Like many libertarians, I've always wondered "why doesn't someone just found a libertarian country?" The answer, of course, is that its not easy. All the good land is taken, and it would take considerable resources and committment from people to found a new country. On the other hand, it is not impossible. I poked around on the web, and here are some links about various projects & organizations along those lines which have varying degrees of seriousness & success.

These guys are for real: The Principality of Sealand (soon to be the site of a data haven). These guys are a scam: The Principality of New Utopia. These guys are selling vaporware: The Freedom Ship (my reasons for believing this). These guys are sensible: The Free Nation Foundation. Most of these guys aren't very serious: Micronations and The League of Secessionist States. Finally, these guys are Texans: The Republic Of Texas ('nuff said).

Katy asked me (half in jest) why I didn't try to found a Micronation, since all these other people are. My answer was simple: I don't currently have the time & resources to actually found one, and I am not going to try if I expect to fail. I wouldn't want to play at founding a country, summoning up some idealistic vision and having meetings and making a web site and a mailing list that was as far as the country ever got. That is what most of these projects are - people who can summon up an amusing vision that will never be brought to completion. If that is all these people want, which is probably true for many of them, thats fine, but it doesn't interest me. And I think its foolish for those who are seriously interested to approach things unrealistically, refusing to admit how difficult a venture it is, and allow their energies to be drawn off into a dead end.

While it doesn't interest me as a game, I may someday undertake nation-founding (with a group of like-minded people and sufficient capital) as a serious enterprise. Living in a country whose culture and politics I abhor wears slowly on the soul, and I yearn to live someplace truly free. As a smaller, less ambitious, but still interesting and difficult project, I am with a group that intends to found an intentional community in a few years. While that may be nice for awhile, I worry that the limitations of US law will keep it from being a permanent answer to my desires. Still, it will be excellent experience towards that larger goal.

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