Micronational Analysis, 2nd edition

[Conrad Cromien]

To fully understand the potential of micronations individually and as a whole community, we must look at the status of these two distinct issues.1- Micronations, through years of evolution and the staying power of a few, have come to characterise a number of common bonds, the use of a hierarchy for government, with any range of committee, voting or non, to achieve member participation and the building of the nation which it governs.Micronations use various "Ministries, Vizeriets, Commissariates, and other terms to describe the component departments which are the "meat and potatoes" of real life governments. How many of them actually apply? Foreign relations are undertaken by every member of a nation when they visit another board, talk with foreign contemptoraries and interact in other ways (chats, IMs,) so what is the need for an established orthodox department when foreign relations are undertaken by everyone? Defence, which is usually the bastion of tin and trinkets, labels and titles which have almost no meaning other than they add to an individuals signature, a member of an army, defence department, navy or any other military force is usually not completing anything other than the introduction of more Real Life terms to the military. For the most part, Defence oriented individuals will spend most of their time creating ranks, awarding or recieving medals and occasionally taking part in a RecWar or in dubious cercomstances, serious attacks. It is usually the national leader that develops these weapons and whom is the real protector of the nation, as the only relivant warfare is the possibility of foriegn attack through spamming, hacking or other RL defacements.Culture, a department that ensures the preservation of a nations history by simply taking pre-exsisting histories and arranging them in another form, the movement of raw data in the form of posts into a synopsis which serves no purpose as the only people who benifit are the ones that participated in that very history. Newbies, who rarely research these records, find most of the pertinant information through conversation with the older members of the nation. Culture has also had the role of writting stories, developing languages and even creating educational facilities, all of which are great expressions of that persons creativity, but it almost always goes unnoticed. A member of a Cultural department may work weeks on a story or project and recieve only minor and fleeting acclaim from his/her co-workers. Where as a flea from some Bugnation whos only contribution to the community has been to spam, flame or generally devalue the work all participants may recieve great exposure and fame simply because they've destroyed someone elses work. Intellegence, sometimes included as a sub-department of another group. This "bureau" is often the source of minor information, half-baked plans and parinoid discussion, its only true purpose is posturing infront of other foreign counter-parts with the possibility that an agent has compromised the ranks of the other government. Infact, most of the real intellegence is again, taken up by the national leader and sometimes the "inner circle" of advisors that leader looks to for guidance. Almost never does the intellegence bureau ever achieve its goals, the defence of the nation against Human intellegence.Justice, again a situation similar to culture, a group of individual who's dedication (dependant on how active the person is) is almost never rewarded, a justice member could spend years researching, and developing a legal system for a nation and never recieve any sort of recognition for their work.Constitutions are often ignored, legal history is almost irrelivant to the members of the nation and court cases are never followed as the defendant usually chooses not to participate.These are just the core of commonly used departments and their fall backs, let me state that the issues above are not always the case, but often are as well.Aside from Departmental issues, there are also the troubles of Provinces, Parties and Colonies. Often rotten nations that have been obsorbed by a stronger nation in exchange for a position in the stronger nations government for the leader of the former rotten nation. These "areas" are simple nestalgia, boards without posts and little relivance to the workings of the nation, it is often "fantasy" that the parent nation now has a small cultural minority in its population due to the colony. But this has no relievance for the parent as it is simply a case of the leader of the colony refusing to let go of a failed project. I believe the best term would be a "trophy nation". Provinces are a similar case, a made up section of a nation that is lead by an individual only to create employment, provinces are often accompanied by a council for provincial leaders which is given more power than it truely deserves.Parties, a simulated division within the nation which rarely has staying power, is often just another case of a province or Colony. An oppertunity for employment and the feel of some sort of leadership by the head of that party. It is a case of "Well I'm not the leader of the nation, but I am the leader of my party". Parties usually fail the same way most micronations fail, Numbers. Parties simply cannot find a large enough membership to keep them active, yet the number of parties within a nation is quite high, a case of too many leaders not enough followers.New verses old. These issues presented are often the future promises for prospective new citizens if they stay long enough. In times of citizen reduction, new members are often promised the possibility of achieving the position of department head, and in the short term are encouraged to join or start a party, head a province or join the military, to give the false sense of importance that is the basis for the runing of many micronations. I should note that infact the ONLY successful micronations are the ones where the leaders show genuine importance to new members, as they are the lifeblood of any nation that wishes to expand. Old members, those who've attained higher positions, often battle with their contemporaries for dominance, often competing for support from new people or attention from leaders (the workhorse of a nation). These people are the attainers of department leadership positions and the occasional leadership of a strong group (party, voting block etc..)This way of runing a nation is so common it is a very good indicator of why nations disappear so fast and why most nations never achieve a population larger than the amount of available leadership positions. Everyone is a leader and no one is a follower, a very odd way to run a nation, but it is the status quo of micronations 2- Inter-micronational relations.The World of Micronations can be very isolated, and yet on different plains can be suprisingly united. Where an issue such as who is the rightful owner of a dead nation, it is suprising that the community can come together to agree on such things as the cartography project, or the name of the planet many micronations are situated on. And while their are greater minds than mine working on the various types of micronations and their characteristics, all of them, Reality based or fictionally based, still manage to develope a working relationship with each other. They are generally respectful of fellow nations. But if they generally get along, and if every nation works in the same manner, and with the concept of an "Ideal nation" which is the very basis of what micronations are attempting to achieve, then why is there not ONE Nation on our "planet"? or as some have suggested, the Nation OF Our Planet?An idea such as this has been tried, long ago, in the power vacuum left by the destruction of many large and important nations, and relatively low levels of new citizenship, the remaining nations (minus a few) attempted to save themselves with a failed marrige called "tymaria". While the nation failed as an effective micronation, it was THE turing point in the way micronations work. That it is infact not the nation but the relationship between Micronationalists that is what keeps the community going. Friendships must be first and not trivial issues such as names and appointments if the community is going to prosper.So as we see, that the longer micronations are in exsistance, the same faces are still around, and thus instead of static constancy within the culture, the community is maturing as we do. so instead of the old style of nation inwhich the leader would name the country after himself (such as Conradia which never exisited but to give you an example). Where the leader would make himself head of the nation and wonder why no one would join, we now have seasoned specialists ensuring that whether the nation they belong to is RL based or fantasy, that the nation is a hub of activity through participation, the downplaying of an almighty leader and a concentration on projects. Finally the concentration in micronations is quality over quantity, That a nation is not "better" simply because it has a larger population but by the services and ideas it has to offer. That as a bonus to this higher quality, that new members may come along with it. Whether it be through a more authentic atmosphere, cultural projects that are actually active or even a consentration on the debate of ideas, all of these changes are ensuring the staying power of present nations. Where will this lead? without the presence of major intermicronational organizations such as LoM and LoSS, micronations.org or the Apollo News, What is filling the void and replacing these groups as the gathering point of ezboard based nations? To begin with, In the current time after the fall of the Apollo Age, Micronations.net could be seen as the new replacement for the various MN United Nations forums which marked the last era. It cuts out the issues of soveriegnty and authority which plagued the LoSS and LoM and gets down to the very core of what those groups had originally intended to do, ensure the longevity and quality of micronations. But instead of discussion through representation, MN.net achieves its goals through case studies, open participation and research, a resource for micronations to consider, with a "take it or leave it" nature that was missing in forums of a similar goal. Some may say I am compairing apples to oranges, but both groups allow though very different in their approach aim to achieve the same results.Then there is the issue of the Cartography of micronations, many have downplayed this stunning work, and would petition to have their respective nation removed from the map, believing that it puts unessesary contrants on their nation. This could not be more misguided. By nations participating we grow together, and exchange ideas, views and allow for us all to be on common ground literally. it also allows for further developments such as the one outlined here. When the geographics of micronations were established with the development of that map, many new doors were opened which will allow new ideas to come about and be REALISED!. With a current wake of mergers in the waiting, This new mark of centralization will be on par with the rise and fall of Tymaria. Only this time, it will be a multi-polar unification. A great improvement on the last which allowed for no camp divisions internationally, and therefor put stress on the internal workings of the mega-nation. This fact alone shows progress. Progress in this hobby that is often not realized as time can often be judged week to week instead of year to year. Will this adaptation from the last unity benchmark make a lasting improvement on the last? Its chances are good. This mark has been attempted with caution, even today the term 'merger' is often associated with the failed mega-nation. And as such the new mark is greated with caution and planing. Where Tymaria was formed and desolved within months, The new mark has been tested and debated for close to half a year within its various national clusters. Leaders and Citizens alike have reviewed their contemporaries looking at precisely what nation would be a good match for each other respectively. As such, it is entirely possible that a co-relation between time invested will reflect longevity should these mergers occur. Speculation aside, it should be noted that the majority of this analysis was written by me over a year ago with only minor changes to reflect current trends (replacements such as Skyline for Fireball, Micronations.net for MRC) And where the elements of analysis within this essay itself have proven true, where it is only the names that changed, themes and predictions from the last copy of this essay were all accurate. New possibilities are always present in this hobby, it is the outcomes that are most predictable. The original micronational analysis was presented as a pre-amble to CUSP in September of 2002

[Thomas G C]

I like your conclusion, but reading section 1, I can't help but feel that you've got the wrong end of the stick as far as the entire philosophy behind micronationalism is concerned. You analyse government departments in terms of practical use - concluding in most cases that there is no point in having many of these departments. Fine, from a practical point of view. But if we zoom out for the moment, we see that there is no point in any of it. Micronations have no real purpose, or point. Like a pogo-stick, we don't really know why they're fun. So can we really look at things like government departments in practical terms, when we can't even look at the totality of micronationalism in the same way? I don't think we can. We just have to go with what instinct tells us is fun.Edit: Edited for typos. That's right... typos in a two-paragraph post... Edited by: Thomas G C at: 1/20/04 1:42 pm

[Gman Russell]

Quote:For the most part, Defence oriented individuals will spend most of their time creating ranks, awarding or recieving medals and occasionally taking part in a RecWar or in dubious cercomstances, serious attacks.It is usually the national leader that develops these weapons and whom is the real protector of the nation... Not funny...

[Conrad Cromien]

Well there is the difference, I see micronations as something that could have a potential goal in mind. Some see Mn's strictly as a hobby, others see it as a test ground for social behavior. I personally see micronations as a very developed hierarchy for the internet. Is it really nessesary? only to the people who choose it to be. So the reason why I pointed out the detriments of cabinet positions in 1. is because I think that we still attempt to graft physical world issues into a virtual world. One that has very different concepts of economics, defence, culture. Every Cabinet has two identities to each position. Defence is often both roleplaying and serious weapons defence in the form of hackware and so forth. Economics is both simulated and the very real issue of finance to pay for the boards. But to date, these dualities of each issue have been kept seperate (I think with the exception of Babkha which has two seperate forces for recwar and actual defence within the same ministry). As I said in my analysis, most of the serious issues are still controlled directly by the leader. Still a far cry from the days of "Mynation" styled states, but not completely evolved yet. In our sector, almost all nations are simply for fun, elsewhere people have tried the concept of nations of the internet, which can be seen as a territorial representation of cyberspace (hate that term). but that style of nation, is what this analysis was aiming for. The difference between an online game and an actual working internet based community. But this ofcourse is completely up to the participants, at one time there was a rather widespread idea that Micronations should be aiming for legitimacy. It may have been a foolish concept, but I know that there are places where it works. Our sector on the otherhand, is often viewed not as a sector at all, but as one group (community) with multiple synthetic borders and hierarchies. The domain of those that would rather be king of the hill rather than citizen of the mountain. As such, we are only important within our sector, and not to larger nations which have well established citizen bases, and are geared to a practical concept. Here, the only constant are the individuals, who influence new people to act as they have. Nations, Cultures, concepts, wars, peace, and alliances change on a regular basis. However, look at something like Tymaria, its citizens for the most part are still the same individuals around today. And with the exception of the arguments there, most of those citizens still have the same cliques,

[Kaiser Mors III]

From a pactical point of view... their is no point for ANY government departments.. or Government for that reason... Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[Conrad Cromien]

Then should there infact be a purpose? an overall goal? or should it all be simply for fun? hehehe, "What is the meaning of Micronations?"

[Kaiser Mors III]

Same as life... "What is the meaning of Life?" "Whatever we want it to be. " Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[Thomas G C]

Quote:As such, we are only important within our sector, and not to larger nations which have well established citizen bases, and are geared to a practical concept.What larger nations which have well established citizen bases, and are geared to a practical concept? I don't think I've ever some accross one of those. Do they really exist?At the end of the day I agree with the Kaiser - there is, and can be, no practical point to micronations. They're like pogo-sticks.

[Ari Rahikkala]

Actually micronations aren't like pogo-sticks, they are pogo-sticks.* hops on Babkha * I spend my days enjoying the minty taste that surrounds Erik.

[Emir of Raspur]

The process of distilation brought a discussion on the state of micronations down to the level of a dolphin on a pogo stick...

[Conrad Cromien]

Would you expect more from Shireroth? Lets see, well there is the Yugoslavian representation which has a high citizenship, Nova Roma, a whole host of Polish micronations. Mind you, I dont actually speak any of the various languages needed to break into other sectors, but if you a proper search, there are many many nations with a large population and a direction. Now excuse me, I assume the comment at the top will be met with massive amounts of backlash, so I am off.

[Emir of Raspur]

Is online Yugoslavia still doing well? And lets not forget several large Brazilian micronations.

[Thomas G C]

Those nations may have large populations, but towards what possible "practical concept" are they geared? At the end of the day, when the chips are down, when the balloon goes up and when the lights go out, it's all just for fun.

[Kaiser Mors III]

What of the Sessionist States?" Would you expect more from Shireroth?"Why THank you.. We try our best... Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[Conrad Cromien]

Actually, Over all you dont try, its so much easier to say "NO, Babkha is A pogo-stick" than actually having to sit down and write 500 words after going to the trouble of reading what I originally wrote. Aside from that, what is the over all purpose? well the Yugoslavian nation has atleast one great purpose. It unites people from the former elements of Yugoslavia against the trend of war in the past 14 years, to put aside differences and unite based on their past established peace. It may not be as stunningly clever as "7 Moose of the Apocolypse" but I'd say regional harmony in the site of several former warzones is a rather large contribution. Well, what about the Sessesionist States? what particularly about them?

[Kaiser Mors III]

Why ARE you attacking me/us?Aren't the sessionist states doing this to make REAL nations.. Not to just have fun?And about pogo-stick.. Niether of the people who mentioned Pogo-Sticks are Citizens of Shireroth... Though Ari IS well respected and loved among us... So... yeah.. What's the deal? Or am I mis-reading? Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[Emir of Raspur]

"NO, Babkha is A pogo-stick" is not the truest word ever spoken in jest by Ari. I am worried that his standards might be slipping.

[Conrad Cromien]

Yes, thats it. I am attacking you.

[Kaiser Mors III]

Well.. Than what? You're kinda confusing me. Maybe I'm just missreading... Maybe you are just being sarcastic... I don't know... Be Clearer... SPEAK UP!..hehe Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[SaiKar LumEth]

Conrad, you seem pretty cynical for no apparent reason. Were you just bored and wanted to write something long? I am afraid that I cannot agree with a lot of those points, especially the ones on the intelligence office and political parties.Erik,Quote:From a pactical point of view... their is no point for ANY government departments.. or Government for that reason... Not true at all. Let's say someone steals your stuff. You do not want to have to risk fighting bandits to get it back, so you rely on the police to both get the stuff back and be an incentive for others not to steal. Or maybe your house is on fire. You would never put it out carrying water from a river, but it is a good thing the fire department will help you. Also, I bet you like having roads to use to get to places, so you can thank the road commisions for paving them and letting your ride on them for free. And you know what sucks? Getting shot but someone that wants to invade and take your land. Lucky for you you have the military to make sure they never get that far.What unites all these organizations? The government, of course. It is not only practical, it is necessary to how we live as humans. Even if we ripped it all down and had anarchy today, you would see people working together, setting up chains of command, trying to protect territories, and coming up with little kingdoms. Government would be reborn.So, yes, I would say that governments and their deparments are practical. At least in the real world.

[Kaiser Mors III]

I was refering to Micronations... not Macro... Mortis BrookshireKaiser of Shireroth

[Ari Rahikkala]

What, I have standards? Wow! This opens up so many new opportunities...* ari bitchslaps a random by-goer with his standards * I spend my days enjoying the minty taste that surrounds Erik.

[Conrad Cromien]

So was I. You can sort of tell by the title of the analysis.

[Phoenix the Risen]

*annexes Ari's Standards* Phoenix the Risen - Dutchess of Kildare - Political Nuisance but at least She gets the job done. - Official Genkher of Gryphon Avocatio's Cool Short Sig and Gryphon the Pure's Awesome Tables! - COME BACK, STEVE!!! -"To quote a former Kaiser.... 'Shireroth doesn't give up land....'" ~UEC (Quoting Kaiser Letifer I), In response to claims on the Raynor Isles"To paraphrase a former Kaiser: 'Here! Take Amity for free! And that other half of Mar Sara too!'" ~SaiKar LumEth, (Paraphrasing Kaiser Mog I) In response to UEC"To paraphrase a former angry mob "DOWN WITH THE EVIL LAND-GIVING AWAY KAISER! REVOLT! REBELLION! CIVIL WAR!" ~Scott Siskind, (paraphrasing the Letifer Rebellion group) In response to SaiKar LumEth"I HEARBY QUESTION THE KAISERESS AUTHORITY!" ~Gryphon Avocado (Switching Day)

[Philip Locke]

Quote:What larger nations which have well established citizen bases, and are geared to a practical concept? I don't think I've ever some accross one of those. Do they really exist?Damn you, have you forgotten Talossa!? Eva P.L. Braun
Italian Situationist

[Tahmaseb]

We should all forget Talossa.

[Philip Locke]

Quote:Not true at all. Let's say someone steals your stuff. You do not want to have to risk fighting bandits to get it back, so you rely on the police to both get the stuff back and be an incentive for others not to steal.The government is the greatest thief of all time.In reality, the government can't do much to help you. Most crimes are either crimes of passion (which can not be prevented by the police) or crimes of need (things like theft), which are the result of unfair socioeconomic standards.Quote:Or maybe your house is on fire. You would never put it out carrying water from a river, but it is a good thing the fire department will help you. You don't need to have a government to have an effective community fire-fighting brigade. Plenty of small town volunteer forces across the US and the world have proven this.Also, I bet you like having roads to use to get to places, so you can thank the road commisions for paving them and letting your ride on them for free. And you know what sucks? Quote:Getting shot but someone that wants to invade and take your land. Lucky for you you have the military to make sure they never get that far.Are you a fucking moron or do you really not see the irony in that statement? The military stops other militaries (i.e. , the tools of other governments) from shooting you and taking your land. Quote:What unites all these organizations? The government, of course. It is not only practical, it is necessary to how we live as humans.Even if we ripped it all down and had anarchy today, you would see people working together, setting up chains of command, trying to protect territories, and coming up with little kingdoms. Government would be reborn.Perhaps in some places, but for the most part I think you'd see autonomous community-level communes spring up, a reversion to low[er] level technology, and the end of the Age of Shopping/Global consumerism. Local citizens coalitions would be able to manage community function while workers' unions would take control of production.Anarchy isn't absence of order, it's absence of a central, unified government (the very kind about which you speak).Quote:So, yes, I would say that governments and their deparments are practical. At least in the real world.The government, in the 20th century alone, is responsible for well over one hundred million deaths. The history of humanity is the story of governments mobilizing their citizens, often through coersion or strong-arming, into pointless blood baths.Very necessary, right? Eva P.L. Braun
Italian Situationist
Edited by: Philip Locke at: 1/23/04 11:24 am

[david northworthy beckfor]

what you discribe coming up is the foundation of government.and you are forgetting.....the human race was not allways in the 20th century.....the governments of today came from somewhewre.get rid of government, new governments will rise up. "Disclaimer: Whatever is in the above post is probably a result of my blind following of Kieran Bennett, because I have even less of a brain than Kieran. Don't even get me started on my lack of independent thought."

[Philip Locke]

Quote:what you discribe coming up is the foundation of government.What? Let's try a little coherency, here.Quote:and you are forgetting.....the human race was not allways in the 20th century.....the governments of today came from somewhewre.Yes, that little fact managed to evade me. Just now have I stumbled upon the realization that today's governments are the products of millenia of sociopolitical and socioeconomic evolution and revolution.And, in fact, government is really the result of prehistoric religious castes. Without primitive man's need for supernatural explanations, government as we know it may not exist.Quote:get rid of government, new governments will rise up. That all depends what your definition of "government" is. That arguement also rests on the foundation that I believe that an anarchic society is viable in the world of 2003, which I do not.You can have order, order through workplace unions and loosely confederated community coalitions without having a true government. The unions would ensure the continuation of production and distribution; the community/citizen coalitions would deal with local disturbances and communal needs through democratic means. Regiona and national coops would allow communities to take what they need from the surplus generated by other communes (don't have a "FUCKING HIPPIE!" flip on me, I mean this in the most French sense of the word) across the country. However, there would exist no organization that consists of millions of people that has the ability to rob (taxes), kill (wars, capital punishment), and lie (the government influenced media/media influenced government cycle) with impunity. Eva P.L. Braun
Italian Situationist

[david northworthy beckfor]

what i mean is that what you are describing...would be the foundation of the next governments...infact, how are they not governing bodies? "Disclaimer: Whatever is in the above post is probably a result of my blind following of Kieran Bennett, because I have even less of a brain than Kieran. Don't even get me started on my lack of independent thought."