Sovereignty for Sale w/ Atossa Abrahamian

I spoke to Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, an independent journalist and author of The Hidden Globe, about the world of offshore finance, special economic zones, and network states.

We dig into her reporting on a proposed crypto enclave in St. Kitts and Nevis, the history and reality of these zones, and what happens when libertarian ideas about sovereignty and markets collide with real communities pushing back. The network state adjacent project is called Destiny and is being proposed by Olivier Janssens, a wealthy bitcoin tycoon, for the island of Nevis. Locals have felt deceived by its marketing and have even made diss tracks about it.

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Timestamps
00:00 Highlight & Introduction
01:06 Sponsor Break Nym VPN
01:46 Meet the Guest
03:21 Passports and Offshore Worlds
05:56 Nevis Destiny Project Origins
09:40 SEZ Law and Local Backlash
10:39 The Destiny Pitch Video
00:08 Dubai Model and DIFC Courts
22:30 How SEZs Work Historically
28:20 From Factories to Lifestyle Enclaves
29:40 Bioshock and Body Mods
30:40 Managed Zones Not Free Markets
31:28 No Such Thing As Deregulation
32:52 Libertarian Influencers And Roger Ver
35:03 Why Not Just Use SEZs
35:50 Network State Factions And Thiel
38:54 Markets Logic Turns Colonial
42:20 Nevis Pushback And Colonial Memory
44:10 Passports Sovereignty And Mercenary States
47:00 Remote Control Citizenship And Land
48:54 Prospera Compared And Biohacking Drift
53:59 Network School As Adult Summer Camp
56:44 Closing Thoughts And Nevis Diss Track

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ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.

The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.