on the boat (which is not in the US). Since they're out of the US, they're not paying US payroll or property taxes, except when they take shore leave on their tourist visas and pay sales taxes.
Posted by John.Berger@...
22nd May 2012
+2 Votes
+ -
And where is the company store getting their supplies from
What a silly comment. Where will the "company store" get its supplies from?

Nevermind that, where will it get fresh food for 1000 people from?
Posted by Praveen Mittal
26th May
+1 Vote
+ -
What goes in must come out
...and the wrapper/container ...or other discarded ...er trash. Where does it go...into the ocean.
Posted by Dan Nabbith
27th May
0 Votes
+ -
Doubtful.
Most businesses are pretty conscious of the environment these days. In any case, NO ONE wants a polluted planet, and as someone mentioned earlier, all it would take is for ONE employee to post something about where the trash is dumped, and the ship would be the subject of an infinite number of bad publicity articles, leading to government interference and regulation, defeating the whole purpose of the ship. It's MUCH less headache to hire a trash ship to pick up the garbage.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
Hmmm...
I agree in theory with much of what you say, but I think that it ultimately involves too much government action. I think the same basic result could be achieved by getting government out of the way and off the backs of business. Shrinking government involvement, removing burdensome regulations, reducing taxes, and yes, correcting our immigration policy to favor educated, intelligent, contributing people who speak English would create an environment that would accomplish your goals, without the government having to try to force it to happen. Government action necessarily involves rules, regulations, and bureaucracy, all of which mean increased expense on the business and necessitate increased taxes to support the government's action. The point is, the desired results can be better achieved by LESS government action than by MORE.
Posted by stormhawk31
28th May
0 Votes
+ -
On Banking and Piracy
Will the ship also charter its own offshore bank so these startups and their executives won't be bothered with pesky taxes that the rest of us pay?
Who do they expect to provide protection from piracy or other criminal acts on board? US? Really? Without paying any taxes?
Posted by trapper
14th May 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Trapper sounds trapped
The BlueSeed startups and their employees will pay taxes to their own governments, just as you would if you were working in Europe or Asia for IBM or Microsoft. You would pay taxes to the U.S. government. These people are NO DIFFERENT from you. They pay taxes to their governments.

And how many pirates do you know who terrorize ships along the coast of Oregon and California? Why are Long Beach and Oakland the busiest ports in North America if the ships that unload their cargo in these ports have to fight off pirates on the open ocean to make that dangerous voyage?

You sound like you are worried about problems that simply do not exist.
Posted by terry.floyd@...
Updated - 14th May 2012
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