Free Cities Podcast

Timothy Allen talks with Knut Svanholm.

Knut is a former sea captain turned Bitcoin author/philosopher. He’s written a number of well known Bitcoin books including 'Sovereignty & Independence', 'Everything Divided by 21 Million' and his latest work: 'Praxeology: The invisible hand that feeds you'.

This is a pretty long and meandering conversation and there is a fair amount of thinking out loud going on… so do bear with us.

Subjects covered include, Bitcoin, Praxeology, human action, governance models, life on the sea, monetary history, central planning, education, universal basic income, central bank digital currencies, military history, religion, spirituality and we get to answer the eternal question "Is bitcoin is a cult?"

Enjoy the conversation

TIMESTAMPS

03:36 - What is bitcoin? 10:49 - You are your Bitcoin. Can you be your gold? 16:06 - Bitcoin is like the rules of chess. 22:04 - Bitcoin as a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. 28:38 - What is praxeology and how does it work? 32:13 - Man must act on his free will. 39:02 - How do you measure people’s desires? 45:27 - Praxeology as a robust science. 49:16 - What is praxeology and why is it important? 56:42 - Why did you decide to become a sea captain? 1:03:21 - How do you feel about seasteading? 1:08:43 - Sailing is a meditative experience. 1:14:41 - Pondering the future. 1:22:10 - What does praxeology teach us about human behaviour? 1:26:05 - Philosophical thoughts on sailing. 1:32:01 - Governments vs. Private places that govern themselves. 1:35:49 - There is only one human right. 1:42:53 - The internet is an excellent tool for meeting the people you want to meet in real life. 1:48:20 - All human problems stem from the desire for a free lunch. 1:54:16 - Ceremonial Burial and the afterlife. 2:03:24 - Decentralisation vs. decentralisation. 2:09:36 - Is central planning ever necessary? 2:15:59 - Collectivist vs. individualist. 2:28:53 - How the free market works. 2:36:23 - Intellectual armour vs. physical weapons. 2:40:10 - The next form of competition. 2:47:15 - Why bitcoin is an important strategy in competition? 2:52:38 - How would a government demand everyone hand in their bitcoin? 2:59:46 - The problem with the base layer. 3:05:46 - Zero marginal cost in a deflationary world. 3:11:41 - The destructive power of taxes and inflation. 3:17:18 - The base layer of trust. 3:20:51 - Fees and Bitcoin. 3:27:02 - The difference between bitcoin and gold. 3:30:41 - The spiritual realm of Bitcoin. 3:39:10 - Bitcoin & religion.

TWITTER:

Knut Svanholm: https://twitter.com/knutsvanholm

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠

OTHER LINKS:

Knut Svanholm: https://www.knutsvanholm.com/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Montelibero community member Jose Birkin.

This conversation was my first in Montenegro within the Montelibero community.

Montelibero is an intentional community of mostly Russian speaking libertarians that appears in our free communities directory. Myself and Peter Young traveled there last month on a fact finding mission to see what kind of progress is being made in their quest to become 'a role model of liberty in practice in Montenegro'.

Due to it’s decentralised nature, there are no spokespeople as such who can speak on behalf of the community as a whole but one individual who goes by the name of Jose Birkin (not his real name of course) stepped up to answer my questions about the ins and outs of running a start-up intentional community such as this.

A quick word of warning before you dive in. For an hour or so we ended up talking quite intensely about the blockchain tokenomics system that the community uses to transact internally, track ownership of land titles and make community decisions etc, and this part of the conversation may become a little tedious for some of you since I was not of the opinion that one needs to use a blockchain in this situation. As a result I did rather labour the point somewhat in order to get the whole thing straight in my head. Long and short of it is…. whilst I still think that their solution is not necessarily a good long term one, I now understand their reasons why they chose it.

Other than that we talk about the history of the community, the pros and cons of building in Montenegro and how the community functions without having any one person in charge. I also get to ask the question “Who will build the roads?” which is always a pleasure, so look out for that one and look out also in the future for more interviews that I conducted whilst I was there with further residents of Montelibero who have either bought land or property there.

Montelibero is an exciting experiment and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I would like to offer another big thank you to the community who welcomed us with open arms during our time in the country.

Enjoy the conversation.

TWITTER:

Montelibero (English): ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/theMontelibero

Montelibero (Russian): https://twitter.com/MonteliberoFSPE

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠

OTHER LINKS:

Montelibero Telegram Chat: ⁠⁠https://t.me/FSPE_Montenegro

Montelibero Website: https://montelibero.org/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Marek Tatała.

Marek is the VP of the Economic Freedom Foundation which is a Polish grant giving organisation in a similar vein to Atlas Network. Alongside funding relevant projects they also work on advocacy and political lobbying, believing in any way that bridges can be built to help integrate free market and classical liberal ideals into general society.

Our discussion revolves around the work of the foundation and we touch upon many related subjects including the decentralisation of nation states, Polish Political trends, global free market success stories and whether or not membership to the EU is a net benefit or not.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 - Introduction of the episode. 02:17 - What is the political landscape like in Warsaw? 03:51 - What is the role of the Economic Freedom Foundation? 09:50 - Pension reforms in Poland. 15:56 - How do you reach out to people outside the free market bubble? 20:57 - The ruling party in Poland. 26:57 - Is it fair to expect a classical liberal party to win elections? 31:50 - The idea of decentralization. 34:55 - What is the incentive for a state to decentralize? 41:21 - Polarization in society. 47:18 - The difference between classical liberalism and libertarianism. 53:47 - Poland's integration into the EU. 59:47 - Free trade in the EU and trade wars.

TWITTER:

Marek Tatała: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MarekTatala⁠

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

Economic Freedom Foundation: ⁠⁠https://wolnagospodarka.pl/en/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Federico Fernández.

Federico is the CEO of ‘Somos Innovación’ also known as ‘We Are Innovation', which is a network of more than 30 think tanks based in Latin America and Europe dedicated to promoting progress through innovation, the adoption of new technologies and human creativity.

Unsurprisingly, the main focus of our discussion is innovation in all of its many incarnations. We examine the eternal struggle between regulation and innovation and dive into some of Federico’s opinions on inventive governance models, in particular Estonia and its innovative E governance system.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

[0:10] Intro to the podcast. [2:50] The USA is still the home of innovation. [7:32] The culture of failure in Silicon Valley. [14:27] Every disruption brings a period of instability. [19:52] Innovation and Regulation. [25:26] Advocacy & research. [28:16] Innovations in governance - Estonia. [35:41] Reducing or eliminating red tape. [41:06] What are the trends in Europe right now? [44:17] Can Free Cities work? [53:09] Indexes of Innovation. [58:44] What's your favorite & most exciting innovation?

TWITTER:

Federico Fernández: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/gabrielhdm⁠

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

We Are Innovation: ⁠⁠https://weareinnovation.eu/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Gabriel Delgado.

Gabriel is the co-founder and CDO of Próspera.

Próspera is a private city and special economic zone on the island of Roatán in the Central American state of Honduras. The city is an autonomous zone with private government and its own fiscal, regulatory and legal architecture

A couple of weeks ago whilst I was in Montenegro attending the New Cities and Network States weekend at Zuzalu, Timothy Allen got to sit down with one of the founders of Próspera, Gabriel Delgado and he ran over the latest news from the project including buildings and infrastructure progress, as well as future plans and an update on their ongoing complications with the Honduran Government.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 - Introduction to the episode.

03:51 - The ideological onslaught against Próspera.

06:31 - Gabriel's background and buildings update.

12:38 - Próspera's vision for the future.

17:47 - What is The circular factory?

23:13 - Innovations in drone delivery.

28:31 - From zero buildings to four buildings in three years.

31:12 - The complicated relationship with the current government of Honduras.

36:19 - What would happen if the Honduran government renounces their treaty?

42:00 - Best guess on how government issue will play out.

46:34 - Health summit, legal hackathon, longevity and regenerative medicine.

TWITTER:

Gabriel Delgado: ⁠https://twitter.com/gabrielhdm

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠

Próspera: ⁠https://twitter.com/Prosperahn⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠

WEBSITES:

Próspera ZEDE: ⁠https://pzgps.hn/⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Jacek Spendel.

Jacek is the President of Liberty international which is the oldest organisation promoting libertarianism worldwide.

In this conversation we discuss the work of Liberty International as well as Jacek’s views on libertarianism, travel, free cities and the future of the free world.Jacek has an optimistic view of the world, something that we whole heartedly endorse here at the free cities foundation. Its incredibly encouraging to hear from so many different people and organisations working towards the same goals of freedom and personal liberty.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 - Introduction to this episode.

2:39 - Realisation of the dream of libertarians - The dream of free cities. The ability to opt-in and out. Why Dubai is a great place to live and work. Immigration in Dubai. The ability to vote with your feet.

7:38 - Immigration and the free cities model - Poland is a great place to live. Quality of living and quality of life in Poland. Restrictions during the pandemic. Restrictions in Poland during the coronavirus outbreak.

14:44 - The work of Liberty International - Finding and expanding freedom in a free world. Leadership programme for young libertarian leaders called Project Arizona. Best tools of liberty.

20:01 - Work Migrations Index - Investment opportunities for young people in their 30s. The future of travel in a freer and happier world. Covid-19. Limiting travel to reduce CO2 and greenhouse gases. The forces of free markets and trade.

26:13 - Dangers connected to geopolitical situations - The environmental movement and climate change. Carbon tax. Not a typical digital nomad. The difference between a permanent tourist and a digital nomad.

31:50 - The pros and cons of a digital nomadic life - Being independent from government in Poland. Digital nomad style of living. Pitfalls of moving to autonomous jurisdictions. Bad things happened to other jurisdictions like Costa Rica. Liberland is a scam.

38:01 - How do you envisage a world in 50 years from now? - Free cities and free trade agreements. Digital nomadism and the increase in free movement. The future of free jurisdictions like Singapore. How free jurisdictions will differ from each other. The future of the world according to Liberty International. Sabbatical from Liberty International.

44:27 - What is Project Arizona and why is it important? - Why Arizona is so good. Pros and cons of living in Texas. Success stories of free market conservatives. The dangers of socialism in America. Free Russia Forum in Vilnius, Russia.

TWITTER:

Jacek Spendel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/SpendelJacek

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠

Liberty International: https://twitter.com/Liberty_ISIL

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

Liberty International: ⁠⁠https://liberty-intl.org/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Matt & Terry Kibbe.

Matt and Terry Kibbe are the founders of ‘Free the People' which is an educational foundation charged with the mission of tuning in the next generation to the core values of personal liberty and peaceful cooperation.

I met them both in Lisbon where they were speaking at LibertyCon and were it not for both of our incredibly strict schedules over that weekend I would have happily spoken to them for much longer since they have such a wealth of experience in the worlds of both legacy and new media.

In our conversation we mainly discuss the current media landscape and what might be the best tools and strategies for communicating our message to the hearts and minds of people in today’s highly volatile world.

The marketplace of ideas has never been more universally accessible than it is at this time in history and Terry and Matt are most certainly amongst those at the sharp end of the wedge when it comes to communicating ideas of Liberty and freedom.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 - Intro to this episode.

4:36 - Introductions from Terry and Matt.

7:33 - The resurgence of Libertarian ideas.

13:05 - The collapse of the old media.

19:03 - Do you think there's any merit in written content?

23:39 - Have you stopped doing long-form documentary?

27:37 - Different forms of media: earned media, paid media and creative media.

31:40 - What is your favourite Libertarian documentary?

38:32 - The best strategy to promote freedom & liberty.

43:07 - The best way to communicate your ideas.

TWITTER:

Matt Kibbe: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/mkibbe⁠

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

Free The People: ⁠https://freethepeople.org/⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠

Timothy Allen talks with Kris Kaleta.

Kris Kaleta is a digital nomad and technologist who is doing some absolutely fascinating post-graduate research on virtual Libertarian communities.

Our conversation touches on many aspects of his work from digital politics to emerging governance models and the contemporary phenomenon of online communities manifesting in real life. Kris has been a keen observer of the Free Cities movement since the start so he has a lot of great insights into the future of what many are calling the emerging free market of living together.

Other subjects include: Episodic narrative enquiry, the future of the internet, the marketplace for ideas, Agorism, freedom technology, trans-humanism and flag theory.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 Introduction to this episode. 2:57 Why did you decide to become a digital nomad? 12:22 The nuts and bolts of being a digital nomad. 17:29 How did you get involved in the community? 23:18 Who’s interested in virtual communities? 29:00 Moving geographically to live a more freer life. 36:50 What kick-started my interest in free cities. 40:44 Ideas are first explored on the social level. 46:50 What the future of the internet looks like. 53:15 What are the antidotes to sovereign state control networks? 58:58 A two-tier society. 1:02:50 Agorism. 1:10:00 The different types of digital nomads. 1:15:42 How do you attract digital nomads? 1:22:23 Tax optimisation. 1:27:21 How are you preparing for a dystopian tech future? 1:33:40 Piratebay. 1:39:07 The difference between a conspiracy theory and a mainstream theory. 1:46:14 Transhumanism in the digital age. 1:51:20 Why humans prefer what they believe they're comfortable with. 1:59:12 The digital realm vs. the physical realm. 2:05:21 How technology is becoming part of us. 2:12:02 Technology is a living thing. 2:18:17 Traveling around the world.

TWITTER:

Kris Kaleta: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/kriskaleta

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/

Staatenlos (mentioned in podcast): https://staatenlos.ch/

Timothy Allen talks with Mikołaj Pisarski.

Mikołaj is the former president of KoLiber Association and the current president of the Instytut Misesa, Poland’s Mises Institute.

In this conversation we discover Mikolaj’s love for working with young people and his passion for teaching Libertarian principals and the ideas of Austrian economics. We also talk about Polish history, personal responsibility, parenting strategies and the problems of democracy, as well as a little Anarcho-capitalism and technology thrown in for good measure.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on your app and if you like to listen to podcasts on youtube then you can find us HERE.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 Intro to this episode. 03:11 Being a lefty in the past. 09:17 How did you become interested in economics? 14:56 Teaching students the value of free trade. 23:04 Why monarchy is better than democracy? 28:09 Dealing with road accidents in the anarcho-capitalist system. 35:32 The psychological cost of direct confrontation with responsibility. 41:28 Causes of bad parenting. 46:29 The rise of mental illness in the society. 51:51 Does Poland have private education? 56:06 Homeschooling vs. Public Schools. 1:00:20 Online schools. 1:08:28 Learning to be a teacher. 1:13:33 The resurgence of Austrian economics in Europe. 1:19:52 Pessimism and optimism about the future. 1:24:02 The emergence of a libertarian community in Poland. 1:31:15 What would you do in a year of sabbatical?

TWITTER:

Mikołaj Pisarski: ⁠https://twitter.com/MikolajPisarski

Timothy Allen: ⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠

WEBSITES:

Instytut Misesa: ⁠https://mises.pl/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://free-cities.org/

Timothy Allen talks with Nikos Sotirakopoulos

Nikos is an author, senior lecturer in social sciences at York St John Universtity and director of the European Ayn Rand Institute.

Now, i have a problem with this conversation… namely that it is too short… Nikos is a busy man and I had a strict hour with him in Warsaw. However we managed to get through a fair bit in that hour…. brutalist architecture , collectivism vs individualism, the culture wars, Ayn Rand's philosophy, martial arts, what Jordan Peterson gets wrong, Joe Rogan and the medium of podcasting, political correctness and anti capitalism.. to name but a few of the subjects covered.

Nikos is an excellent orator… this kind of conversation leaves me not only well informed but also rejuvenated and I hope that you get to have the same experience too.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 Introduction to this episode. 05:40 Why I like Brutalist Architecture. 7:40 Does collectivism have a place at any scale? 13:37 Why is the public sphere so toxic?. 19:37 Why do political parties end up not standing for anything? 22:16 Is tribalism a political strategy or innate? 27:09 Socialism and the morality of sacrifice. 32:22 Ayn Rand's philosophy 101. 36:12 The difference between happiness and meaning. 41:34 What is enthusiam? 47:43 The power of discussion. 52:52 Why podcasting is a radical revolutionary way of passing ideas? 56:21 Lifestyle Activism vs. The New Left. 1:02:58 Let’s disagree on issues but agree on truth.

TWITTER:

Nikos Sotirakopoulos: ⁠https://twitter.com/Nikos_17

Timothy Allen: ⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠

WEBSITES:

Ayn Rand Institute: ⁠https://ari.aynrand.org/

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠https://free-cities.org/

LINKS:

Nikos's books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Nikos+Sotirakopoulos

Brutalist monument in Bulgaria: https://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/2012/02/buzludzha-buzludja-bulgaria/