The battle over drug tourism, and the decay of America’s urban core, tends to bifurcate in two views: 1) jail for everyone, 2) literally nothing to see here – the problem is not even happening. Not too long ago, I got to talking with George Hotz, one of the most wild and original minds in technology, and he came at the question sideways with a total interrogation of my assumptions. Of course drug tourists exist, but why should they not? And what if we gave them exactly what they wanted? And what if there were a technological assist in this capacity that might make everyone happy?

A bizarre, provocative question. But with the problem of our national blight so extreme, I’m open to some new ideas. And this? Certainly constitutes that.

-Solana

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I’m a big fan of a free society. I very much enjoy my freedom, and accept that with freedom comes responsibility. Aside from ridiculous laws, I’m law abiding, not in debt, and job-creating. Hopefully, most would agree I’m a net positive in society. Being a net positive isn’t actually that hard: if you don’t do crime, have a job, and aren’t taking more from the government than you give, you’re a net positive. There’s some subtlety around the edges, but broadly, net positive = economically positive¹.

On the other hand, some Americans prefer a life that’s by and large facilitated by the government, such as those who would like to receive Universal Basic Income (UBI), or even San Francisco’s drug tourists, who come to the city for lax drug laws and free city government services. These people are a net negative to the economy. I’m okay with that, and I’m even okay paying for them to be net negatives — paying so much in fact, that they have quite a bit more than their basic needs fulfilled.

In order for a society to be free, members must be able to opt in or out. However, if they do choose to opt out, and so live lives facilitated by the taxpayer — the drug tourist variety of person, let’s say — they should not be interfering with the rest of society. They should not be disturbing the public, or living for free in our most expensive cities, and they certainly shouldn’t be voting. Given recent cultural sensibilities, the suggestion perhaps comes as shocking. But reasonable, democratic minds have discussed such danger from the inception of our present political system.

To quote the 18th century Scottish lawyer Alexander Fraser Tytler:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy–to be followed by a dictatorship.

How can we avoid this?

First, we need to formalize a new class of Americans. Right now, the US is a two-class society: Citizens and Incarcerated, but we need to add a third: Subjects.

• Citizen — You participate in the economy. You have full freedom, but you must pay more to the government than you take.

• Incarcerated – You do not participate in the economy. You have all your needs paid for. You have very limited freedom.

• Subject — You don’t participate in the economy. You have all your needs paid for. Aside from living in a subject city, you have most personal freedoms. You don’t have political freedom.

Both Subjects and Incarcerated are net negatives on society, but Subjects will cost far less than the Incarcerated, and people will choose to be Subjects voluntarily. Practically, many homeless people are already Subjects. Like I said earlier, Subjects will be completely taken care of by taxpayer dollars, but on the crucial condition — among a few others — that they are geographically separated from Citizens. To that end, I propose the establishment of Wireheading City.

Let’s dig in.

The simplest way to imagine Wireheading City is a scaled up version of Burning Man’s 1.5-mile diameter Black Rock City, which accommodates 80,000 people. But Wireheading City needs to be bigger than Black Rock City, because — at the very least — I imagine many of the 582,000 American homeless people will opt into the Subject class. With a squared scaling law, a five-mile diameter city should be able to house a million Subjects at similar density. We also need a two-mile exclusion zone where trespassing is prohibited. Northern Nevada isn’t a bad choice of location, either. It’s devoid of people, and livable outside all year round.

Wireheading City will be the first American city to offer UBI, except instead of money, you get basic necessities. The water is clean and all you can drink. For food, you get rice, beans, corn, potatoes, costco grade leafy greens, fruit, some meat on special days, and sugary drinks. For shelter, a Walmart-grade sleeping bag and tent, issued to you at the border.

In addition, you will be entertained. Along with shelter, you’ll receive a government mobile phone and a pair of wired headphones. Hopefully, the city can partner with Netflix, Amazon, and HBO to provide no-cost entertainment to Wireheading City citizens. It’s a great public good I suspect they’d want to be a part of.

We’ll need to do even more to entice potential citizens of Wireheading City.

• If you’re a drinker, you’ll get all the alcohol — type of your choosing — you want, for free.

• If you like weed, we’ll give you all the joints, edibles and bong hits, for free.

• Are you a meth head? All you can smoke or shoot! You’ll be spun like crazy. Or (generic) Adderall if that’s your thing.

• Free heroin, oxy, fentanyl or whatever is your opiate of choice. A blissed out pain-free life.

• For practical reasons, ibuprofen, antibiotics, and birth control will also be available for free.

Free drugs are a major draw of Wireheading City, and you can take as many as you want. However, export of these drugs is strictly prohibited, and you’ll be aggressively searched on your way through the exit path of the exclusion zone.

Violent crime and property crime will be illegal in Wireheading City, so no weapons will be permitted in through the border. The city will be pedestrian-only, and you won’t be able to drive there — the only way in and out will be a walled, winding, ten-mile path through the two-mile-wide exclusion zone.

For all goods other than what is provided free, the economy will function. Imports of pricey food, electronics, upgraded shelters, and other trinkets are welcome. Citizens will have unfettered free internet access, and some will certainly find entrepreneurial ways to make money. Prostitution will be legal.

Wireheading City won’t be for everyone, only for those over 21 who choose it — no children are permitted. And if you do opt into the city, there will be a free one-way bus from every major metropolitan area that takes you right to the gate. Wireheading City is not a prison, and you are free to leave at any time with just a ten-mile walk out. Gives you time to sober up.

Freedom and social responsibility aren’t mutually exclusive, they’re crucial aspects of a progressive society. So we have to be innovative as we ensure economic and political stability of our society, while also respecting the individual’s right to choose their way of life.

We should also be realistic. The 47-year-old meth addict living on the streets is probably not somehow going to turn his life around and create the next Uber. He can either do meth on your front porch, or he can do meth somewhere else. Likewise, prison — way more destructive to human dignity than Wireheading City — is the only way to easily get free food and shelter in the US, and many people misbehave inside because they don’t want to be there.

Wireheading City allows us to preserve the sanctity of a free, democratic society while addressing the needs of those who choose a different path. The city is a serious proposal — someone should look into it.

-George Hotz

This piece is adapted from two posts on George’s blog. Feature image is from Fangs Out by Agar Agar.

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¹ I’ll note this is also a simple answer to immigration. If you are net (economically) positive, we want you. If you are net negative, we don’t. While measurement may be a bit tricky, anyone who doesn’t agree to this basic framework is an idiot who wants to live in a poor country.