the New Venice?

I realized that April is almost over, and I only have one posting credited to the month of showers and spring flowers.

I attribute it to my mattress that is trying to kill me, rendering me with excruciating back pain (between the shoulder blades no less) that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, if I had enemies. I say a life well lived is the best revenge.

Therefore, I decided to post a little something something so that come fall when I am at USC (yay my #1 choice !!!) people won't think that I'm a pretentious idiot who just says that she has a blog, which she hasn't touched since 2007- that's my other blog- youneedaninja.blogspot.com, which has, like 3 recipes on it and that's about it. I don't even remember which e-mail it's tied to.

I have been thinking a lot about this whole economy (and how we got here), new urbanism, and Detroit, all of which will merit their own postings. But I had to share this bizarre concept that I discovered in an article from Wired's February 2009 issue called, "Live Free or Drown"
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/17-02/mf_seasteading

There is an entrepreneur named Patri Friedman who is the executive director of a non-profit called, the Seasteading Institute. The Seasteading Institute has big plans to start a new society on water. Yes, water. Mr. Friedman is a former software engineer who worked for Google, but wanted to pursue something much bigger. (in full disclosure I do process some health insurance claims at my current position for Google) Mr. Friedman is also the son of libertarian legal theorist David Friedman and grandson of free-market economist Milton Friedman, who won the Nobel Prize (facts from Chris Baker's article)

I'll spare you the political ideology behind this idea. Suffice to say it'll be both laissez-faire (let do, literally > let things take their natural course) and laissez bon temps roule (let the good times roll)

Wired covered this story, not only because it's unusual, but also because the concept is supposed to be like a platform in the same sense that Linux is a platform, which can expand and build upon itself. This is definitely out of my depth, but the author of the article, Chris Baker, does an excellent job explaining it. If you know anyone who's a tech nerd/sociologist this may intrigue them.

My dad, though I love him dearly, sometimes entertains rather "unusual" thoughts about separating from the government, libertarian ideals, etc., But this concept takes the cake, past the people in Montana who want to succeed from the U.S. (good luck with that. . .), past the hermits and the recluses, even the Unabomber seems "normal" to a relative degree. These people and their motivations are interesting, no doubt about it, but they are seriously out there, both literally and figuratively.

I did think, however, that though there is technically a definite absence of any need for planners- what will they need people to help plan make sure that the world's first floating Wal-mart doesn't affect the quality of life of these post-libertarians- it draws striking parallels to the city of Venice, which I had ruminated on in my posting Ah Venice!. . .is sinking? (February 20th, 2009)

It's the same basic concept- people seeking freedom above all- from politics, social norms, etc., and constructing a new society on er, water. And it hasn't been done for hundreds of thousands of years, not counting the people who live on houseboats. People build new sub-divisions all the time, but a new society?! I mean a brand-new society! Far out man.

A short history of other entrepreneurs who attempted to build their own freestanding societies is included in the article.

I do doubt that the occupants of this new society will feel the need to steal treasures from other cultures, like the Venetians did by stealing the horses during the Crusades, most probably from the Hippodrome in Constantinople, though their point of origin remains in dispute.

You have to hand it to the people who believe that this really can work. It's like the kids that really grew up to be the astronauts and firefighters that they said that they wanted to be.

Or like the incredibly poetic line from one of my favorite works, the Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, one of society's overlooked philosophical tomes as it masquerades as a children's book,
"Now and then, though, someone does begin to grow differently. Instead of down, his feet grow up toward the sky. But we do our best to discourage awkward things like that."
"What happens to them?" insisted Milo.
"Oddly enough they often grow ten times the size of everyone else," said Alec thoughtfully. "and I've heard that they walk among the stars."

Ah Venice!. . .is sinking?

For those of you who haven't heard, Venice is sinking into the muck on which it was built.

This isn't exactly breaking news. It's been happening for centuries, as this will happen when people who are escaping political persecution choose to build their new town in a swamp, literally. The buildings, the bridges, the priceless artwork- everything that is Venice- is constructed on top of pilings that were driven into the murky waters and thus a city was erected.

However, to quote W.B. Yeats's poem, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;" -"The Second Coming"

I had first heard of Venice's slow sinking when I was in junior high to high school while watching one of those evening news shows. I don't remember exactly when it was broadcast, but I do remember that it was on 20/20 as I was a big fan of Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. I have since stopped watching those shows because they make me too nervous to ride on commercial buses, whose brakes haven't been checked in twenty years, which has been verified due to their investigative reporting, or the faulty structural strength of bridges that cross mile-wide canyons and plunge unsuspecting travelers into the ravines, as evidenced by hard-hitting journalism. And let's not talk about what really makes one's dirty water hot dogs so yummy.

In any case, despair lept into my heart and I vowed that I must see Venice before it sank and disappeared forever.

I count myself inordinately fortunate that I have been able to see Venice twice since viewing that news report, once as a college student abroad and another time with my mom and grandparents.

I was in Venice in late May/early June both times and I was pleased to note that the city was still holding strong.

This however, was apparently not the case last December 2008.

I picked up an old TIME magazine (December 15, 2008) at my work and was leafing through it when I noticed an article by Howard Chua-Eoan entitled, "the Moment 12-02-08" under their "Briefing" section. In the article Mr. Chua-Eoan noted that rain, wind, and the tides conspired together to raise the water levels, covering the already minimal ground cover. At one point, the sea level was five feet above normal.

This makes the "MOSES" project all the more vital. MOSES is a flood-control system designed specifically for Venice's rising water problem, including contributions from the dean of engineering at UC Irvine. MOSES is an acronym of its Italian name. The good news, it's half done. The bad news is that it costs about $5.3 billion, funding has run, er, aground, and its not estimated to be done until at least 2014. (all facts summarized from Mr. Chua-Eoan's article) A more detailed summary can be found through Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_project

On the news report from long ago I remember hearing about the various attempts to staunch the rising waters of Venice, including one giant engineering project, which is best akin to a hinged door, or a lock, in the nautical sense. This was apparently that project, working like a giant door, attempting to literally shut out the rising waters.

Here's hoping that some freakishly wealthy benefactor considers Venice his or her spiritual home and is able to enhance the funding of this project. A place so beautiful should not have to drown.