Part 3: What does life without a state look like in the future of America?
What happens when you do not have a residence? That is the topic of the last two Futures Friday articles. Living without a residence in the US (by choice or by circumstance) poses a lot of challenges. How do you get a driver’s license or vote? What about school registration? Try getting a cell phone with a major carrier without a physical address? What about health insurance? And most importantly, who do you pay income taxes to?
As more and more people become state detached (for a variety of reasons), how do people, governments, and free enterprise respond?
What is we created a new state for people citizens that do not have a permanent residence? As the number of people that live stateless grow, there could be enough pressure for the government to create some sort of special residency regulations. It is also possible that some states will more formally create a foster program. Imagine the additional revenue for a state to grant nomadic citizens full state residency without ever having to even visit the state. Might other states, especially ones with high tax rates, cry foul? And not everyone will be happy with a large transient and nomadic population in their town.
A Tale of Two States
I thought it would be interesting to look at the futures of living remotely through two common scenario archetypes, transformation and collapse. These are light weight scenarios that only scratch the surface of what life without a state look like.
For these scenarios, I created a short video with Lego, and as I am currently living in an RV without a state, I was forced to build small.
