Free cities - Begging the state for freedom?

[Dumitru]

 

I've recently read up a bit about attempts to set up "free cities" in various places. The general idea goes something like this: a private entity goes to a state entity and asks them to grant it some land which is exempt of the laws and regulations of the fatherland, except of course for the basics like thou shalt not kill. The incentive for the state would be that in exchange for some unused land, there will develop a bustling, successful, entrepreneurial heaven that will provide employment, prestige, etc. Basically, the private entity wants to build an anarchic society on a piece of state land, in exchange for the promise that said state will promise to never plunder the newly built city in the future. And that's the rub. Why would any state willingly agree not to plunder its subject? Or by extension, why would the farmer just release one cow? So that said cow will lead a free and happy life outside the fence and give the remaining milk cows bad ideas?

 

Aside from the obvious and not inconsiderable risk that the state might not keep its word, there's another question: most advances in freedom that we've ever had have come about from the bottom up, not from the top down. In other words, the church/state didn't stop burning witches at the stake because they saw the error of their ways, rather because the masses slowly began to develop some degree of empathy and it slowly began to dawn on them that such activities are highly immoral and repugnant. In short, the state ran out of people who were willing to round up, beat and tie up the witch, carry the wood and build the stake, light it and watch in cold blood as a poor woman is burned alive. Same goes for slavery I think.

 

Free cities will not be set up as free cities from the get go. They will gradually  come into existence as the state will slowly run out of people willing to threaten and attack peaceful people going about their business, under the pretext of enforcing regulations or collecting taxes, etc. That will take a few more generations, it will not happen everywhere at once or with the same speed.

 

Are the people trying to set up free cities by begging the state deluding themselves? 

 

 

[Existing Alternatives]

I too am fascinated by free cities. If we are talking about the same thing, some of them may have developed without government’s consent or even against it. One of my favourite ones is in Kowloon in Hong Kong. There is also hope for Belle Isle in Detroit. To a further extreme, I guess, places like Monaco, Vatican and San Marino may qualify as free cities as well.

Which ones have you been reading on? Can you share the list or links?

 

[Pepin]

This sounds analogous to proposing succession, though it is a little different in that there is no claim to a right to a specific piece of land, but there is an affirmation of a "state's right" to a specific right to a piece of land. I am having a difficult time understanding the incentive for a government to agree to such a proposal in any formal sense. 

This does occur already in some sense, like when a favored group is granted a monopoly over a specific piece of land or service, or are granted exemption from specific laws and regulations. Eminent domain, private-public partnerships, or any new public program would be an example. Exclusion from the force of the state does occur quite a bit, though such exclusion is either granted temporarily, under the pretense that it can be taken away, and always affirms the state's right to the specific region of land.

Granted what the state is, and how it operates, I can't really see how it would agree to a proposition that is the opposite of its mission statement. Putting forth the argument to people in the state might make sense to someone who sees the state as something other than what it is, but other than that, I don't exactly see how making such a proposal makes sense.

[Freedom2013]

 I am also intrigued with the concept (although I'm not sure the term 'free city' best descibes it).

If you are trying to do it in the U.S. then yes, I think you are kidding yourself. I don't see the American government ever recognizing a place like Belle Isle as an independant city state. On the other hand, money could definately be an incentive for some states.

Take Mongolia for example. They have tonnes of unused land and a billion dollar proposal will definately get their attention. Trouble is, who wants to live in Mongolia? It's not exactly paradise, but if you do a little research into Mongolia you might agree that they would at least listen to a serious proposal.

 

I would also like to see a list of fledgling 'free cities' if anyone knows of any. Or suggestions of places that might entertain such a proposal.

[nathanm]

I was interested in the Belle Isle thing until I read that there's a $300,000 cover charge to live there.  Damn.  I was just going to crash land my plane there after flying through the cloaking shield, but I guess that's not gonna happen.  Read the FAQ if you enjoy mixed blessings.  http://www.commonwealthofbelleisle.com/faq/

[Dumitru]

 

Which ones have you been reading on? Can you share the list or links?

 

I've read up here and there, but what sparked this post was the announcement on bitcointalk.org that a new such city is in the works. I was trying to think logically about what the odds of its success were.

 

[ribuck]

... what sparked this post was the announcement on bitcointalk.org that a new such city is in the works ...

Invariably these state-sanctioned "free cities" involve a relaxation of some rule that operates against business. For example, in the UK the "new town" of Milton Keynes was for many years exempted from some of the more onerous aspects of planning laws.

People get excited by the term "free city", but I don't know of any case where a state has permitted (or even contemplated permitting) increased civil liberties.