If you thought the worst thing to come out of Nevada was the movie Showgirls then you’re not paying attention to Dem Governor Sisolak and his insane proposal to allow tech companies to form their own governments within the state.
While he calls them “Innovation Zones” they’re really miniature feudal domains run by our emerging masters in Silicon Valley. As the AP reports:
“The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ability to impose taxes, form school districts and courts and provide government services.”
Surely the democratically-elected local governments would have the final say in how these zones are run? Nope.
“The zones would have three-member supervisor boards with the same powers as county commissioners. The businesses would maintain significant control over board membership.”
How much is “significant?” The governor isn’t saying. And just how can a company get these rotten boroughs? Money, of course. If a company promises to “invest” at least a billion dollars in the next ten years the state will sell your sovereignty to the highest bidder.
This is a disaster for democracy and for the American experiment. The holier-than-thou types in the media and government keep telling us “democracy is fragile.” It is. But their unholy alliance with big tech is actively undermining the only acceptable basis for their exercise of power: the consent of the governed.
