EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
Evan Fagart, bitsonline.com
Roger Ver, a well-known figure in the Bitcoin community, along with entrepreneur and cryptocurrency enthusiast Olivier Janssens, is planning to found a brand new country. But here's the catch: this country will have no government and no state, but instead will adhere to the principles of the philosophy of anarcho-capitalism.
The new anarchist paradise?
Ver’s project website is called “Free Society” and is still under development. When you open it, the only things you see are a two-sentence “About Us” page, a newsletter subscription box, and a “Frequently Asked Questions” section.
According to the FAQ section, Roger and the other participants in the project are currently in negotiations with various national governments. The goal of Free Society is to reach an agreement with a national government that would grant them sovereignty over a piece of government land or adjacent territory.
The FAQ also says that the group has the following criteria for an acceptable location:
- Proximity to existing economic superpowers (USA, Europe, Asia)
- Be accessible by sea
- To be located in a safe and conflict-free area
- Stable government
- Nations with significant national debt
- A flexible constitution that allows for the granting of sovereignty
- Agreement on a minimum amount of territory
In terms of laws and their enforcement within this new country, a "Free Society" would operate under a voluntary or anarcho-capitalist structure, where disputes are resolved by private arbitration and services such as policing and the like arise from the free market process.
Roger Ver’s project has been joined by Bitcoin entrepreneur Olivier Janssens and Stefan Klaes. Janssens is the “founding father” and CEO of the project, while Ver will play the role of co-founder and Klaes as the head of the team.
As for the funding for this endeavor, Janssens told 71Republic:
“We have secured $100 million in private capital and are strongly committed to realizing the world's first "Free Society" of its kind.
But will it work?
A completely free society based on free market ideas has always been an ideal for philosophically minded libertarians and anarcho-capitalists, and political scientists and political philosophers have written many works developing theories about how such a society would function.
However, none of these theories have been tested in practice. Although a number of attempts to implement such ideas have emerged in recent years, none of them have managed to achieve much.
Free Society is aware of this fact, mentioning projects like Seasteading and Liberlandia on its website. However, they claim that their approach is different. Previous attempts to establish an independent anarcho-capitalist society have been to stake claims on a piece of land controlled by a state or to try to bypass state authority altogether.
But by negotiating with current governments, Free Society argues that they are following a path that already has historical precedent:
"There are many examples of governments granting another nation sovereignty over a portion of their territory. A prominent example is Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which was leased by the U.S. government as a naval and shipping base in 1903 for $2,000, paid in gold each year . Other, better examples are the current discussions between the Maldives and other nations to sell them territories so that their citizens can live there once the islands disappear forever due to rising sea levels."
So: Will Ver and his partners’ project succeed? No one knows. The more important question here is: Will this country accept Bitcoin?
Original article: Bitcoin Icon Roger Ver Is Starting His Own Country With No Government
Translated from English: Ivan Petrov
