@Jeramee great essay. I would add that Galts Gulch Chile also collapsed over lack of water rights, a subdivision plan that was never approved, and a con man promoter. Lawsuits resulted.

It's likely that water distribution and reliability was the cause of the first governments, which would explain their rise on the Nile, Yellow. Iriwaddy and Tigris rivers.

There is not a creature in the world that survives on its own. We are all interdependent.

@guacamayan

The con man point is interesting. The founder of Van Ormy, ref'd in the story, sounds like he's 50% con.

I was in Amway in college to try to make a buck. All Amway leaders are uber-libertarian, and, with hindsight, I see the biz model in practice (as opposed to what they say on paper) is also a con.

Libertarian ideology is so divorced from reality that it leads people to make (and believe) outrageous claims. It's like it unwittingly creates con men.