April 9, 2002

8:34 AM

The World is a giant cruise liner on which ultra-rich loonballs can buy (smallish) apartments, compare fortunes with their ilk, and never again have to mingle with the plebs. Judging by the assorted wacky residents (a knitwear magnate???) interviewed on Britain's Channel 4 news last night it promises to be a fascinating social experiment. How long before they are ripping out each others throats in psychotic orgies, like some crazy JG Ballard novel? I sense an excellent docusoap opportunity...
posted by rikabel (33 comments total)

Boys have a lingam -- girls have a yoni.
posted by uftheory at 8:36 AM on April 9, 2002

I sense jealosy.
posted by dagny at 8:37 AM on April 9, 2002

While lingam's linger
yoni's find toni's.

I am jealous too, I want to be able to afford million dollar homes. *wails*
posted by bittennails at 8:44 AM on April 9, 2002

Who wants to take bets on James Cameron directing the movie?
posted by fleener at 8:45 AM on April 9, 2002

Damn, I sure am jealous. That sounds AWESOME. I would love to be able to retire to a boat and sail around the world with a boatload of strange people. Sounds wonderful. That would be so cool.

40% Americans, 60% rest of the world. Funny odds.
posted by aacheson at 8:46 AM on April 9, 2002

Has it occured to anyone that a buncha rich yo-yo's living at sea year-round may be some kind of sophisticated tax dodge?
I, of course, could be wrong since I don't know much about tax law, but that's what first occured to me.
posted by jonmc at 8:50 AM on April 9, 2002

hooo hoo hoo haaa haaaa. Does anyone else see the irony.

You are now collecting all of these folks in one handy place... Cameron directing the movie indeed, maybe a slightly "different" situation, but oh man, does Simpsons predict or reflect reality.
posted by jkaczor at 8:54 AM on April 9, 2002

I prefer the Freedom Ship.
posted by rushmc at 8:54 AM on April 9, 2002

There was talk of tax haven retirement ships doing the rounds a few years ago, don't have any links sorry. I don't think the dodge would be reason enough for me, if I had that kind of money, I may not want to live solely on a ship, but for some it might.
posted by bittennails at 8:55 AM on April 9, 2002

I sense a return to piracy, and I'm all for that! Arr, ye scurvy dogs! hand over yer gaudy jewels and yer trust funds, or prepare to be boarded!

No? Arr, then we'll settle this like men: Shuffleboard on the Promenade Deck!

Isaac! Fix me a Captain Morgan's! It's shuffleboardin' time, matey!
posted by Kafkaesque at 8:56 AM on April 9, 2002

rushmc - Who the hell is building that Freedom Ship, Spacely Sprockets? It looks just like The Jetsons apartment building.
posted by jonmc at 9:00 AM on April 9, 2002

The pirating angle is an interesting one- who protects these folks in international waters? How are on-board crimes committed?

Does anyone know how, legally, these compare to other cruise lines? Do you officially become a resident of, say, Liberia, or wherever the ship is licensed?
posted by mkultra at 9:02 AM on April 9, 2002

This would be an excellent tax shelter for Europeans. However, it won't help Americans much; Uncle Sam wants his cut no matter what your permanent address is.
posted by luriete at 9:40 AM on April 9, 2002

if this ship is like the others i have heard about, yes it is a tax dodge for the super-rich. the ship never docks properly, as long as you reside on it for 6 months in the year you pay no tax anywhere. kind of reminds me of L. Ron Hubbard.
posted by asok at 10:05 AM on April 9, 2002

How much do you think they paid for that piece of sh@! website?! Man, it looks like little Johnny got a copy of FrontPage.

So many really good, out-of-work, web developers. It's annoys me to no end to see shoddy work like this still being produced.

(clicks back over to Craigslist)
posted by awcole72 at 10:14 AM on April 9, 2002

The knee-jerk reactionism on the part of some here against wealth and its associated empowerments is, as usual, interesting. It seems the fox remains obsessed with the grapes after all this time.
posted by rushmc at 10:36 AM on April 9, 2002

The knee-jerk reactionism on the part of some here against wealth and its associated empowerments is, as usual, interesting.

Ahhh, go buy some friends...
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:59 AM on April 9, 2002

Greg Bear's latest book, Vitals, has a sequence set on such a ship. Quite a spectacle!
posted by anitar at 11:01 AM on April 9, 2002

No one else thinks this is spectacularly stupid? It's a world of international terrorism so you go hide on a floating city with a whole bunch of rich people. Park it away from my house.
posted by vbfg at 11:14 AM on April 9, 2002

i am of course simply jealous...
posted by rikabel at 11:53 AM on April 9, 2002

i wonder if they have an on-board plastic surgeon?

this is just so science-fiction. Soon it will be floating cities that ravage the country-side for booze and cheese product.
posted by th3ph17 at 12:36 PM on April 9, 2002

They're not getting my cheese-product! Damn floating city bastards! *shotgun snick-snicks*
posted by UncleFes at 1:59 PM on April 9, 2002

They're not getting my cheese-product!

But we need it for fuel, land-dweller!
posted by jonmc at 2:44 PM on April 9, 2002

This is an international disaster and/or action film waiting to happen. The fabulously wealthy, the mob, movie stars, runaway criminals and other tax dodge enthusiasts decide to isolate themselves in a lawless floating palace. I'm wondering whether they wouldn't destroy themselves before the pirates got there. They better have hired some superheroes for the security team.
posted by D at 2:46 PM on April 9, 2002

Doesn't it seem downright dangerous? Maybe I've just been watching too many thrillers lately, but I have visions of some crazy mofos taking over the ship and threatening to blow the rich bastards sky-high if certain demands aren't met. Are they going to have their own on-board military/police force? This is so surreal I might just go back to the time travel thread...at least I know my way around quantum mechanics.

For those of you who've read The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, doesn't it sound like a bunch of rich people creating their own phyle? (I know hackworth will understand.)
posted by gutenberg at 3:42 PM on April 9, 2002

Now these are the kinds of ships that send icebergs scurrying away in fear.
posted by lucien at 3:59 PM on April 9, 2002

No one else thinks this is spectacularly stupid? It's a world of international terrorism so you go hide on a floating city with a whole bunch of rich people. Park it away from my house.

I submit that only a coward and a knave allows the hypothetical actions of a tiny minority to undermine his pursuit of his own desires and goals. If this sort of lifestyle is not for you, then why is it not enough to simply not aspire to it? Why this need to disparage other people who find it appealing?
posted by rushmc at 4:52 PM on April 9, 2002

So the super rich wants to never pay tax no more; never be under the authority of any state. I heard of such a kind of people before: Outlaws.

Now if only I had an attack submarine then the game would be much more interesting... the Cayman Island Coast Guard's ASWs are fairly limited I'm told. I'll bet they'll be crying for Uncle Sam to come rescue them real soon, those bloody hippocrites.
posted by cx at 5:27 PM on April 9, 2002

cx: Or maybe they just want to live on a ship and travel around the world?
posted by Kevs at 8:21 PM on April 9, 2002

Ah, this ship is just tacky. No class whatsoever. Give me the Queen Mary 2 any day. Now there's a classy ride.

*sniff*
posted by Poagao at 8:35 PM on April 9, 2002

Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island
posted by roboto at 12:53 AM on April 10, 2002

Kevs: If so, it's fine with me.
posted by cx at 2:17 AM on April 10, 2002

Does anyone find it odd, that this thing set sail yesterday, just one day before another historic ocean going vessel launched a few years back...
posted by jkaczor at 7:23 AM on April 10, 2002