How to Start a New Country

Time to make a plan (DN 5.0)

What do you want?

I am going to go out on a limb and answer for you. Correct me if I get anything wrong.

I bet you’d like to live in a more peaceful world.

I bet you didn’t like it when the whole planet was locked down and four billion people were coerced into taking an experimental injection. I bet you don’t like the sneaking feeling that something like that could happen again. Or something worse.

I bet you’d like to live in a world that doesn’t seem quite so insane.

I bet you don’t like being subjected to ridiculous laws—laws that would never exist in any natural human arrangement. I bet you don’t like having your money taken by force.

I bet you don’t like being told that you consented to all of this, when you so obviously did not.

I bet you have a sneaking suspicion that in addition to all the psychopathic control freaks attracted to positions of power, there are even bigger weirdos pulling strings from the shadows.

I bet you’d like to feel happy. I bet you’d like to feel safe.

I bet you’d like to be free.

It turns out, that wasn’t so much of a limb after all. I know that most of you are feeling most of that, and more.

So what are we going to do about it?

Talking about it has value. We educate ourselves and keep each other informed. The further the word spreads, the more people become informed. And, of course, talking about it helps remind each of us that we’re not alone.

And yet, if all we do is talk, then we’re not really solving anything, are we? Identifying a problem is not the same as fixing it. Worse still, the more we explore what’s wrong, the more we dive down every rabbit hole, the worse we feel. We are robbed of joy without even getting anything accomplished. And then, mired in hopelessness, we despair of ever finding a solution.

I have been a part of this discussion. I too have felt this despair. But a couple of years ago—with hope, inspiration from a variety of sources, and some new ideas—I decided to do something about it. Thus far, that effort has largely been focused on conversation and exploration, and that is how it had to be. But now the time has come to pivot to actual planning. And then, after that, to execution.

I wish we could have gotten here sooner. I am just one man—with a wife, a child, and more than one job, and things take time. Still, perhaps all is unfolding as it should. We have needed the time to think things through. To get things right. So I will trust in Providence that the timing is as it should be.

A thousand trees

Of course, there are people out there who are already focused on solutions. Instead of being mired in the muck and despair of the old world, they are trying to build the new. Seasteads and special economic zones. Free cities and fraternal orders. DAOs and other decentralized models.

These are our friends and allies. Let their seeds blossom into mighty trees! They are but saplings now, and they all face the endless gale of a system that wants them to fail. Yet, like the pioneers of old, they are paving the way for more to come. And more will come.

There are others who are still focused on reforming the old world—dogged souls who are fighting within the system. Ultimately, I believe that is not the best way to go, especially if those efforts are accompanied by the belief that this is the only way it can be—that the best we can hope for is to simply hold the line, fighting over a tiny patch of mud for all eternity. And yet, to whatever extent they are keeping the parasites and jackals from getting even closer, we must salute them. And then we must build a new world, so that they do not have to be mired in the slog of the old forever.

Having lots of different people attempting lots of different kinds of solutions is not a flaw in our approach. The freedom movement is, after all, about freedom. They will do their thing and we will do ours. We will be allies. We will compare notes. We will create pressure from many different directions. Eventually, walls will crumble.

Our tree

Our approach, as you know, is to create a decentralized nation of individuals united in a common desire to be free. We will not have a fixed territory, but we will be everywhere—a worldwide diaspora of sovereign individuals in our sovereign spaces.

We are not asking for permission or waiting for perfection. We will declare our right to be independent and then work progressively toward our goals.

We will not ask anyone to adopt a complex ideology or dogmatic belief system. We will be united only by the most basic and universal principles of natural law. Those principles say, first and foremost, that human consent is the fundamental unit of moral concern…and that, since we clearly did not consent to any of this, we by right ought to be independent and free from it.

And that is exactly what we are going to be.

The patience of a seed

We’ve talked about the Why and the What, the Where and the Who. Now we begin to discuss the How. We will still be engaging in some organic discussion and exploration, but we will also begin narrowing down specific methods and plans. We have to figure out precisely what we want and how we are going to get there.

After the how, all that will remain is the when. We will set a timeline and then officially create our nation. Then the real journey begins.

I will not pretend that it will be easy or quick. Small cadres of control freaks have been using the power of the state to exploit and dominate the rest of us for thousands of years. If I had a magic wand, I would wave it, but I don’t. Getting out from under that is going to take time.

Like a seed in a crack, like a tree growing tall and strong, we will have to be patient. We may see some quick successes, but we must also have the courage to commit to a long-term project. Instant gratification would be nice, but life doesn’t work that way. If we care about the future, if we care about our children, then we are going to have to start planting trees, even though we may not live to sit in their shade.

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Cover page | Preface | Introduction 1 | Introduction 2 | Introduction 3 |

(Part I) Why: 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.10 | 1.11 | 1.12 | 1.13 | 1.14 | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.19 | 1.20 | 1.21 |1.22

(Part II) What: 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.10 I 2.11 | 2.12 | 2.13 | 2.14 | 2.15 | 2.16 | 2.17 | 2.XX | 2.18 | 2.19 | 2.20 | 2.21 | | Where: 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.10 | 3.11 | 3.12 | 3.13 || Who: 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.XX | 4.XY | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.10 | 4.11 | 4.12 | 4.XZ | 4.13 | 4.YX | 4.14 | 4.15 | 4.16 | 4.17 | 4.18 | 4.19 | 4.YY | 4.YZ | 4.ZX | 4.20 | 4.21 | 4.22 || How: 5.0 |