Tech Billionaires Are Building Cities That Answer Only to Themselves, and Greenland Is Proof

A group of tech leaders wants to build cities that answer only to themselves, and they are using Greenland as proof that the idea is moving from talk to action.

The story opens with a note on how major media outlets seemed to miss earlier public talk among Silicon Valley figures about buying Greenland. That talk now has a new chapter. A founder tied to Thiel-backed company Praxis celebrated the appointment of Ken Howery as Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, writing simply, “According to plan.” Praxis had previously tried to “buy Greenland” and remains working on building a deregulated city there.

The story ties Greenland to the “Network State” movement. That movement holds that democracy has run its course and that “special economic zones,” or fiefdoms ruled by tech CEOs, would be better. The movement also points to a 1997 business book called The Sovereign Individual, which advised investors on how to profit ahead of the collapse of democracy and the world order. Quinn Slobodian called it an “apocalypse business book.”

Durán’s Newsletter and Book

Gil Durán wrote a newsletter called “The Nerd Reich” and published a book by the same name, which became a bestseller. The book’s public choice theory holds that no one cares about the common good and that anyone advocating for it is selling something.

Westervelt’s Warning

Amy Westervelt wrote a book titled Brought to You By: How Corporations Warped the Truth, Conned the Public, and Broke Democracy. Her argument rests on the idea that the “Nerd Reich” movement would destroy the collective good.

The Conversation’s Starting Point

The conversation between Durán and Westervelt centers on how tech billionaires have used the information ecosystem to advance their goals. The story argues that Silicon Valley billionaires have benefited immensely from democracy and government subsidies while rejecting democratic norms.

The Sovereign Individual

Durán describes The Sovereign Individual as a 1997 business doom book that became a guidepost for influential Silicon Valley billionaires. Quinn Slobodian called it an “apocalypse business book” that counseled investors how to prepare for the coming collapse of democracy and the entire world order. It said two technologies, “cyber currency,” or crypto, and “advanced automation,” what we would call AI, would lead to the collapse of nations like the United States, but that savvy investors could profit by making the right choices ahead of time.

Public Choice Theory

The book also includes a public choice theory notion. In a nutshell, no one really cares about the common good or things like the public interest, and anybody who says otherwise is actually just using that idea to try to sell you something. Durán said the idea helps these guys explain their sociopathy to themselves.

The Facts

• Praxis attempted to “buy Greenland” and is still planning to build a deregulated city there
• Gil Durán’s newsletter is called “The Nerd Reich”; his book shares the name and became a bestseller
• The Sovereign Individual is a 1997 business book; Quinn Slobodian called it an “apocalypse business book”
• Amy Westervelt’s book is titled Brought to You By: How Corporations Warped the Truth, Conned the Public, and Broke Democracy

The story’s argument is clear. These billionaires have done well under democracy and now want to set it aside. Whether the collective good can survive them is the question the conversation leaves open.

Where the paper stands

The paper backs narrow rules against direct harm, including forcing companies to disclose safety failures they hid, and is against broad rules that hand the market to the incumbents, while opposing pauses, slowdowns and federal licensing of AI that freeze today’s leaders in place and lock out whoever would have challenged them. That stance applies here too: the billionaires in this story want to set aside democracy and build cities that answer only to themselves, and the paper opposes giving them any moat — whether through licensing, regulation, or deference — that freezes today’s leaders in place and locks out whoever would have challenged them.

What matters is not the technology itself but who controls it. Big tech dominance is the danger, not the technology. When the biggest firms ask to be regulated, the paper asks who those rules would lock out: licensing regimes and compliance costs only giants can afford are a moat, not a safeguard.

The reader should watch for any attempt to regulate AI that hands the market to the incumbents. The paper wants disclosure of safety failures, not a pause, a slowdown, or a license that freezes today’s leaders in place and locks out whoever would have challenged them.

Source material: “The Real Technofascists of Silicon Valley: Why Big Tech Oligarchs Hate Democracy,” Literary Hub.

deregulation · Greenland · network state · Silicon Valley · tech oligarchs