Should state governments allow company towns?

evil wasabi

The Jongmaster
20 Year Member
https://apnews.com/article/legislat...vada-economy-2fa79128a7bf41073c1e9102e8a0e5f0

Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments.

Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state’s economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday.

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.

The measure to further economic development with the “alternative form of local government” has not yet been introduced in the Legislature.

Sisolak pitched the concept in his State of the State address delivered Jan. 19. The plan would bring in new businesses at the forefront of “groundbreaking technologies” without the use of tax abatements or other publicly funded incentive packages that previously helped Nevada attract companies like Tesla Inc.

Sisolak named Blockchains, LLC as a company that had committed to developing a “smart city” in an area east of Reno after the legislation has passed.

The draft proposal said the traditional local government model is “inadequate alone” to provide the resources to make Nevada a leader in attracting and retaining businesses and fostering economic development in emerging technologies and industries.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development would oversee applications for the zones, which would be limited to companies working in specific business areas including blockchain, autonomous technology, the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless, biometrics and renewable resource technology.

Zone requirements would include applicants owning at least 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of undeveloped, uninhabited land within a single county but separate from any city, town or tax increment area. Companies would have at least $250 million and plans to invest an additional $1 billion in their zones over 10 years.

The zones would initially operate with the oversight of their location counties, but would eventually take over county duties and become independent governmental bodies.

The zones would have three-member supervisor boards with the same powers as county commissioners. The businesses would maintain significant control over board membership.

The governor’s economic development office did not respond to questions about the zones Wednesday

Rider thread
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showt...to-American-citizenship&p=4476481#post4476481
 

wyo

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
10 Year Member
Only if they can have robot wars between rival towns.
 

norton9478

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
20 Year Member


I recently audiobooked (free on librivox) King Coal by Upton Sinclair. It details (fictionalized, sensationalized) accounts of company mining towns of the early 20th century.
 

Lagduf

2>X
20 Year Member
I rescind my previous statement.

OCP is the way.

Can Cyberdyne Data Systems have their own town too?
 

SouthtownKid

There are four lights
20 Year Member
I'm less concerned with company towns domestically than the ones US conglomerates have set up in the third world.
 

evil wasabi

The Jongmaster
20 Year Member
I'm less concerned with company towns domestically than the ones US conglomerates have set up in the third world.

That’s a good point. But when it comes to those, the big question is whether the people running those companies are breaking the law in those countries.

For company towns in the US, I worry that employees have a distinct lack of bargaining power, compromised rights as employees vs private citizens, restricted access for other Americans without state oversight, and more. I’m not saying umbrella hives, but just that we created governments to protect the rights of the people, and Nevada has made a declaration that it doesn’t care.

Nevada should be dechartered, and everyone in NV, everyone, should be removed by force. The entire state can then be entered into the national park list.
 

Lagduf

2>X
20 Year Member
I heard a laughable interview from a Republican strategist on NPR.

She was basically saying that members of the party needed to stand up to Trump and his supporters including current members of Congress who are alleged to have participated in the Capitol Riot and/or spread the “Stop the Steal” lie.

That’s all well and good but then said that Corporations needed to immediately cease donating money to candidates and groups who supported those lies.

That was fine too, however, she described it as Corporations needing to show some “Moral Leadership” on the issue and continued to use that phrase.

LOL.

Corporate Moral Leadership?

:keke:

The idea that any for-profit corporation can be a moral leader on any issue is laughable. I’d be extremely skeptical of any major corporation who even claimed to be such a thing.
 

evil wasabi

The Jongmaster
20 Year Member
If you take away the mandate that a company must operate within the DOL rules, they will completely ignore minimum wage, hours, safety, and anti discrimination. We saw it in North Carolina. We see it with Hobby Lobby.
 

Lagduf

2>X
20 Year Member
RE: Hobby Lobby

If you take away the mandate that a company must operate within the DOL rules, they will completely ignore minimum wage, hours, safety, and anti discrimination. We saw it in North Carolina. We see it with Hobby Lobby.

On the other hand those corporations wouldn’t have to return the Christian artifacts they rescued from the heathen idol worshippers.
 

SouthtownKid

There are four lights
20 Year Member
LOL.

Corporate Moral Leadership?

:keke:

The idea that any for-profit corporation can be a moral leader on any issue is laughable. I’d be extremely skeptical of any major corporation who even claimed to be such a thing.
We've already seen dozens of attempts at it on social media the past few years.
 

oliverclaude

General Morden's Aide
We had company towns back in the old days.

Yeah, the list is quite long, it seems like a rehashed concept, only this time it's wired with optical fiber cables to bring "groundbreaking technologies" into focus. In Germany there are Leverkusen (Bayer) and Wolfsburg (Volkswagen).
 
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