Not waving but drowning. (Matt Broomfield)
Chugging down the Danube in a fisherman’s boat, past the unrecognised exclave known as Liberland, it’s hard to reconcile fantasy with reality. This patch of land — lushly forested, mosquito-ridden and boggy — remains unclaimed by neighbouring Croatia and Serbia, allowing a coterie of libertarian crypto enthusiasts to claim it as a nominally-sovereign micronation. But this sleepy cartographical quirk is a far cry from the visionary design generated by Zaha Hadid Architects to represent Liberland in the Metaverse, where silhouetted avatars stroll down deforested avenues lined with grand, neo-futurist architecture.
The idea of setting up an “independent” nation has always been attractive to libertarians, even though a half-century of attempts to establish tax-free idylls have produced no tangible results beyond angering locals and wasting the pocket change of billionaires like Peter Thiel. Partly in response to this, the more artistic tradition of “micronations” has been overtaken by a particular trend of Bitcoin-fuelled ultra-libertarianism, which implies less a release from state repression than a form of anarcho-capitalism. This vision has more in common with Dubai’s brand of free-market authoritarianism — a vision of ultra-rich luxury and labour exploitation — than any true utopian ideal.
Vit Jedlička, a ruddy-cheeked, stout-chested libertarian ideologue and self-styled President of Liberland, is as emphatic as he is energetic. “We are not a micronation, but a nation of 700,000 people, with embassies in 80 nations, and relations with countries like Haiti, Somaliland, and Malawi. We’re serious about getting Liberland set up as a country.” Never one to undersell his project, Jedlička clearly has tremendous fun barrelling around the world promoting Liberland. Nominally based out of this scrap of marshland the size of Gibraltar, but largely operating online, it’s a Web-3 nation: businesses unfettered from regulation, a skeleton state providing only basic protections, and “citizens” issued with voting credits based on the amount of voluntary tax paid.
Never mind that none of those would-be citizens actually live in Liberland — instead there is a handful of activists moored downstream on a houseboat, under the close supervision of the Croatian police. Never mind that its diplomacy is rather more limited than Jedlička suggests, with the citizens of Malawi recently ridiculing their government for getting involved with a nation that is never likely to exist. The President is always ready with a litany of soon-to-be realised projects and promises, hinting at deals and meetings with billionaires and politicians. The crash in the crypto market is a blip; a Liberland houseboat has been torched, but there will be an insurance payout. Every potential threat is recast as proof his project will succeed.
We first meet in a half-finished holiday camp Jedlička has purchased on the Serbian side of the river. And there is a clear tension between this “eco-village” (a “diaspora” site where Liberland’s first “settlers” will train in survival and negotiation skills) and his Serbian supporters’ frustration at the lack of a clear business plan. But, even if its “ambassadors” are paid lobbyists or random Bitcoin enthusiasts, Liberland does have more political reach than other libertarian micronations. This is partly a product of Jedlička’s gregarious personality, which has kept the project alive since it began in 2015. Due to an arcane, post-Yugoslavian boundary dispute, neither Serbia nor Croatia prefer to lay claim to the 7km2 of territory, leaving it — Jedlička says — “terra nullia” for the taking. (The Croatian authorities disagree, tolerating the Liberlanders’ presence on their territory, but denying them access to the contested patch of land.)
But this reach is also thanks to the political moment into which Jedlička announced his project. The conservative Czech politician found a natural home in the heady world of Web-3 technologies, securing capital backing (through cryptocurrency investments) and the means to place Liberland’s constitution on the blockchain in perpetuity. He generated a growing, global interest in his ultra-libertarian vision — resulting in collaborations with big-name architects, the Polkadot cryptocurrency development fund, and a host of global Bitcoin fans, including the Liberian (not Liberlandian) Consul General to Dubai, currently living on a barge just outside the UAE in imitation of Liberland’s ideals.
For Jedlička, these international supporters “understand the economic potential of a truly free zone in the European Union… they like the vision, and want to watch”. He presents it as “combining aspects of the most successful states to date”, bringing together Singapore-style meritocracy, the town-hall democracy of early America, and the low-tax environment of European microstates such as Monaco or Liechtenstein.
In practice, such a system would face immediate issues. As we ride rickety bikes along the course of the Danube, Jedlička says he prefers the “right to set up a lemonade stand in the street over the right to cycle down it naked”, suggesting that the freedom to practice business should trump personal liberties. Yet this approach opens the door to all manner of abuses, since those individuals or businesses able to spend the most money will also be able to determine law and policy, by securing the most voting credits. Already, in Serbia’s Liberland-linked tourist village, a promised wage of €600 a month has proved insufficient to retain the skilled workers needed to complete the camp, leaving it half-finished. The “non-aggression principle” proposed to prevent direct physical harm between Liberland citizens offers no protection of basic rights. There is no health or social care, workplace protections or minimum wage. To the Liberland activists, “welfare state” is a dirty word.
Other liberties would also come under threat. The project has been troubled from the outset by the question of whether free movement of peoples would be allowed, with Liberlanders congregated in the Serbian eco-village mocking the emailed residency applications of confused Middle Easterners who mistake the country for a real polity. While Jedlička generally presents an optimistic, modernising political model, Serbian supporters who drove up from Belgrade to visit their President describe themselves as proud “conspiracy theorists”. And this isn’t libertarian trolling: they cite the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Ku Klux Klan associate Albert Pike in arguing that the world faces an imminent race war orchestrated by the same Jewish New World Order they allege was behind the Holocaust. Given no-one actually lives in Liberland, Jedlička is free to place his trust in a notional citizens’ veto to prevent abuses of rights. But it remains unclear how a clash between libertarian ideals of free movement and the survivalist, white-nationalist inclinations of many its followers would be avoided.
Jedlička is able to evade these issues through a mixture of blind confidence and the fact that his project exists only on paper — or on blockchain. A fully-fledged Liberland would resemble real-world microstates, in that it would rely on either the continued “mining” of cryptocurrencies or on accommodating international capital as a tax haven. Quoting a sympathetic, Belgrade-based think tank, Jedlička suggests a tax haven on the Danube would bring a GDP boost to neighbouring states.
But other libertarian projects have failed following local opposition: the 1972 “Republic of Minerva”, an attempt to establish a microstate on reclaimed land in the ocean near Tonga, came a cropper when locals decided not to allow rich Westerners to enjoy a tax-free oasis at the expense of their fishing rights. More recently, a “seasteading” project which aimed to establish a floating utopia near Tahiti, initially backed by libertarian billionaire Peter Thiel, met a similar fate, collapsing following angry protests from locals opposing a “megalomaniacal” project with no clear benefit to the local economy.
Recent attempts to establish crypto-friendly communities of expats in Puerto Rico and Central America have also foundered. Notoriously, El Salvador has witnessed a protracted effort by its president, Nayib Bukele, to force locals into using Bitcoin, while attracting the Western crypto elites to free-market resorts intended to serve as Bitcoin playgrounds. The attempted pivot to virtual currency has been met with indifference and protest. Following the recent crypto crash, the nation came close to defaulting on its sovereign debt. Bukele’s Bitcoin roll-out has also gone “hand in hand” with the introduction of a “police state” characterised by widespread arrests, detentions and torture, including the arbitrary arrest of those opposed to the government’s bitcoin policy. Liberland’s nominal finance minister Navid Saberin, a Luxembourger businessman, admits he personally visited El Salvador and found “no-one had anything good to say” about the Bitcoin pivot. Yet he also remains wholly optimistic that Bitcoin will bounce back, restoring his fortunes and justifying Bukele’s efforts.
Jedlička worries that finance journalists dismiss Liberland’s political programme as too utopian. In reality, the opposite is true. If realised, his “vision” would result in a dystopian combination: reliance on foreign capital which creates little benefit for local communities, undergirded by authoritarian excesses in defence of those elite financial interests. The Liberland proposal is not a challenge to the current economic order. It is its fullest expression, stripped of all protections, checks and balances.
But this vision has its appeal. In the surrounding states, crony capitalism beholden to EU investment has brought few benefits to ordinary people. Liberland’s President is a genuine and infectious believer in personal sovereignty, and it’s little wonder frustrated young people are attracted by his dynamic, untrammelled version of capitalism, as they are by the get-rich-quick crypto promise. And though Jedlička is keen to distance himself from more playful, performance-based micronations, the political model has also been used to register protest against authoritarianism and homogenisation. Protest projects such as Germany’s Free Republic of Wendland or New Zealand’s Independent State of Aramoana stood up against the profit-driven destruction of local communities and environments, with the latter successfully resisting the state-backed imposition of an aluminium smelter. In nearby Slovenia, the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) used provocative appropriations of state insignia to critique state authoritarianism.
Though dismissed by Jedlička, this spirit of protest is inherent to both the micronation concept and the libertarian movement. There is room for a more productive critique of an admittedly exploitative global financial system rigged to benefit certain states, which also recognises the limitations of crypto and the role that tax havens and free-market ideology play within that system. For now, though, we have only Jedlička’s vision of Dubai-on-the-Danube, and its handful of loyal followers.
Matt Broomfield is a freelance journalist and co-founder of the Rojava Information Center, the leading independent English-language news source in north and east Syria.
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SubscribeSlavery was not a British invention – it was the way things were done by powerful civilisations. Slaves built the pyramids, Slaves built Rome. I am not claiming it was right, just that was the way it was. All once great nations were built on the back of captured labour from weaker nations. Anglo Saxons women and children were sold into slavery by the Norse and Dane invaders of Alfred the Great’s time and as that tide turned, Danish and Norse women and children were sold into slavery by Anglo Saxons. If there needs to be a study of historic slavery then do a complete job of it.
So what will replace the Rhodes statue? What replaced the country named after him aka the bread basket of Africa now one of the poorest nations that struggles to feed itself? Perhaps the Rhodes statue should be replaced by one of Robert Mugabe.
Killing myself with laughter over here. And yet if BLM suggests it who would be surprised?
The statue of Rhodes has a flimsy
protection. It is attached to the facade of a grade II* historic building. Historic England tell me that, after consultation with them, the final decision on removal will fall to the Oxford City Council. Make what you will of that.
Thank you for this. It is reassuring to read such a reasoned, analytical argument against the divisive construct of ‘cultural appropriation’. If only it would be read by those who prefer to jump on the ‘woke’ bandwagon than look objectively at and learn more about the issue.
If you see MOST ex Colonial countries now,especially in Africa they are dictatorships and Places Like Rwanda,South Sudan ,Nigeria characterised by Genocide, Famine,War and Muslim terrorists like Boca harim….Whilst not endorsing all colonial countries, Uk did try to put in Place, Parliaments and judicial system…
London needs Another Central London Concert Venue .With Greedy development of Earls Court ..There is only Small venues like Shepherds bush empire, Cadogan hall….Actually employ British Architecs,Workforce for a Change..
By and large i stop reading whenever an author invokes the thoughts of Naomi Klein.
“….they find the kingdom of God in the minutes of the last meeting.” That is a brilliant observation relating to the C of E. The church has become a parody of itself and worse yet – it believes itself to be on some righteous path. In reality, its relationship to Christianity has been reduced to occasional coincidence. In North America, the Church has become something of a social club, predominantly homosexual, complete with dress-up vestments.
I know Scrabble rewards spelling rather than meaning, but surely you mean ‘distracts’, not ‘detracts’?
Extra points for that. the author may have to change the title of his book when it goes to a second printing.
‘Detracts’ fits well here too.
Detracts seems absolutely right to me. Unherd’s subeditors (if they even exist) may have problems with the spelling of people’s surnames, but they use words correctly.
The smoking finding is very important to South Africa, where government has banned the sale of tobacco and related products ostensibly as a Covid-19 prevention-and-seriousness reduction strategy, for the duration of lockdown – 100+ days and counting.
I understand how the authors try to explain away the findings, but essentially what the results seem to say, if you already have lung disease (possibly from smoking), then you are better off in relation Covid-19 if you keep smoking.
The whole question is absurd. Words written down are not obscene or offensive in themselves. When used in isolation, racial and other epithets, blasphemous words, and common words for bodily functions and body parts do not do not degrade anybody. There needs to be some context. A Scrabble board is isolated from the real world.
As a side note, I also disagree with the idea that a serious Scrabble player should be uninterested in meaning. Getting the most points might be the aim of the game, but some combinations are more elegant than others, and the beauty of a word or combination of words increases with a knowledge of the meaning of the words. (Many great athletes are admired for their artistry as much as for their victories.) It is a pity that the rules of Scrabble don’t at least require players to have to show they understand the meaning of a word by giving a definition or a suitable sentence containing the word when challenged. There could be a bonus score if the challenge is met.
The whole question is absurd. Words written down are not obscene or offensive in themselves. The word ‘n****r’ in isolation does not degrade anybody. There needs to be some context. A Scrabble board is isolated from the real world.
As a side note, I also disagree with the idea that a serious Scrabble player should be uninterested in meaning. Getting the most points might be the aim of the game, but some combinations are more elegant than others, and the beauty of a word or combination of words increases with a knowledge of the meaning of the words. (Many great athletes are admired for their artistry as much as for their victories.) It is a pity that the rules of Scrabble don’t at least require players to have to show they understand the meaning of a word by giving a definition or a suitable sentence containing the word when challenged. There could be a bonus score if the challenge is met.
“Yet if England is one day to be re-evangelised it will be because of the power of lonely places like this”. This could do with unpacking. I’m assuming it’s a call for Christians, especially leaders to become more deeply prayerful and reflective which retreats to quiet places can enable. The evangelisation of Britain will only take place when God acts in judgement and grace in people’s lives causing them to be open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that requires faithful persevering prayer on the part of the Church. Christian leaders need to sink their spiritual roots ever deeper into God for spiritual resources and sustenance for the task. Occasional visits to lonely places are conducive, but I prefer the Highlands of Scotland in the steps of St.Columba than the Essex salt flats.
“Financial pressures stimulates panicky initiatives with inviting sounding names”. Why is it that the Church has such dire pressure? It is because churchpeople do not give enough. Why do they not give enough? Because they have not been taught the Biblical principles of giving. Where that does happen churches tend to flourish and find themselves subsidising struggling churches where there is often no vision, mission or growth. Also these flourishing churches apparently stimulate (not by financial pressure but by commitment to evangelism) “panicky missionary initiatives with inviting sounding names” like Alpha, Messy Church and other types of Fresh Expressions. These and other ministries such as imaginative and contextual evangelism in baptisms,weddings and funerals are the main reasons why there is any meaningful church growth in the Church of England.
“You may believe that this “professionalisation” is a good thing- but it is extraordinary that the church has been transformed by it with very little reflection on its virtues”. The professionalisation of the Church began in the 2nd.century when the functions of the bishops,
presbyters and deacons were gradually defined. The growing and flourishing churches embrace those distinctions but also work hard at encouraging every member ministry believing that every church member has gifts and anointing from God for particular ministries in and through the church.
It’s easy to be critical of the administration of the Church. Those involved in its bureaucracy see themselves as serving the Church, and of course they do. Otherwise,amongst other things, the clergy wouldn’t receive their stipends and have their free houses maintained.
Like a holy Rory Stewart
I hear very little of late about the earlier English involvement in the human slave trade. As Bede writes in Bk II, chapter 1 of the History of the English People:
Nor must we pass by in silence the story of the blessed Gregory, handed down to us by the tradition of our ancestors, which explains his earnest care for the salvation of our nation. It is said that one day, when some merchants had lately arrived at Rome, many things were exposed for sale in the market place, and much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself went with the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale, of fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful hair. When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region or country they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, and that the inhabitants were like that in appearance. He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism, and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, “Alas! what pity,” said he, “that the author of darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and that with such grace of outward form, their minds should be void of inward grace.” He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles. “Right,” said he, “for they have an angelic face, and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are brought?” It was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri.
I always enjoy reading your stuff, Mary, and I was enjoying this until you got a bit lazy. Which continents’ inhabitants, exactly, did the British Victorians enslave?
I dont like to say I told you so but this approach was painfully obvious to me as soon the row about access to NHS data by Google etc hit the media. Researchers don’t need to have the data in house to run queries on it.
Great article, as a doc with a hard science (physics/math) background, it is great to see a difficult subject explained in an understandable way.
Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science should be compulsory reading in schools/colleges.
Very clever approach. Great potential for value using NHS data. And other applications are possible.
It is no mistake that S. Cuthbert’s reaction to being made Bishop of Lindisfarne was to take himself off to the Inner Farne, far out in the German Ocean, so that he could pray for his people better.
interesting points I will pursue later. I would argue that some subjects are better suited for decolonisation, such as Psychology and some Social Sciences. For example, much of Psychology is based on European perspectives. And, moreover, those of minority ethnicity are under represented as participants. We know that many prinicples of behaviour developed through Psychology studies are thought to be universal across humans while others are culturally and historically placed. As such, we have seen that papers from black and white scholars (and I concede I ahve only read about this in journal articles and texts) have been rejected when making conclusions about black participants tests of intelligence, for example (as far back as 1930 through to 1980s, for example) during schooling because they did not have white participants as a control group ignoring the specific cultural contexts of such studies being studies. I am unaware of any paper (and welcome pointers from other readers) that has been rejected based on majority white participants for not having black or other ethnicity control groups – white, perhaps being extreme here in my opinon, appears the deafault way of being in these studies about behaviour. A particularly infamous paper on such issues is by Henrich et al in 2010 on WEIRD participants. I would welcome more acknowledgement of scientific racism and black scholarship in mainstream social science and psychology, as scientific racism, implicit or explicit is easier to identify currently and historically in Psychology, in my opinion. But as you point out, decolonisation might be an uneccessary activity to pursue in other disciplines – and at risk of contradicting myself, some sub-disciplines in Psychology. This is how I have come to understand the current situation around decolonisation with specific reference to more ambiguous categories of study and theories in social sciences than we see in natural sciences with clearer tangible categories of its subjec matter (that is rocks and atome versus attitudes and surveys about behaviour).
Most research in the field of experimental psychology uses American college students as subjects. So, if you want to reduce cultural bias you’ll have to change the entry procedures of American colleges.