— Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

Lonely Planet has an excellent book called Micronations, which lists pretty much every attempt ever by regular people to start their own tiny country.

The problems they accounted were typically doing something illegal, or trying to dodge taxes. Some, like Sealand, have survived, but they aren’t much fun.

I would love to have my own little country, and all I need to do is not avoid taxes or do anything illegal.

Here’s the very rough plan:

1. Win Lotto
2. Buy a big farm somewhere quite isolated
3. Build homes

First of all, it will work best if I am a benevolent dictator. Anyone living there does so for free, because I let them. People in that situation can be removed at will, if they are not fitting in.

It will of course be a libertarian paradise, ignoring official laws around what an individual does that harms nobody else. The property will be large enough that any raid by the police will give ample time to destroy evidence. (Yes, a lot of effort to take some drugs…)

It will be self-sufficient and barter-based, so no income taxes to pay. Property taxes and rates will need to be paid, either out of the saved Lotto winnings or by doing some real-world work. That could be selling produce or working online. It is OK to pay these taxes, it is a small effort relative to what we receive in return.

Mostly tech-free, say Amish-lite. Fossil-fuel vehicles stop at the entrance. Horse and cart is preferred. People sleep in tents or yurts, with no electricity. Clothes/dishes are washed by hand. But we will still have Internet and security cameras.

We will be very welcoming to artists/writers who want someone peaceful to be, with few distractions. Possibly, well at least try, it will be a place for people to get off drugs or escape family violence – while doing honest, hard farm work.

Ultimately, aside from being an environment I would like to live in, it could be seen as a positive example of how people can exist outside of greed and politics and the rat race.

I saw online, more than once, women desiring a partner who they could form memories with. As someone who tries very much to live in the moment, that sounded odd.

It can go two ways, I feel.

1. She thinks that we live in an Instagram life, where the recording is more important than the experience itself. People at rock concerts recording it instead of feeling it… Which means that looking back on previous situations is preferable to experiencing something in the present. Count me out!
2. Shared experiences are what establishes a relationship – a relationship is literally defined by the shared experiences. She has confused creating memories (as in being actively creative) with memories simply occurring as a consequence of existing.

I am choosing not to judge anyone who says “shared memories” because I think the intent is highly likely to be genuine and not contrived.