A purely Libertarian/ Capitalist/ Free Market/ Self-governing / Personal Responsibility country has never existed, although Industrial Age America came pretty close (For the whites, at least. ) In today's world, which nation most closely resembles the Libertarian ideal?
Monaco???? They have security cameras everywhere. It is a police state. Holland seems pretty open. Lots of freedoms. Canada too seems pretty "libertarian" from what little I know. Never been to Costa Rica. Hard to imagine any Central American nation not being somewhat theocratic, but I don't really know. The Bahamas seem pretty suppressive. Switzerland has too many Swiss people, so forget that place. The USA has potential, but too many conservatives. And far too many laws. Has any other country even attempted a debacle like we had here with the amendment to prohibit alchohol? If God exists, he's (she's) probably still laughing about that one. Reardon, what you need to do is to start a little island nation. Start with total anarchy. Use the Ten Commandments and the "golden rule" as the entire basis of law. Of course you need to whittle down the 10 commandments to about the 3 or 4 most reasonable. No killing, stealing, leave out the God stuff. Honoring parents seems reasonable. adultery I guess is a touchy issue. As are a few others. Bearing false witness should be a crime. Some good basic stuff to work with.. "Do unto others" works well. Hard to pin down the exact details though. When you get it going, invite me to become a citizen. (You need an invitation to reside in Monaco....no taxes, lots of people want to go to a place with not enough room). Peace, Rs
"alchohol"??...Rs, are you drinking a little this afternoon?? What about these two debacles: Insurance Companies and the IRS?
"Reardon, what you need to do is to start a little island nation." Believe it or not, this is my greatest fantasy. If I were substantially more than just 'entry level rich', I'd have a much better chance at getting such a massive project off the ground. The tourism potential would be enormous as we'd have the best hard drugs and teenage hookers in the world. Not to mention gambling, weed, very bare minimum of taxes- including ZERO income, VAT, or corporate taxes. Of course social services would be virtually nil. Those who don't like it would be free not to live there. The resulting trade embargoes and sanctions from all other 'civilized' nations would be rough...but not entirely crippling. I'm sure my pal Vic Niederhoffer would be an investor in Libertaria real estate & businesses. I get excited just thinking about it...
Actually RS, the U.S. penal code for REAL crimes is not unreasonable at all. Much of it can just be copied word for word. Currency would obviously NEVER be a fiat currency like every country in world except Switzerland currently employs. Must be precious metals, or fully backed by precious metal reserves. A government of (minimal) laws, not of men. I'm sure there are plenty of rich capitalists who would pour in investment capital, once the project really got started...
Principality of Sealand ... The history of Sealand is a story of a struggle for liberty. Sealand was founded on the principle that any group of people dissatisfied with the oppressive laws and restrictions of existing nation states may declare independence in any place not claimed to be under the jurisdiction of another sovereign entity. The location chosen was Roughs Tower, an island fortress created in World War II by Britain and subsequently abandoned to the jurisdiction of the High Seas. The independence of Sealand was upheld in a 1968 British court decision where the judge held that Roughs Tower stood in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. This gave birth to Sealand's national motto of E Mare Libertas, or "From the Sea, Freedom". ... http://www.sealandgov.com/
I've read up a bit on Sealand. Only 300 citizens...not sure if they have a "victimless crimes are never crimes" policy. From what I've read, it just sounds like a mini-monarchy, NOT founded on Libertarian principles... and nothing to get excited about. Please correct me if I'm wrong. http://www.patrifriedman.com/projects/independence/other.html
Yes, Sealand is a special case, I think I remember they would even install some defensive weapons on that old piece of scrap. Then there's the World of Seas ship - and better still: we have Anguilla - probably the only really viable Libertarian alternative in the world. Of the alternatives in the poll - Monaco would be the only explicit choice - considering the taxes in the other countries. Read up on Libertarian taxes on : http://siliconisle.com/taxes.html "Instead of deducting half of family income from paychecks for income taxes, surcharges, and social security taxes, Anguilla collects only a 5% social security tax (plus 5% from the employer, and the maximum is $186/month combined). There are no taxes on savings and investment. This encourages people to save and invest. Many Anguillians, even those with very modest incomes, manage to safe impressive amounts. Others, of course, do not save. Instead of punishing those who build a successful business by taxing away half their capital gains when they sell, Anguilla rewards hard work, boosts savings, and encourages growth of the economy. The result? The country has gone from poverty to regional prosperity in one generation. And there is no inheritance tax in Anguilla. Family land is the most important thing in Anguilla and inheritance tax that had to be paid in cash would eliminate passing down land to your children. Anguilla employs both the US dollar and the EC dollar in local commerce, without exchange controls. By having the most rational currency regulations in the OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States), Anguilla has more foreign currency deposits than any other OECS state. Banks use the normal "know your customer" rules to avoid money laundering. Compared to many countries, the USA is considered tax efficient and it uses that to attract foreigners. Many creative and productive Europeans, Asians and Latin Americans make personal choices to create their businesses in Silicon Valley or Miami instead of Paris or Berlin ("Go West, Young Frenchman", Business Week, March 9, 1998: "A torrent of talent is leaving France"). Even more foreigners use the excellent financial services of the United States and the Internet makes this easier still. From Anguilla you can open an account at a discount broker in the USA, and have full investing services over the Internet, all provided by a US firm. Or if you open an account at Dollarbank while visiting the USA, you can do all your banking over the Internet. If it is okay for the USA to use it's low tax rates to attract most of the brain power of the world, why does it call what Anguilla does "harmful tax competition"? " How's that for tax policy ? More on Anguilla on: http://www.ai/ http://www.ai/anguilla/index.html http://www.anguillian.com/ You might want to renounce your US citizenship, though. http://online.offshore.com.ai/publicity/nyt-citizenship/ So, how comitted are you to doing something about your situation, or are you all still dreaming behind the glare of your monitors ?