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  #21  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2021, 9:06 PM
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Ah yes, large-scale industrial development in a region with water management issues. What could possibly go wrong?
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  #22  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2021, 9:11 PM
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I think the comparison to company towns of a century ago somewhat misses the point (unless you're thinking of the most technocratic and utopian of those places, Fourierist communities or towns like New Lanark). I gather that the thought behind this is to allow tech companies to experiment in god mode with smart city technologies that have really yet to be utilized to their full potential, at least in the West: IoT, smart infrastructure, autonomous cars, surveillance, biometrics, &c., without facing the political resistance that derailed Google's efforts in Quayside, Toronto, for example.

Something like this is inevitable, eventually. It would be some seastead in the Pacific otherwise, so why not unleash Silicon Valley's technocratic hubris in the Nevada desert? Of course it will probably be dystopian but aren't you curious nonetheless? Maybe it's a dress rehearsal for Elon's first colony on Mars.
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  #23  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2021, 10:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed View Post
The U.S. has a long history with company towns, and it has probably never worked out well.


assholism

Rather than receiving compensation in United States currency, many miners received payment entirely in scrip, which could be used only at the town store, eliminating any prospects of acquiring generational wealth. The result was a situation in which miners were perpetually in debt to their employer, receiving only an "advance against unearned wages. Because the company store was often the only place to spend scrip, the company could charge exorbitant prices in these rural communities compared to prices in major cities.

still happens in some places. Walmart in Mexico, for example:
Court outlaws Wal-Mart de Mexico worker vouchers
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  #24  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2021, 4:42 AM
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I'm not concerned if tech corporations provide their worker/residents with water. But the article also mentions, in addition to providing services, that they would also form courts, and I find that a bit concerning. Corporate court systems--what could possibly go wrong?
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  #25  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2021, 5:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Manitopiaaa View Post
Is this that uncommon? Isn't Disney World in Orlando in a company town (Lake Buena Vista)?
Yes. Lake Buena Vista has thirty residents and nearby Bay Lake has about fifty; Disney employees and their families.
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  #26  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2021, 3:51 PM
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Cyberpunk dystopia here we come!
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