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Post by Lykos Packleader on Jun 23, 2011 5:19:54 GMT 10
Heyla to all --- I was actually looking for micronations on LinkedIn, and found this amidst all the other results.... it was posted a year ago, but I never saw it.... interesting, eh? onthespiral.com/start-up-cities-as-micronationsTo this, I add the ever-evolving eco-village of Dancing Rabbit, the city of Microna, TX and wonder if anyone else has heard of anything similar. I also find "Escape Artist" fascinating. Any further thoughts?
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George
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Head Honcho and Spangle of the Cosmos
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Post by George on Jun 23, 2011 13:24:47 GMT 10
As far as the concept of commune-style intentional settlements goes, the Damanhur Federation in Italy is by far and away the most successful - not to mention architecturally extraordinary and micronationally relevant (their members are termed "citizens", and they have their own fully functioning monetary system): www.damanhur.org/
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Post by Lykos Packleader on Jun 24, 2011 3:46:24 GMT 10
Heyla,
Okay, so I'm jealous! Another of those places I want to visit before I die!
Have you, George, ever been there, or attended an event, and if so, tell us about it.....
Anyone else: the same question to you --- it's amazing to me that I've Googled such places, and never found it before. Thanks, George, for the heads up!
(Maybe we could "invite" one of these citizens over for a virtual seminar, or at least to say "hi"
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Dagostinia
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Monarchy of Dagostinia
Posts: 114
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Post by Dagostinia on Jun 24, 2011 4:48:43 GMT 10
Way back when the skies in my world were much bluer, I had a master plan. That plan involved sovereignty in steps. That is, I was going to procure an island somewhere (bear with me), preferably within a river or sound with immediate unhindered access to the ocean. I would then incorporate the whole island as a city. Next I would apply for a county split, then go for statehood, then eventually complete nationality. I now realize that this is similar to a Rube Goldberg machine. The most likely scenario appears to be somewhere among Dancing Rabbit, Microna and Damanhur. That is, create your self-supporting community without any of the unnecessary taxation steps. Then hoist your flag and run it like a micronation. Wait, isn't that what several of us are doing already? Apparently I've finally arrived
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George
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Post by George on Jun 24, 2011 17:06:44 GMT 10
I have never been to Italy, much less Damanhur.
Frankly I'm not sure I'd cope well with so much concentrated New Age hokum in one localty - impressive architecture notwithstanding :-)
Personally I think our esteemed colleague from Dagostinia has the right idea.
Most micronations fail because they waste all their limited resources making simple things complex - usually for no apparent reason.
That's fine if you're just engaged in United Nations-inspired online play-acting - but it simply can't be sustained in reality.
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Post by MrJay on Jul 13, 2011 4:10:57 GMT 10
A founder of the "City of Microna" other than yours truly is still around. He recently swapped land in West Texas. I do not think the project is coming back.
The idea is very much exciting and sound. The trick is doing it right. This means going through all of the proper legal and regulatory channels to incorporate a municipal government.
A village, town or city does need to meet certain requirements for recognition. There are standard definitions for these different designations.
Cities generally speaking have a fair amount of "home rule" and are considered "general purpose" governments. Simply registering/incorporating a business: "City of XYZ, inc" and having land titled to it isn't enough.
Yes, there are unincorporated areas and a good deal of wiggle room. Especially, in places like West Texas. But there is a tremendous amount of responsibility in actually running a government.
A government presiding over an actual population of real human beings. What kind of zoning rules will you have? Where will children go to school? Will the city work to bring in utilities such as electricity and water? Will you have your own fire department? Volunteered or paid? A police department of your own or will you depend upon the county or state police. The list is very long and it is difficult to preempt.
Liberty and responsibility are synonyms. Liberty isn't an entitlement or welfare program. It is very much earned and must be exercised. Just like the muscles in the human body. Yes, there is a natural philosophical predisposition to liberty.
Back to specific point:
Build your community first. Build your "nation" and its identity first. Have fun being creative and treat it like an art project. Get to network and meet individuals like you. Focus on common beliefs and ideas. Yes, we're talking about a "national creed." Then slowly steer the group toward goals. Make them extremely simple and attainable at first.
It isn't realistic to be admitted into the United Nations after day 2. But a meetup or raising a certain amount of money for a cause is more doable. Nothing succeeds more than success.
Yes, a sustainable community is probably realistic. It might not even take the kind of money most people think. Depending on where you set it up, how you set it up and the kind of initial quality of life the members are willing to accept. Remember: Rome wasn't built in a day.
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Post by rogue ambassador on Jul 13, 2011 5:10:31 GMT 10
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George
Global Administrator
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Post by George on Jul 13, 2011 10:59:04 GMT 10
Build your community first. Build your " nation" and its identity first. Have fun being creative and treat it like an art project. Get to network and meet individuals like you. Focus on common beliefs and ideas. Yes, we're talking about a " national creed." Then slowly steer the group toward goals. Make them extremely simple and attainable at first. Bingo! It's nice to encounter someone who gets it. However, I do disagree somewhat with your later suggestion that this sort of thing can be done at low cost... and by "this sort of thing" I mean make the transition from "social club" to "corporatre entity with significant real estate-based assets" One can, no doubt, purchase small plots of land cheaply in some remote US desert location with no access roads, water, trees or any other basic conditions for habitability - but in southeastern Australia, if you want any of those things, you need to be prepared to fork out AUD $1000 an acre for starters. I'd argue that anything less than a couple of hundred acres is just too preposterously small to even bother with if you're thinking of supporting more than 1 permanent resident - so right up front you're looking at a $200k investment just for a piece of basic geography to call your own. Then there's the small matter of buying your building materials and transporting them by crane-truck the 100 km or so from the nearest town to your property. Then, even when they are finally driven through your front gate, how do you manage to get these materials to the actual construction site if - for example - it's at the top of a rock-strewn, steep-sided hill ? Spending $3000-4000 in road construction works up front, that's how. There's no point owning land unless it's accessible enough and naturally well-endowed enough for you to be able to afford to actually do something productive with it - but even given those consideratrions the budding micronationalist stills needs to understand tha they're going to be spending money in ten thousand dollar chunks on a periodic basis for a number of years if they are ever to have half half a hope of realising even a tiny % of the grandiose plans they drew up on the back of a drinks coaster decades ago.
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Post by Lykos Packleader on Jul 14, 2011 7:55:35 GMT 10
Heyla, Unfortunately, not much has been done with the following link, but it's still fascinating..... www.anewland.orgAs far as buck$ are concerned, I guess it all depends on your eventual goals, doesn't it? Face it, we're not all made of money, are we?
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