Independence: Nation-Founding Links
There are many tiny and semi-autonomous nations,
and have been many failed attempts, so I'm only listing those
that stood out to me as being of particular interest to libertarians,
and for which there are good webpages. There are links to more
complete listings as well, and some related organizations and
reference materials.
Ventures
- Succesful:
- SeaLand - One of the
few succesful nations founded recently, and the epitome of the
"if its small, it can happen" philosophy. The country
hosted a data haven for a few
years, but worries about terrorism and its backlash caused them to
shut it down.
- Residensea
- Does not intend to be a nation, but is the first
succesful floating condominium. Designed for the luxury market,
but still a great proof-of-concept.
- Christiana
- City within a city in Copenhagen, Denmark. Christiana
was started by hippie squatters and has lasted more than 30 years.
While not strictly libertarian, Christiana does have a significantly
more tolerant drug policy than Denmark.
- In Progress: (These
are projects that show at least some sign of being non-defunct.
Some are quite active.)
- Limon REAL - Rigoberto Stewart's push to
turn the Limon province of Costa Rica into an autonomous Libertarian
region. FNF article
introducing the project, comments
and response. Rigoberto's
book.
- Freedonia
- A web nation whose goal is to become a physical
nation, governed by a constitutional libertarian monarchy. They
are actively investigating potential sites.
- Seasteading - A project to
homestead the oceans. I am collaborating with Wayne Gramlich to
research and implement this. Here is a
basic introduction.
-
Free State Project -
While this project is not new-country, it is realistic enough to
deserve inclusion. Their goal is to get enough liberty-minded
americans to move to a single state to control its politics, thus
creating a haven for freedom within the USA. I wrote some worries about it here.
- Alexandisle - This
new country project is based on a system where the functions of
government are performed by charitable trusts funded by an estate
tax. There are no taxes during an individual's lifetime. My
concerns about the drawbacks of this system are here.
- Unsuccesful / Inactive: (These
projects were either never more than visions, or seem to have
been abandoned. If you have evidence that one is active, feel
free to drop me an email.)
- Laissez-Faire
City -
Scamdog has a great summary of what happened to LFC.
Notes from my personal visit are in this
journal entry
- SeaState
- A recent (2000) Oceania-like project (artificial
island nation). Website is somewhat disorganized.
- Libertocracy
- A movement to "develop a polycentric free
enterprise government and socio-economic system..." Incorporates
elements from libertarian, anarcho-capitalist, and liberal thought.
Has lots
of text about the glorious revolution, but not much practical
advice or evidence of realistic projects. Seems to me like the
ratio of words to {thought, action, effort spent pondering reality}
is rather high. Still, its an impressive & inspirational
collection of thought on the subject.
- Oceania: The
Atlantis Project - This was a project
in 1994/95 to create a floating libertarian city, created by
the First Millenial Foundation
(AKA Living Universe Foundation). They got some press and then
ran out of steam, and the people moved on to other things. The
website is being kept up for inspiration.
- Nomad
Ship - Brad
Templeton (longtime netizen, founded ClariNet) has a city-at-sea
vision.
-
Transtopia - 1997 vision
of a transhuman/libertarian island community, has some good reference
material & discussion of physical implementation.
- Montsegur
- A 1998 vision of a tolerant, diverse, libertarian
island nation where gays/lesbians could live in freedom.
-
Space For The Future: The
Artifical Island Concept - Japans Kawasaki Steel Co. builds big
islands.
- The Artemis
Project - A venture to put a free
human colony on the moon. Sounds a bit ambitious to me ($1.5B
to complete the first mission), but they seem pretty serious.
- Active but unrealistic:
(Covering the range from total scams to just absurdly unrealistic,
be cautious of these projects)
Relevant Organizations:
- Free Nation Foundation
Whereas my gut reaction to the difficulty of the problem is to scale
down the vision to a size a few people can handle, the FNF's is to
spend many years laying groundwork (founding
perspectus). I am not that patient, but I certainly applaud
their efforts. Their site contains archives of their magazine, and a
large number of links to articles on implementing libertarianism, so
it is has many interesting and relevant pieces on nation founding.
Note: they have spit into two organizations:
- Libertarian Nation
Foundation - LNF holds that a libertarian nation, conceived as
such from its beginning, ought to exist and should be created.
LNF develops formulations for institutions and social arrangements
for a libertarian nation.
- Free Nation Foundation
- Critical Institutions This organization is led by Richard
Hammer, founder and past President of the former FNF. For a number
of years to come, FNF-CI's focus will be narrow and its program
will be modest. FNF-CI focuses on critical institutions affecting
the creation and survival of a free nation, such as constitutions,
defense, and law. The program consists of maintaining a web
presence, maintaining the Foundation through regular but modest
mailings, and publishing relevant papers on an ad hoc basis.
- Laissez-Faire
City - As detailed above.
-
The Republic of Lomar -
The largest virtual state, whose eventual goal is to provide
non-territorial government like services (citizenship, passport,
legal assistance, etc.) worldwide, with no physical presence
other than embassies. They are not focused on establishing a
sovereign state, but they are into reality rather than fantasy,
unlike most micronations.
- Sea
Structures Inc. makes SeaCells, which
are flotation units.
- Awdal Roads Company - run by
libertarians, this is a project to develop and improve the Awdal
province of Somalia, which has been considered as a potential
site for nation-founding. Unfortunately, the independence of
the region is disputed.
Discussion Groups:
Indices:
-
The Micronation and Sovereignty Website Index
- Lists many small nations, physical and virtual,
recognized and unrecognized. This is the most up-to-date listing
of micronations & new country projects.
- Footnotes
To History - A webpage which provides
"an overview of ephemeral states, micronations, secessionist
states, and every other kind of country you never heard of in
high school". The visions are wonderful, the results often
depressing, but the history is certainly colorful.
- Resources
for the Study of Nationalism - Autonomy,
Secession, Independence and Nationalist Movements.
Web Texts:
Physical Texts:
-
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition
to the Information Age - A book by
some of the original Laissez-Faire City founders, predicting
a transition to an information economy which will reduce the
power of governments.
-
The international legal regime of artificial islands
- A law text on the subject.
-
How To Start Your Own Country
- by Erwin C. Strauss. Much of this book is a sordid history
of failures, which is somewhat amusing and serves as a warning.
-
The Last Frontiers On Earth
- Strange Places Where You Can Live Free. A number of reasonably
well-thought out ideas for pushing the boundaries of where people
can currently live. Speculative but grounded in reality.
-
BLUEPRINT FOR PARADISE
- How to Live on a Tropic Island. Despite the title, a very practial
handbook. "Ross Norgrove found land, built
a house, and lives quite contentedly on a tropic island, and
he tells you how you can do it, too. In Blueprint for Paradise
he answers in detail such tough questions as: · How can
you, from thousands of miles away, select the island that matches
your needs and your hoped-for-lifestyle? · What barriers
will the island government place in your path? · What
should you look for when you buy property? · What should
you consider when you build a house? · What are the up-front
costs? · What are the hidden costs? · What about
food? Water? Medical Care?"
[From the Loompanics website]
-
Uninhabited Ocean Islands.
Published in 1991, contains an extensive list of islands, with
political history.
-
Limon Real, by Rigoberto
Stewart, which describes his plan to make Costa Rica's Limon
project an autonomous libertarian province.
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