[MR] BBC: Micronations

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the BBC has an interesting piece on micronations, private states
whose founders brand themselves as sovereigns (or in some cases, benign
despots). The story focuses on The Empire of Atlantium within Australia,
and Ladonia within Sweden. In both micronations, their current sovereigns
use their tiny "countries" as platforms for social action, but otherwise do
not take their roles as "rulers" too seriously.

You can read the story at
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220407-the-country-that-became-a-micronation-capital
.

The founders of other micronations have had more serious aims. The
Principality of Hutt River was founded by an Australian farmer as a protest
over agricultural laws, and ended with a huge scandal over unpaid taxes. A
more successful micronation is the Principality of Sealand, once a pirate
radio station on a ship, and now a server farm suspected of hosting some
less-than-savory clients. Sealand is still in business on a former WWII
anti-aircraft fort off the English coast.

One of my all-time favorite books is MICRO NATIONS, THE LONELY PLANET GUIDE
TO HOME-MADE NATIONS by John Ryan. This cheeky guidebook was first
published by Lonely Planet in 2006, and is sadly now out of print. Some of
the "countries" it profiles are no more, while others like the Republic of
Molossia are still going strong. Here is a Wikipedia entry for the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronations:_The_Lonely_Planet_Guide_to_Home-Made_Nations
.

More on micronations can be found on Wikipedia at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation .

And the aforementioned Molossia? See for yourself at http://www.molossia.org
 .

The Republic of Molossia sponsors the Emperor Norton Award for
Micronational Excellence. Emperor Norton I (1818-1880), was the
self-declared "Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico". His
reign is still remembered fondly in San Francisco (of course!):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton .

I once considered declaring Mallard Lodge an independent country after my
complaints to the city about their trash collectors leaving our garbage can
lid open ONLY on rainy days were met with indifference. I was really tired
of cleaning out that slimy water and drying the can for two days before it
could be used again. Our city had two cheeky weekly newspapers then that
would have loved the story, and the PR might have moved the city to action.
My plans were nixed by my sweetheart who was "mortified" at the thought
(one of her favorite reactions to my quirky ideas). Sigh! I have to
content myself with Mallard Lodge being but a household within the SCA:
https://mallardlodgehousehold.blogspot.com .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆