Liberland: A New Nation Founded on "Love and Freedom"

Can a country formed on limited government attain international legitimacy?

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Liberland: A New Nation Founded on "Love and Freedom"

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"We will have a chance to establish a country if it's mainly about love and freedom," says Vit Jedlicka, a 31-year-old Czech politician and the founding president of Liberland.

Nestled on a strip of unclaimed land between Croatia and Serbia, Liberland currently exists as a marshy, mosquito-plagued spit of land in the Danube River that has attracted the ire of its neighboring countries. Jedlicka seeks to create an autonomous nation capable of exisiting with the minimum amount of government authority possible. 

With a constitution modeled on that of the United States, Liberland has generated interest in more than 360,000 potential citizens and is, says Jedlicka, open to anyone with a "respect for private ownership" who is tolerant of other people and their beliefs regardless of race, ethnicity, orientation or religion. Criminals, communists, Nazis and "extremists" are discouraged from applying. 

About 2 minutes long.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller. Interview by Matt Welch.

Related: "Liberland: Disappointing Reality or Encouraging Fantasy?," by Brian Doherty.

Music: "Call Now" by Podington Bear (http://podingtonbear.com)

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Criminals, communists, Nazis and "extremists" are discouraged from applying.

Sounds like they're gonna have to build a fence.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Or a wall.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

From one of the links in the article: "But 40,000 people finished the online application for citizenship in Liberland (of 330,000 who at least started, 87,000 of them Egyptians)"

Odd.

Yeah. Call me crazy but adding Egyptians to the mix in the Balkans just screams peace, prosperity and liberty.

[Free Society]

They need to select applicants based on their backgrounds and ideology, that's the cost giving these hypothetical citizens the right to vote in Liberland. Without some discrimination they'll be a quasi-socialist state within ten years, if the history of universal suffrage is any indicator of things to come. Truthfully I think he'd be better off trying to press an allodial claim and run the show as a principality. But "democracy" is just so damn legitimate sounding to people so I can see why he went that route.

[JeremyR]

That really depends on if they are Muslims or not.

Egypt was originally a form of Christianity (Coptic) that incorporated a lot of the old Egyptian religion (include mummies). But then Muslims invaded and persecuted them.

[Issue Ninja]

This is true. Egyptian Christians face terrible persecution. I can see why they would want a place in Liberland, and why they would probably be good citizens. A friend of mine is an Egyptian and one of the nicest people I have ever known.

[JWatts]

It's a two square mile of swamp in the middle of nowhere. This is a silly plan.

[bassjoe]

Which, apparently, the self-proclaimed president can't even step foot on without getting deported.

[Free Society]

It's a two square mile of swamp in the middle of nowhere. This is a silly plan.

Take just about any two square miles of habitable land in the world and you will have more than enough wealth flowing into the economy operating under these legal conditions to cope with the problems of living in a remote swamp.

The only conditions that matter in attaining sovereignty for Liberland are the dispositions of neighboring states and international law to a lesser extent.

[adampeart]

The Mormon church founder Joseph Smith bought swamp land in Illinois that was deemed uninhabitable. Within five years he and his 50000 followers drained the swamp and built a magnificent city called Nauvoo that at one point was larger than Chicago, and if memory serves, the largest city in the state. Ultimately Smith was assassinated, the city was burned to the ground, and the Mormons were forced out, leading to the exodus that ended in Utah. Even there they turned a desert into a nice lush little place. Point is, if you want it bad enough, you can create a vibrant community pretty much anywhere.

[Jr12]

Can a country formed on limited government attain international legitimacy?

Perhaps, but Reason would have to refrain from insisting that "libertarianism" requires Liberland's use of welfare state income redistribution to encourage a flood of tax dependent immigrant poverty, legal and illegal, as they argue in their articles about immigration to America. This magazine desperately needs to revisit the parameters of non-contradictory principles.

[adampeart]

I haven't read EVERY article on Reason but it seems to me well understood that you cannot have unfettered immigration so long as a welfare state exists.

[BearOdinson]

One would think libertarians could come up with a better name? Liberland?
Why not just Dorkland. Or Geekatopia. Or Neverseenanakedwomanway.

We have some smart fucking people on our side. Can't we do any better than that?
For the children?!

[Connor]

you're right! We need something better. We need something creative, something original...I'm thinking something like "freedomland". far more inspiring

[PaulW]

How about "The Republic of Friedman".

Libertarians love puns, right?

[adampeart]

Good one! I thought "Land" was fitting for objective libertarians.

"Liber" makes me think of Liberia... Didn't end well there.

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[XM]

There can be no Liberland if the majority of its citizens vote against it.

What happens to libertarian utopis if no one is deported but the government won't provide welfare?

[adampeart]

Voluntary charity? Oh that's right, libertarians metaphorically have no souls.

[DenverJ]

You know who else annexed Serbian territory?

[PaulW]

The Bulgars?

[Issue Ninja]

Bill Clinton? No, he just bombed it.

[AD-RtR/OS!]

Is this mythical country located on the continent of Unicornicopia?

[kevrob]

I think you have it confused with Bronislavia.

Kevin R

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[crufus]

The dream of Liberland should last till Croatia sends an infantry company with a couple of tanks to remind everyone that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.