Building a country? - How would you do it?

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-01-10 12:48am

Say you were to stumble across an electronic circuit which could interfere with unshielded computer systems within an arbitrary radius so long as its line of sight (through EMP or something like that). If you were to go about selling the technology to a major world government, would you ask for land and sovereignty in return?

And say you had done this, what would you now do with your little country?

(the above situation is just to justify you having something worth giving up land for)

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-01-10 01:10am

I wouldn't, frankly. I'd just get backstabbed by the country that gave me the land and/or the United States, or couped by the angry populace at having to live in a country ruled by me.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-01-10 01:23am

I'd ask for all land/rocks/balls of gas/ice/large empty areas in the universe apart from earth and the moon be registered to me and then sell it off a little at a time to people....

It makes as much sense as some asshole registering the moon as his.....

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-01-10 08:07am

ah but DP, the only way they can backstab you is if they attack, and the given situation makes it impossible, because you can EMP their ships and planes and such. Besides, no modern nation is that much of an asshole, ESPECIALLY if you made it publicly known that youve got sovereignty. There'd be hell to pay if they betrayed you.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-01-10 08:35am

i´d sell it to the fidshies and get a medium sized island in the sun and call it salmany. i´d keep the population farily low (maybe 50 people). i´m the only one who can give you citizenship -> the population will consist of friends and attractive girls. if you become a citizen you dont lose the citizenship you´ve had before. if you commit a crime considered hard enough you lose the citizenship of salmany.
there are no taxes. i´ll make money with tourism. i´ll build hotels on one part of the island which is separated from the rest.
pot will be sold at stores and vending machines and there will be several salmia beverages and liquors which will also be sold in stores and vending machines.
there will be no cars but special transportation cars such as fire engines, police cars and ambulances. public transportation will consist of trams and stuff like that.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2003-01-10 09:25am

*Sigh*

A lot of people on boards critivize government and joke about how they wish they were a dictator. But frankly, I have a real appreciation for the kind of people who are willing to be public jokes, hated, targets for assassination, and all the other things that go along with being a powerful leader.

Me, now, I'm happy being a leader, but there's just no fun in being in charge of a country. I'd much rather pass away the days hanging with my wife or my friends, playing Nintendo, or reading, than making important national and international decisions that affect the lives of billions of people.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-01-10 09:54am

Lagmonster wrote:*Sigh*

A lot of people on boards critivize government and joke about how they wish they were a dictator. But frankly, I have a real appreciation for the kind of people who are willing to be public jokes, hated, targets for assassination, and all the other things that go along with being a powerful leader.

Me, now, I'm happy being a leader, but there's just no fun in being in charge of a country. I'd much rather pass away the days hanging with my wife or my friends, playing Nintendo, or reading, than making important national and international decisions that affect the lives of billions of people.

if you´re commenting my post you should know that that wasnt just a joke. a population of 50 is nothing like a whole country in the normal sense. it would be more like a community. being a "dictator" of a group that small would work. of course it would be even nicer to have a good friend who got the country and managed everything as above so that i could merely live and hang out there, but in this scenario i have the oportunity to create a cool state and not a friend.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2003-01-10 10:05am

salm wrote:A population of 50 is nothing like a whole country in the normal sense. it would be more like a community. being a "dictator" of a group that small would work.

I understand what you mean, but I wouldn't want to live in such conditions. 50 people isn't enough to maintain all the amenities I would want, like a power station and water station and Internet service and pothole-free roads, and have people left over to build something worth trading to other countries so that I could have money to buy Nintendos and DVDs and things.

Not that it's a bad idea. I'd just rather have, say, a large house in a functioning country with 50 servants to cook and clean.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-01-10 10:25am

Lagmonster wrote:
salm wrote:A population of 50 is nothing like a whole country in the normal sense. it would be more like a community. being a "dictator" of a group that small would work.
I understand what you mean, but I wouldn't want to live in such conditions. 50 people isn't enough to maintain all the amenities I would want, like a power station and water station and Internet service and pothole-free roads, and have people left over to build something worth trading to other countries so that I could have money to buy Nintendos and DVDs and things.

Not that it's a bad idea. I'd just rather have, say, a large house in a functioning country with 50 servants to cook and clean.

a house in a functioning country with 50 servants is similar. but my scenario is on an island. if you have a house with 50 servants you need a shitload of money. if you´ve got a house with 50 servants on an island you need even more money because the government is probably not going to pay for internet service, powerlines.... so you´ll have to install all that stuff yourself or get something worked out with generators, solarenergy or something like that.
one difference is that you dont have to pay taxes to any government which would be an incredible amount of money (hotel complexes).

another thing: i wouldnt want these people to be my servants, i´d rather have them as normal people around me, since it would get pretty boring and lonely after a while if no one but the tourists were there.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2003-01-10 10:51am

Well, you're right about the money, but it was not unlike many guys like Rockerfeller to have house staffs far exceeding fifty people, not to mention their employees.

Lieutenants and Captains of industry in America already command the wealth, power and accompanying loyalty of small nations, and they don't have to make a lot of the associated nasty decisions about tourism, military, health and educational concerns.

If you absolutely insist on being in charge of an island-state consisting of fifty people who, for whatever reason, are not going to leave your country when they see that you have nothing to offer them in the way of hospitals or public amenities, and all your food and entertainment comes from imports...well...I keep looking at it from an economic standpoint, not a political one. However you design your government, etc., is completely irrelevant next to where you get your food, power, and entertainment from. So I guess you better hope that your benefactors keep on giving you loads of money for this technology of yours, unless your fifty people can come up with something else tradeable, or strike oil offshore or something.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-01-10 11:45am

Lagmonster wrote:Well, you're right about the money, but it was not unlike many guys like Rockerfeller to have house staffs far exceeding fifty people, not to mention their employees.

Lieutenants and Captains of industry in America already command the wealth, power and accompanying loyalty of small nations, and they don't have to make a lot of the associated nasty decisions about tourism, military, health and educational concerns.

If you absolutely insist on being in charge of an island-state consisting of fifty people who, for whatever reason, are not going to leave your country when they see that you have nothing to offer them in the way of hospitals

read my first post. i´ve got ambulances, so there´s going to be a small hospital with a helicopter which can fly out people in case it´s something which has to be treated in a special hospital. same as in small town hospitals all over the world.

or public amenities, and all your food and entertainment comes from imports...

most of the food would come from imports but that´s the same with a house on some island which belongs to a sovereign country. you might not have to import the food to the country but at least bring it to the island which is basicly the same.

entertainment does NOT come mainly from imports but from the island itself. a couple of examples would be: surfing, water skiing and the ocean in general, smoking pot, sports at the beech, parties and on and on.
stuff like nintendos can be imported as well of course, but where´s the problem? if i buy a nintendo in germany it´s imported as well.
you can watch tv as well. there wont be any tv station on the island but you can recieve tv stations via satelite and you can hear the radio stations of the neighbor country.

well...I keep looking at it from an economic standpoint, not a political one. However you design your government, etc., is completely irrelevant next to where you get your food, power, and entertainment from.

power: i dont know how to get power. i´d check how they get power in similar situations, such as vacation resorts on similar islands.
i guess that since it´s in a very sunny climate, solar power is a partial solution.

So I guess you better hope that your benefactors keep on giving you loads of money for this technology of yours, unless your fifty people can come up with something else tradeable, or strike oil offshore or something.

the state earns money whith the hotels. the hotel staff consists of the population.

i have to admit that defense could be a problem because i could afford maybe one old, rusty soviet tank from 1972.

another point worth mentioning is that the island should be near enough to a city so you can reach it with a small motor boat.