Reykjavík

This city is just a manifestation of its rich culture, often belittled by the world, but thriving on swarm intelligence where others were collapsing under the weight of their self-chosen woke culture that brought uneducated idiots into the lead.

— Resa Saffa Park, Norwegian singer

Reykjavík has become the undisputed capital of the new world order for many reasons: climate change, early adapted independent liberal bitcoin banking, a welcoming culture for people with money but restrictive towards have-nots, and a collaborative spirit enforced and controlled by The Swarm - an open, AI-supported meritocratic expert system that puts the power of change and decisions into the hands of mature people who should know and can be trusted to really understand what they are talking about and can predict the risk, outcome, and consequences of their decisions in utmost detail.

After all, the attraction of international expert workers has created the foundation of a thriving technology sector, which is still government controlled along a socio-ethical framework that controls risk and impact on people first and profit second - fundamentally different from the other, dominantly MegaCorp-controlled and, meanwhile, mostly failed nations.

After the USA took over Greenland, all of Europe, Russia, and China heavily invested to keep Island independent and a military-relevant force to stop the USA's further expansion and domination in the northern war for resources.

And of course the natural volcanic energy sources had their positive impact on the energy-hungry, AI-driven industry and Bitcoin-related services, attracting again the most intelligent engineers and the world's richest folks to pay them.

When all of Iceland became a military and financial powerhouse, it built a reputation of great stability and security for individuals and businesses alike, attracting the good from which only the really qualified and needed were selected to stay and build up a stable, secure life living up to one's full potential and sharing ideas, work, and outcomes with the community.

Whereas Iceland remained densely populated, Reykjavík has turned into a 22 million city with an impressive skyline and an even more impressive infrastructure below. Much was done to get the city green again, and some joint-venture deals were made with MegaCorps on food, education, and health - leaving some impact and traces on the otherwise liberal, open, and free population.

Of course, even Reykjavík has its "shadow streets" and its dark locations where food, medication, drugs, bitcoins, and even weapons are dealt on the black markets. But somehow, it has been publicly accepted that a great society must be able to deal with such fallout as well - because freedom includes choosing to go down the road as well—as long as others are not bothered.

The swarm was intelligent enough to foresee Island's potential isolation and the involved risks of shrinking diversity and reduced learning from the "outer" world. And luckily the city was already rich enough to initiate a joint venture for the construction of the first hyperloop to oil-rich Bergen, Norway, then extending to Oslo and finally going non-stop-underground to Switzerland and independent Brittany, efficiently connecting the four still independent, non-MegaCorps-controlled free countries by bypass the failed states in between for the safe exchange of goods, know-how, skills, and experiences Island would not have had or grown alone.

Among the four "Paradise"-regions headed by Oslo in Norway, Interlaken (Switzerland), and Lorient (Brittany), Reykjavík has been the undisputed leader right from the beginning, whereas the other three were just smart enough to copy/paste and accept The Swarm's philosophy as their own way to go and thrive. And because all those regions have remained technology-wise so advanced and still made all the money to afford such military forces and infrastructure, no other country or MegaCorps-army has ever tried to fuss with the borders. And when they tried to auster the Four upon blocking trade and energy, the Paradise States have always found somebody delivering for a higher price.

Nowhere on this planet is living outside the cubicle as comfortable and beautiful as in Reykjavík with its still green environment, carefully selected immigrants (you have to speak Esperanto to qualify), free transportation, zero pollution, and the freedom to contribute whatever you want, as long as you are contributing and actively paying back to the community.