BILLIONAIRES

How does anything magnificently monumental happen?  More recently, wars inspired the USA to change the world with two incredible accomplishments:  The Manhattan Project and the Apollo Project.  The former was to beat Hitler build an atomic bomb, leading to victory in World War II, and latter to bankrupt the Soviet Union to end the Cold War.

The first one listed above, the Transcontinental Railroad, was built by three private companies over public lands provided by government grants and financed by state and federal subsidy bonds.  The leader of the organization was Leland Stanford, who went on to found Stanford University.  Hoover Dam was financed by a $140 million mortgage loan from the U.S. Treasury, and was finally paid off in 1987.  President Herbert Hoover pushed the bill in Congress during the great depression.  He was in the Pioneer Class of 1891 at Stanford, and that tower is named for him.  

However, he makes all the lists for worst presidents of U.S.  Here he is #9 and Donald Trump is #2.  With Trump at the bottom are usually Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan. Incidentally, by far, Trump has been the richest president, and only billionaire, with Washington #2, Jefferson #3 and Hoover #8.

In this 21st century we are now threatened by global warming, and it will take the combined efforts of the entire world to overcome this problem.  While there has been some progress, the danger is perhaps too subtle that we will probably need something fearsome like tens of millions one hot summer dying to catalyze any real solution.  One suggestion is The Venus Syndrome to throw a two-by-four clout into the fray.

Billionaires seem to be romantically spurred by outer space, in particular the colonization of Mars.  It's their money, and as indicated in THE ULTIMATE EVOLUTION OF LIFE, perhaps they are rightfully being foresightful.

To many, it is premature to spend so much money today to do what we might need to do some time in the future, like a millennium from now.  We have urgent current needs on Planet Earth today, and the Blue Revolution offers an opportunity to accomplish so many things for the benefit of both our economy and environment, while creating commodities for profit.  Watch a Blue Revolution Hawaii sponsored TEDx talk of a few months ago.

Simply:

• A thousand meters deep in the ocean is a FREE cold water resource capable of providing electricity, freshwater, hydrogen, range of sustainable bioproducts, exciting living habitats and the potential for both remediating climate warming and preventing the formation of hurricanes.

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  Envisioned is a simple two-step process leading to perhaps a thousand nations at sea someday:
• $150 million to build and operate the Pacific International Ocean Station to develop the science, technology and pre-commercialization of enterprises for next generation fisheries, marine biomass plantations and assortment of sustainable options.
• By 2050, $150 billion to build the first ocean city to host the 2050 World Ocean Expo.

But the big question is how to get to even step one.  Governments and companies are just not capable of investing such sums.  The one answer is a billionaire or two or more.

Since Blue Revolution Hawaii formed a dozen years ago, we determined that the optimal, and maybe only, pathway was through an inspired billionaire.  The individual who suggested this strategy was Guy Toyama, who unfortunately passed away a decade ago at the age of 42.  From my remembrance:

Guy's legacy might well be Blue Revolution Hawaii and the Pacific International Ocean Station.  A couple of years ago, we were having lunch in Kona when he mentioned how billionaire Gordon Moore had provided funds to initiate the Thirty Meter Telescope Project.  As Guy had an office at Keahole Point at the entrance of the NELHA, why not the Blue Revolution with support from a billionaire?  Thus was born Blue Revolution Hawaii, which proposed the Pacific International Ocean Station.  Guy created the presentation for PIOS, which I presented at the Seasteading Institute's conference in San Francisco.  

Axios just published:  China is making new billionaires much faster than the U.S.

• China and the U.S. together have 55% of the world's known billionaires.
• China as 1133 to the U.S.'s 716, with a growth rate three times that of America.
• China has three cities with the most billionaires.  New York City is #4.
• 60-70% of all female billionaires in the World are from China.
• However, the American billionaires control 32% of all combine wealth, compared to China's 27%.
• The total market cap of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet are equivalent to the top 500 most valuable non-state controlled companies in China.

Forbes annually ranks billionaires.  Curently:

• #1    Elon Musk  $266 B  U.S.
• #2    Jeff Bezos  $191 B  U.S.
• #3    Bernard Arnault  $172 B  France
• #4    Bill Gates  $135 B  U.S.
• #5    Warren Buffett  $126 B  U.S.
• #6 - #9 from the U.S.
• #10  Mukesh Ambani  $96 B  India
• #16  Zhong Shanshan  $71 B  China
• #27  Zhang Yiming  $50 B  China
• #100  Li Xiting  $17 B  Singapore
• #200  Stefano Pessina  $10 B  Monaco
• #300  Stewart and Lynda Resnick  $8 B  U.S.
• #400  Philippe Laffont  $7 B  U.S.
• #500  Huang Yi  $6 B  Hong Kong
• #600  Marc Rowan  $5 B  U.S.

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THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE BLUE REVOLUTION

The following graphics come from a presentation made at the Le Meridien Hotel in San Francisco for a gathering of the Seasteading Institute:

PREAMBLE:   Floating in space is the International Space Station, a $150 billion adventure which appears to be in the process of being abandoned.  For one percent the cost, say $1.5 billion, the Pacific International Ocean Station is being planned to serve as a grazing plantship powered by OTEC for a global partnership to advance the development of sustainable ocean resources in harmony with the marine environment.  Certainly marine biomass plantations and next generation plantations, but also opportunities for innovative business practices, exciting new living habitats and maybe even a Disney at Sea.

These powerpoint slides are explained in the presentation mentioned above.  On further analysis, it was deemed possible to design, build and operate the technology portion of the Pacific International Ocean Station for $150 million.  The higher initial cost included activities such as Disney-at-Sea and the Blue Revolution Hawaii headquarters to be placed on the current site of the former Hawaiian Electric Company powerplant next to the Aloha Tower complex, which can still be considered.

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THE UPCOMING TEDxBlueRevolutionHawaii

Blue Revolution Hawaii was launched a decade ago.   All postings prior to 2021 can be found at that site.  As the right column shows:

Members of Blue Revolution Hawaii Board

Leighton Chong: Intellectual property attorney

Benny Ron: Aquaculturist

Patrick Takahashi: Dreamer

John Farias: Agriculturist

Dante Carpenter: Ocean engineer/politician

Emeritus:

George Ariyoshi: Former governor

Fujio Matsuda: Former university president (deceased)

Matthew Matsunaga: Former state senator

Kaiu Kimura: Director of Imiloa

Blue Revolution Hawaii has three goals and targets of opportunity:

• Hold a Blue Revolution summit of billionaires to interact with potential Blue Revolution staff. Presentations will touch on the science, technology, economics, legal, environmental and sociological factors.

• 
  $150 million to design, build and operate the Pacific International Ocean Station (watch a Seasteading Institute presentation) by 2030, an offshore technology transfer platform to initiate the development of marine biomass plantations, ocean ranches, sea biopharmaceuticals, enhancement of marine environment (remediation of global warming and taming of hurricanes) and related fields.  Funding will be sought from a billionaire or two.

• 
  $150 billion to commission the first floating city by 2050.  The private sector will undertake this mission.  The platform will initially be located close to Hawaii to host the 2050 World Ocean Exposition.  The first World's Fair was held a century ago at The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London.  There have been three ocean expos:
• 1975 in Okinawa.
• 1998 in Lisbon.
• 2012 in Yeosu.
• After the expo, the city will be towed closer to the equator to minimize ocean storms.  
• No hurricane is known to have crossed the equator.  
• Plus, the warmest surface temperatures are in this region.  
• Anywhere in the deep ocean, the seawater temperature is 4 C at a depth of 1000 meters, which can thus be combined with the surface waters to generate electricity and produce freshwater, with the resultant effluent utilized to support industries.

• 
  This fluid is rich in minerals in the exact Redfield ratio to serve as a natural fertilizer for biomass plantations and initiating marine growth for ocean ranches.
• The ocean is the next frontier to produce sustainable food, energy and a cornucopia of products, while enhancing the marine and atmospheric environment.

A cost-matching fund to initiate the Blue Revolution has been established with the UH Foundation at the University of Hawaii.  A sum of $500,000 has been endowed for this purpose.

The cost of the project is such that primary funds will not be sought from governments and companies.  The most promising source is likely to be a billionaire, or team of them, seeking a legacy and with the vision to develop the next frontier for future resources in harmony with the natural environment.

To begin the process of fund-raising, we have been granted a TEDx license to organize a Countdown event to link with the upcoming global climate warming discussions preparing for the 2022 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  COP3 in 1997 created the Kyoto Protocol and COP21 produced the Paris Agreement in 2015.

While minor adjustments can still be made, the TEDx Blue Revolution Hawaii event will occur on 11 December 2021.  It is our understanding that we can select from other TED talks that will occur this year to complement our local speakers, and even seek input from world leaders in the field to participate remotely.  A working group is being finalized to plan for this event.

These Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conferences began in 1984, and over 3500 TED talks have been posted and viewed several billion times.  There is now a variety of TED events.  Originally there was only one conference/year at a cost of around $10,000/person to participate.  TEDx  is just one of the spin-offs, targeted for independent events like global warming.  We would very much welcome your involvement.

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JEFF BEZOS

One of the difficulties of securing mega-sums for the Blue Revolution is that billionaires seem enamored of outer space...like many of us were.  You've heard about their dreams:

• South-African-Canadian-American billionaire Elon Musk,^[3] behind SpaceX and a project to colonize Mars.^[4][1]
• American billionaire Jeff Bezos, behind Blue Origin and establishing a true industrial base in space.^[4][2][1]

• British billionaire Richard Branson,^[3] behind Virgin Galactic/Virgin Orbit and space tourism, low-cost small orbital launchers, and intercontinental suborbital transit.^[4][2][1]

• Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, backing the Breakthrough Starshot project for an interstellar probe.^[5]

But there are 2816 billionaires out there, with a wealth of $11.2 trillion.  Some of them surely must have the imagination to accomplish something especially magnificent for Humanity on Planet Earth.

A few years ago one of us compared himself with Elon Musk, perhaps with a tinge of sarcasm.  How stupid.  If he had any possible interest in the Blue Revolution, that went with that posting, for there was deprecation of space as a viable field of current investment.  The wonder of space is the vastness and uncertainty.  There is something about childhood romance and imagination that deserves pursuit.

One of us worked for NASA on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, but subsequently felt that space exploration involving real people and billions of bucks was both dangerous and not a smart way to spend your money.  There are too many other more important priorities.  The Apollo Project was an almost necessary policy decision that helped end the Cold War.

We avoided nuclear holocaust through  this space adventure, but there was a compelling political reason.  Here we went again, but some of us don't see space being profitable for at least a century, and perhaps millennium.  Fine if you are rich and seek this seeming ultimate adventure, but not ideal for saving Planet Earth and Humanity.  Yes, someday possibly necessary, but not today, nor for the next century.  Well, perhaps we haven't yet learned our lesson.

Of course, many billionaires will live out their dreams, for they deserve and can afford it.  We, too, are captivated by their imagination and efforts.  Perhaps, though, one or more might want to also look into the Blue Revolution, for the potential benefits are more immediate and, maybe even necessary, for the survival of Planet Earth and Humanity now.  Here is where they can truly mold their legacy:  floating cities, remediation of global warming, sustainable products, hydrogen, prevention of hurricanes...all while actually making a financial profit!

The Atlantic had an article on Jeff Bezos  About the magazine, did you know:

• It was founded in 1857?
• Has around half a million subscribers.
• Almost expired, but recovered, in 2101 posting its first profit in a decade, and in 2016 being named Magazine of the Year by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Today, Jeff Bezos runs nearly 40% of all e-commerce in the U.S.  Amazon controls half of the cloud-computing industry.  They sell 42% of all books and a third of the market for streaming video.  Add selling food and getting into real estate.  Then there is The Washington Post, with The New York Times, the conscience and nemeses of Donald Trump.

But you know all that.  From that article written by Franklin Foer:

• Bezos is relentless, but thinks there is a virtue to wandering.
• Was made by his mother, in almost all ways.
• Flirted with becoming a theoretical physicist at Princeton.
• Is elitist, and fosters a meritocracy of hard-working intelligence.  A lot of PhD economists.  Few women at the top.  Top six are white men.  In history, one black female on the board.  But not much different from Google and Facebook.
• If you're going in for a Bezos meeting, you're like preparing as if the world is going to end.
• Hire smart people who are tasked to find smarter people.
• Invent and Simplify...Bias for Action...Have Backbone...Disagree and Commit.  Some of 14 principles.
• Fanatic about Star Trek and wants to get into outer space.
• Has a profit-making company called Blue Origin, dealing with space.  At least that's blue.

• Admires Gerard O'Neill and his Space Cylinder, which somewhat looks like a first image of the Blue Revolution platform. 

O'Neill imagined colonies housed in miles-long cylindrical tubes floating between Earth and the moon. The tubes would sustain a simulacrum of life back on the mother planet, with soil, oxygenated air, free-flying birds, and “beaches lapped by waves.” When Bezos describes these colonies—and presents artists’ renderings of them—he sounds almost rapturous.

• Entrepreneurs will decide how space will be governed.  Looks like an opportunity for The Seasteading Institute.

• From the author:  In contrast to the dysfunction and cynicism that define the times, Amazon is the embodiment of competence, the rare institution that routinely works.  600 million items for sale from 3 million vendors. Has set aside $700 to retrain a third of its 600,000 employees.  No unions.  The company is deeply trusted by the public...unlike politicians and just about everyone else, these days.
• Whoops, Forbes indicated that Bezos is no longer the richest person in the world.  He only has $115.6 billion.  Bernard Arnault of LVMH is worth 117 billion.  Bill Gates is #3, but would have been #1 had he not donated $35.8 billion to charity.

Bezos worries that in the coming generations the planet’s growing energy demands will outstrip its limited supply. “We have to go to space to save Earth,” he says.

Makes sense.  But what about timing and global warming and the rest of this century?  

While Bezos is developing the technology for space, perhaps he might also want to consider in parallel the NEXT GREATEST CHALLENGE FOR PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY, which, of course, is the Blue Revolution.  This posting is way too long already, so I leave with a few references for your perusal:

• From The Huffington Post:  Blue Revolution
• Blue Revolution Hawaii 2020
• Progress on the Blue Revolution

Someone out there, please send this posting to Jeff Bezos, or one of his associates, or a friend of them, or...  Here is a central e-mail site:

     PatKenTak@hotmail.com

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