Dagostinia
Full Member
Monarchy of Dagostinia
Posts: 114
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Post by Dagostinia on Jul 20, 2011 4:06:44 GMT 10
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George
Global Administrator
Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
Posts: 2,997
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Post by George on Jul 20, 2011 6:22:52 GMT 10
A ramshackle dump, full of outcasts living in humpies and lean-tos, overseen by a demented farmer...
For some strange reason it reminds me of a certain micronation in Missouri.
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Jul 20, 2011 16:56:11 GMT 10
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Post by MrJay on Jul 21, 2011 6:57:05 GMT 10
Has anybody here ever considered creating a refuge state? Yes. see the current State of Israel Also, see the Republic of Lomar
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George
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Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
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Post by George on Jul 21, 2011 8:18:19 GMT 10
I'm afraid that neither of those examples fill me with any particular sense of confidence.
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Post by MrJay on Jul 21, 2011 9:04:15 GMT 10
That makes two of us. The United States of America to an extent is/was a country for refugees. Granted, there is a major difference between immigrants and refugees.
I suppose the classic problem of a homeland for refugees is it plays into the hands of oppressive governments. Yes, people fleeing nightmarish lives could benefit from a sanctuary. Jews in Nazi Germany, Christians in Darfur, those in portions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghans in Iran, and even Palestinians.
Longer term, such a homeland could be a convenient dumping ground for tyrannical regimes. A temporary situation can via metamorphosis turn into a permanent one.
Another problem is helping these individuals make it to safety. Not just logistically but in real time. The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact wasn't all too keen on letting folks leave.
The creation of such a country could also entice people to take on risky journeys. I'm thinking of North Koreans fleeing into China.
Then there is even the possibility of blow-back. Specifically, of refugees planning and plotting to retake their countries.
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George
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Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
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Post by George on Jul 21, 2011 13:03:43 GMT 10
I agree. It is no accident that Hitler actively pursued the idea of dumping "his" Jews in Madagascar prior to deciding it was easier to just murder them all.
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Post by MrJay on Jul 22, 2011 3:50:33 GMT 10
You're absolutely right on. Here is an alternative history hypothetical: "What if Europe's Jews had been deported to French Madagascar during World War II?" My guess is the sheer cost would have been prohibitive. I also suspect there would have been clashes between Jewish refugees and the Malgache. Probably, not to the extent of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But nonetheless pernicious and sad. While not quite analogous it is reminiscent of the Liberia and Sierra Leone experiments. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Colonization_Society
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George
Global Administrator
Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
Posts: 2,997
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Post by George on Jul 22, 2011 10:00:58 GMT 10
The difference with Madagascar, of course, is that the Nazis assumed they would be running the place after emerging victorious from WW2.
In that event it seems likely that the Holocaust would simply have happened a little later, off the east coast of Africa.
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