\n<\/p>\n
The Malaysian government has ordered the shutdown of a startup-centric community called the Network School, according to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Billing itself<\/a> as \u201ca frontier community for techno-optimists,\u201d the Network School reportedly grew out of entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan\u2019s conviction that the United States is in irreversible decline; Srinivasan has said his goal is \u201cto start a new country.\u201d<\/p>\n So the Network School is supposed to represent the first step in a seven-stage plan (outlined in Srinivasan\u2019s book \u201cThe Network State\u201d<\/a>) for building a new society. Based in an abandoned Malaysian hotel, the WSJ described the program as \u201cpart tech incubator, part self-improvement retreat.\u201d Attendees, however, complained about moldy rooms, as well as a dearth of women and nightlife.\u00a0<\/p>\n After receiving questions from the WSJ, Srinivasan \u2013 who apparently renounced his American citizenship in 2023 \u2014 published a lengthy post on X<\/a> declaring himself \u201ca proud Singaporean\u201d and complaining that the WSJ was working on a \u201chit piece\u201d that would make him look like \u201can odd duck [\u2026] as opposed to an early adopter.\u201d<\/p>\n And although the current Malaysian campus will reportedly need to shut down due to licensing issues, Srinivasan recently announced<\/a> a new agreement for a campus in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n