Since this whole election thing, I’ve heard no end of fantasies about moving to Canada, in traditional, and less traditional ways.  Or seceding from the Confederacy, or Jesusland, or whatever the US “homeland” has become.

But why move to another country when you can start your own?

Well, there are a few reasons, it turns out.  Not every Sealand has a happy ending.  You might for instance ask Michael Oliver about the hazards of such an endeavor:

The Republic of Minerva was the brainchild of Nevada businessman Michael Oliver, who in the early 1970s announced plans to reclaim land from the southern Pacific Ocean and build a libertarian-inspired city-state capable of sustaining a population of 30,000.

The site chosen was at Latitude 23.40 S, Longitude 179.00 W - about 400 miles south of Fiji and 260 miles west of Tonga - and was the location of a group of hitherto-unclaimed underwater reefs. Construction commenced in 1971, and Minerva was declared independent on January 19, 1972.

Unfortunately, the only nation that responded to Minerva’s calls for recognition was Tonga. Various reports claim that the Tongan government reacted to a neighbor it viewed as an unwelcome threat by sending (a) a naval gunboat, (b) a convict work detail, or (c) a rowboat populated by King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV and a brass band, to Minerva. The outcome, in any case, was that on 21 June 1972, the Minervan flag was hauled down, and the atoll was later formally annexed to the Kingdom of Tonga.  [but is it all over, really?]

Two lessons here, at least:
1) Libertarians are crazy.
2) Do not fuck with the King of Tonga.

Maybe too a third  having to do with sticking around here and fighting for what you believe in, or something like that.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 5th, 2004 at 2:01 am and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.