Part 1: Muh Boi Machiavelli
But when states are acquired in a country differing in language, customs, or laws, there are difficulties, and good fortune and great energy are needed to hold them, and one of the greatest and most real helps would be that he who has acquired them should go and reside there. This would make his position more secure and durable, as it has made that of the Turk in Greece, who, notwithstanding all the other measures taken by him for holding that state, if he had not settled there, would not have been able to keep it.
-Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter 3, Concerning Mixed Principalities
Oh How I Wish Some People at The Startup Societies Convention Read The Above
But they didn't, and that's fine. We can still fix that...maybe.
What am I talking about? The Startup Societies Convention held in Washington D.C., that's what.
It focused on private city projects and libertarian dreams for Puerto Rico. TL;DR: 1. Crypto + libertarian wet dreams, 2. People with questionable tastes in clothing, and 3. 1 or 2 smart people who were suckered into giving talks.
Now, for all the cringe some talks had, I didn't feel like I wasted my time at the convention. On the contrary, I know that now, more than ever, the main smart city projects in Puerto Rico could go forward...but, I'm not sure that they will.
For one simple reason: language.
Machiavelli has a strong point when he says that people should reside where they want to conquer. If we apply it to today we know that foreigners buying up business and land are subject to protests and hostile legislation. (See: Mark Zuckerberg's house in Hawaii)
With that in mind, let's turn our eyes to Puerto Rico, the pearl of the Caribbean. Not a US State, and not a foreign country, a Territory... with benefits. Caught in the middle of an interesting dilemma, where it doesn't have real representation in Congress, but it can reap benefits from really aggressive tax incentives... "Come on in and don't pay nothin''" (for PR sourced income)
That's the pitch they give people outside of P.R.
But here's the problem: Locals, for the most part, HATE that law. They feel left out and discriminated against. The word "Colony" starts getting thrown about and people start frothing at the mouth.
The tax incentive laws are the latest in a long line of US and Puerto Rican Governments experiments with trying to revivify the economy by attracting investment from the US and Abroad. The PR population, for the most part, doesn't feel included, though they could actually apply to SOME of these programs, but that's something for another post.
In any case, my point is: There's an obvious public relations problem for anyone trying to get into PR and lay the groundwork for a private city.
The problem centers around the language used by proponents.
It Was Like They Wanted Tomatoes Thrown At Them
How in the flaming ^&*( could some of these people sit down with a mic in front of them and start saying that the minimum wage is bad for Puerto Ricans. Did you ever think about how Puerto Ricans would feel about that?
Hey I might not disagree with you, but maybe you should leave the locker room talk for the LOCKER ROOM.
Did people in the public works sphere learn nothing from Trump's campaign? Market research. Speak to your crowd. Speak in their language.
(I forget that this was held in D.C. and the swamp isn't really known for being in tune with constituents.)
Just the minimum wage issue is a minefield. After talking with people on different parties in PR, I know this: the current party in power, the Statehood Party (PNP in Spanish), their constituents would consider eliminating the minimum wage an affront to PR's wishes to be like the States. They'd feel like they're being treated like a colony and would fight against that. Some of these people are even against tax incentives because they're a sign that PR isn't a State. Ouch.
The other big party, the status quo party, would also feel like they're being treated like a colony... A pattern emerges!
They'd ALL feel like they're being treated like colonies... comprende?
So probably tackling something so stupid like minimum wage isn't the way to go. Like, if you can't pay minimum wage what the hell are you doing trying to build a private city? Maybe tackle something else that wont make you universally hated.
It wasn't just the minimum wage people, the simple fact that almost everyone people spoke like they were talking about poor National Geographic Indians that will embrace saviors in open arms for the gifts they bear telegraphs that they know nothing about how to run a successful public policy campaign...
...and that's the whole lesson Machiavelli gives us, if we want private cities to be something real we can't just walk into a new region and hope that locals love us.
We're not gods being beamed in from the Starship Enterprise into the planet of the apes.
No. We're just pasty people going into a place where they already have Netflix and overpriced craft beer.
OK, I Get It, So What Can We Do?
For starters, research the common problems that there is widespread consensus on... something like the HIGH AF tax rates in PR, or the tax on inventory. Simple stuff. Start small and build off from there.
This stuff works for any project that requires that a community works with you.
I met a guy that ran a farmer's market in a community. His market wasn't successful for a long time because he wasn't from there. His accent blew him off. He had to show them for a long period of time that he was part of the community now. It took time, money, friendships that he had to form, Etc.
That's what it will take, not just having "gringos" deciding in DC what they'll do, and just trying to court government officials. Because if you continue on this path, people will just see "gringos" trying to build a paradise for "gringos and their friends", or "Gringoland" (which incidentally has Ayn Rand shrugging as the mascot).