In the US, Libertarians who are absolutely convinced that they are never going to persuade the rest of their fellow countrymen to stop sucking off the teat of the State have formed the Free State Project. The aim being to have as many of their fellow believers in Liberty move to New Hampshire, with a view to getting a critical mass to have a more of a Libertarian Society.
DK is off to a lecture on Sea Steading as an alternative society where personal freedom and responsibility are the founding principals.
As a founder member of the the Libertarian Party, I am committed to the idea of persuading my fellow citizens that this high tax, high dependency society is slavery and a dishonest way to live. My realistic expectations are that it will take seventy to eighty years or a bloody revolution for society to change in the direction I would like to see it go.
Could we realistically build a ‘Free State’ project in the UK ? Legally it is impossible, because the British State claims Sovereignty over all of the land mass in these Islands and therefore treats us all as ‘subjects’ to be milked for taxes, to support the righteous and their client state dependents.
However there are pockets of self governing sovereignty within the British Isles, like Jersey and the Isle of Man. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland although nominally independent are hopelessly wedded to every Statist solution because of their overwhelming dependence on the English Taxpayer to prop their society up.
Cornwall is in an unusual constitutional position, and here I have some sympathy with the Nationalists of Kernow, that somewhere along the line in the last one hundred and fifty years, Kernow has changed from a nominally independent Duchy with its own Stannary Parliament, to the same status as an English County.Unfortunately Mabyon Kernow is equally as focussed on getting better ‘grants’ and ‘compensation’ than standing on its own two feet. Since becoming a County and with Beeching and the ending of the China Clay and Tin Industries, Cornwall has become a financial and economic back water.
What if everybody of a Libertarian nature said, ok thats it,enough is enough on the undertaking from a newly independent Cornish Stannary Parliament that the only taxes that would levied would be for defence only, moved to Cornwall taking their businesses and expertise with them to what would be a free trade zone, think of the possibilities of an income tax free economy. A Bank of Kernow being set up issuing its own bank notes, run on the basis of sound money and basic banking principals- very similar to the Lewes Pound which has the face of Tom Paine on it.The current High Street Banks would have to hive off its Cornish branches into Cornish Registered ones under Cornish Banking Laws. No further taxes disappearing to the EU, as the Duchy of Kernow would not be part of the EU.
With no promise of easily available benefits the dependent, foreign and domestic, would gravitate to those parts of the UK that still offered High Taxation and easy benefits, therefore only those prepared to work, achieve high standards of education would move to or stay in Kernow. Within ten years I think you could guarantee the employment prospects and economic well being of everybody in Kernow would increase tenfold .Removing restrictive planning laws, would mean that housing would again become affordable, and the mortgage slavery would end.
You do not have to have vast natural resources to be a successful economy and society as Singapore,Hong Kong, Jersey and other city States have proved, just the right Constitution and economic model.
The Stannary Parliament would have to have a constition that guaranteed personal and economic freedom, and to ensure that economic independence would not be subborned by those that would wait until the Kernow economy had recovered, then to tax the life out of it again to support the righteous and their needy dependents.
I have just used Cornwall/Kernow as an easy example, to the horror of those who want an English Parliament, the same could be done in Mercia, Northumbria etc however most of these ancient English Kingdoms are now so dependent on the State that seventy per cent of those living there are dependent on the State, and are client states of New Labour.
The Welfare State has sucked the life, morality and culture out of British way of life, and thrown it to the dogs of the far right and far left. In the ensuing political collapse, perhaps we have to accept that to escape the possibilities of becoming a slave of the state, we may have to separate of the from the rest of British State run by alternating Darien Governments blue or red, to achieve any freedom in our lifetime.
The question is where to set up this alternative free state. This is not a flight of fancy Jersery has a population only 84 000.
