When the intellectual movement against socialism and collectivism began in the mid-1930s, it turned out there was nowhere left to flee from the state. No free territories remained. That is, if you suddenly decide to establish a new state—not as bloodthirsty as the existing ones—you will not succeed, because all the places in the market are already taken.
True, there is one “but.” States own people on land. At sea, however, their jurisdiction extends only to the two-hundred-mile “exclusive economic zone.” Beyond that begins unclaimed land, or rather—water, on which the territory of the state shrinks to the territory of the vessel. And the very “state affiliation” of a ship is determined by its flag.
From this moment, the world ocean—the last “unclaimed” territory—becomes the setting for most political utopias and dystopias.
Note that various villains in pop culture usually make their homes on remote islands and on the ocean floor. There, far from the oversight of the state’s watchful eye, they nurture their plans for seizing power or destroying all living things. Generally speaking, leftists, who constitute the majority among “cultural figures,” have a rather peculiar idea of man, especially of a man dissatisfied with the omnipotence of the state. Here, for example, is the wonderful game Bioshock, the action of which takes place precisely in such an underwater city of “refugees for freedom,” whose residents have turned into mutants and are engaged in the joyful extermination of each other. In the opinion of the authors, one need only place people outside of state guardianship, and they will immediately begin conducting medical experiments on each other, inventing plasmids, and self-indulgently mutating. Meanwhile, the economy in which the game’s action takes place is quite developed. After all, one must be able to build a city under water, create life support systems, etc. Who does this and how (apparently in their free time from mutations) is unclear.