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| Principality of Freedonia |
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| Principality of Freedonia is a “new country” project based in Houston, Texas; founded in March of 1992 by the 13 year-old John Alexander Kyle and a group of his friends. Governmentally, they've gone through a few permutations. By a 1992 resolution, they were “a sort of oligarchy.” That system was changed to a presidential republic in 1996, and to a constitutional monarchy in 1997. The constitution was revised in 2000. As of April 1998, their name was modified to reflect their metamorphosis from a “Republic” to a “Principality”. Originally, Freedonia was the result of lengthy contemplation about “the concept of someone taking the house they lived in and declaring it independent of the United States.” Mr. Kyle and his friends then proceeded to consummate this plan of action by whimsically asserting the thorough liberation of their parents' homes. In its humble beginnings, these ruminations were largely for their own entertainment. Freedonia was only a “small hypothetical project until 1997”, when the possibilities of the Internet entered the picture. But as the project grew in seriousness (and Mr. Kyle graduated high school and progressed to Babson College), their goal was to create a new nation based on the political ideology of libertarianism. It has a national anthem and previously had a central bank (Bank of Freedonia), which has since been dissolved / disbanded. The Head of State is Prince John I (John Alexander Kyle), the prime minister is Dustin Gawrylow. It's website can be viewed at: | |
| From Freedonia's website it states: "The Principality of Freedonia is an effort to estabish a new nation with a government following libertarian principles. Maximum Freedom for all citizens, and ultra low taxation. Our nation seeks to give people true liberty; that is the freedom to do anything which does not cause direct harm to others or to other people's property. Our government is a minimalist one, whose sole concern and authority relates to the preservation of law and order, national defense, and some aspects of infrastructure. With such a government, there is a very low need for taxation, well below the 35% or more of GDP required by most governments today." | |
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In his search to purchase
actual territory, Mr. Kyle considered several viable options (such as
maintaining a long-standing desire to purchase the Pitcairn Island
from Great Britain, or an artificial island in
international waters). His pursuit led to one remote location in
particular, where things would end in tragedy: the Awdal province in
Somaliland, which in turn was formed when 5 out of 18 administrative
regions seceded from Somalia in 1991 (hence reverting back to the former
British Somaliland configuration). Awdal has even tried to claim liberty
as a separate Republic, but this has never been granted. They are clearly
beholden, amid endless internecine disputes, to the clans who locally hold
and share power. A libertarian outfit, called the Awdal Roads Company, had
pre-established a vested interest in this volatile place — an
environment where the chance of conflict is always present, especially
when an outsider or two are involved. Mr. Kyle became involved (only
informally and non-contractually) with Awdal Roads in 1999. Its 2 founders
claim to have never worked for Freedonia, and based on the version gleaned
from the Freedonia Web-site, Mr. Kyle confirms that they “rightfully
asserted that Awdal Roads Co. is not associated with Freedonia in any
way.” Nevertheless, even though no agreement was ever reached, Mr. Kyle
was clearly expecting to receive some sort of useful information about the
opportunities for foreign investment and economic development in Awdal. At
the very end of 2000 and continuing into the beginning of 2001, these 2
gentlemen (one of whom had married into the Samaron, one of the great
clans of Awdal) were in the midst of establishing influential contacts and
improving their prospects in the area. They had a series of meetings with
government officials, including the Vice President and various Ministers.
But then some unfortunate misinformation, in the form of a
falsehood-ridden fax which was sent by someone who was very angry with
Awdal Roads, got into their hands. This malicious missive portrayed the
partnership between Freedonia and Awdal Roads in a negative light, stating
that an Awdal Sultan was going to give a large stretch of their coast to
the foreign representatives. Frightened by the false implication, the
officials then concluded that a conspiracy was afoot, and they became
convinced that the Company had been intending to take advantage of them or
steal from their folk. In an atmosphere easily corrupted by mistrust and
deception, things quickly went sour. Even the slightest hint of duplicity
could have wrecked the Company's plans, and what was already a delicate
situation to begin with became even more complicated and dangerous. During
their argument, in which tensions grew very high and tempers flared, a
mortal threat was made to one of the representatives. They were then both
expelled and had to leave the country immediately. A few days later, a mob
of locals formed in the streets, and threw stones at the Vice President's
motorcade. They had been pleased with what they had heard about Awdal
Road's business proposals, but once the officials permanently ended the
dialogue, they became outraged. Military guards shot into the crowd. Many
were seriously injured in the violence, and there were between 1-4
fatalities. A few days later, the regime arrested 6 more civilians. These events (I cannot conclude if they are fairly reliable or factually distorted) really seem to have taken the wind out of Freedonia's sails. Their Web-site has not been brought up to date in ages, and many have wondered if it has been dissolved for good. Therefore it can be concluded that the negotiations have so far been fruitless. . |
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In May of 2004, John I answered
one of Erik Victor McCrea's queries regarding the progress of Freedonia: “It is with a very heavy heart that I have taken a temporary leave from Freedonian development. Unfortunately, until I can greatly increase my personal (royal) assets, I am not able to pursue Freedonia full-time, which is definitely what is required...I am most certainly still connected to Freedonia, as I have been for 12 years, and the project is by no means terminated. I look forward to the day when I will be able to lead the project onward both with a full allotment of time, and financial resources. The website should reflect some updates in the near future.” If you send an e-mail to the Prince John I (JohnI@freedonia.org or johnkyle@neosoft.com), don't be surprised if it takes a long time for you to receive an answer. I tried probably twice to contact him through his emails to get hold of Freedonian Coins, but got no luck. At last I was able to purchase the only and so far minted 50 Freedonian Dollar 1998, 31.1300g .999 silver, 1 oz with 39 mm diameter coin from Oded Paz. The obverse side of the coin shows the domination while the reverse side shown the crowned Arms of Freedonia. Information about purchasing the 1998 50 Dollars can be found at: http://www.freedonia.org/bof.html. An article on John I and Freedonia by Andrew Weiner as "State of Mind" can also be viewed at: http://www.aericanempire.com/bostonphoenix.html |
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