1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,920
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

2
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,560
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

3
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:17,319
Speaker 1: from house Stuff Works dot com? Hey, and welcome to

4
00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,800
Speaker 1: the podcast. I haven't said that in a long time,

5
00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,160
Speaker 1: and I said it just like PF. Tompkins for some reason.

6
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,720
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, that's kind of how he would say it.

7
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,440
Speaker 1: But you're not wearing a vest in bowtie. No, and

8
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,880
Speaker 1: my mustask is non existent too, port by hat. I've

9
00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,640
Speaker 1: got nothing except for that one inflection. Okay, that's the

10
00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,360
Speaker 1: only similarity. So Josh is in a great mood because

11
00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,479
Speaker 1: it's Friday and we're actually not like we aren't usually

12
00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:46,640
Speaker 1: pleased to be here, but we haven't done this in

13
00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:48,519
Speaker 1: two weeks because we've been doing other stuff and we

14
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,400
Speaker 1: stacked up, you know, recordings, and it's like it's a

15
00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:53,280
Speaker 1: genuine pleasure to be back in here doing this. Is

16
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,200
Speaker 1: I can feel like I could do this with my

17
00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,280
Speaker 1: eyes closed. Try it Star podcast. I can't see my notes.

18
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 1: It was still pretty good, Chuck, you got a joke

19
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,440
Speaker 1: in there anyway. Um. Yeah, I'm happy to be here

20
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,880
Speaker 1: because I know I can do this right. You know,

21
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,200
Speaker 1: there's not a camera in front of its inferior. You

22
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,319
Speaker 1: feel good. I feel good to Chuck. So I'm going

23
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:22,000
Speaker 1: to uh use that good feeling to give you an introduction. Okay,

24
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,080
Speaker 1: let's say, chuckers that you did not have a very

25
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,680
Speaker 1: good time in high school, but I did. But I'll

26
00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,600
Speaker 1: imagine that you're suspending disbelief here. Um, you were one

27
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,120
Speaker 1: of the less popular kids, perhaps because of that one

28
00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,160
Speaker 1: time you wore that cape to school. It didn't go

29
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:42,520
Speaker 1: nearly as well as you had expected it would. I

30
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,360
Speaker 1: thought I would be uh lauded as a superhero among

31
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,280
Speaker 1: my beers, but they made fun of me. Okay, Um,

32
00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,560
Speaker 1: and that pretty much set the timber for the rest

33
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,960
Speaker 1: of your high school experience. And it really stuck with you.

34
00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 1: You know, it really got in your craw that that

35
00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,520
Speaker 1: you were so mistreated in high school. And you had

36
00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,920
Speaker 1: a couple of friends, Kevin and Jim, and um, they

37
00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,480
Speaker 1: had similar experiences. And you guys are now in your

38
00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,200
Speaker 1: thirties or forties, You've got a little money, and you

39
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,080
Speaker 1: still are driven by bitter anger. You want vengeance, right right,

40
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:21,480
Speaker 1: You're not exactly the type to um kill somebody, and um,

41
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,280
Speaker 1: your idea of revenge is pretty grand. So what you

42
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,240
Speaker 1: decide to do is to start your own country. Hey,

43
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,000
Speaker 1: that's a good way to get back at the jerks

44
00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,960
Speaker 1: in high school. Exactly. This is the legal way to

45
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,600
Speaker 1: do it, right, Okay, all you do start your own country, um,

46
00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,000
Speaker 1: and you invite these guys to come visit and then

47
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,360
Speaker 1: throw them in prison the moment they get there. Okay,

48
00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:47,760
Speaker 1: maybe even put them on a terrorist watch list before

49
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,080
Speaker 1: they get there, and not alert your authorities of what's

50
00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,920
Speaker 1: going on, and then just sit back and wait for

51
00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,760
Speaker 1: the good times to roll. Right, Okay, all right, done.

52
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 1: There's a couple of problems here. Okay. One, you have

53
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,080
Speaker 1: no idea how to start your own country? Well do

54
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 1: you in real life? Because I've read your article. But yeah,

55
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,320
Speaker 1: well that's what I was gonna say. We're here to

56
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,920
Speaker 1: tell you that's right. So everyone who here's this podcast

57
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,840
Speaker 1: will know how to start their own country pretty much.

58
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,320
Speaker 1: And it's easier than you think in theory. Sure, well,

59
00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,320
Speaker 1: let's let's talk about it, Chuck. All right, Okay, Well,

60
00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,040
Speaker 1: one way Josh, that you can do so, and history

61
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,480
Speaker 1: has shown that it's it's works. Is uh a larger nation,

62
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,359
Speaker 1: let's say Great Britain. They used to be into colonizing

63
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,720
Speaker 1: places all over the world, the lovely places that they

64
00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,800
Speaker 1: like to relax on the beach, and um, they did

65
00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:43,960
Speaker 1: so well. Rhodesia is not exactly on the beach, but

66
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,360
Speaker 1: I was speaking of like the Virgin Islands. But they

67
00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,840
Speaker 1: did that a larger nation, uh, colonized a smaller one

68
00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,400
Speaker 1: and change the name to Rhodesian, said this is a

69
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,680
Speaker 1: new country. Yes, you are now Rhodesian's yep. And if

70
00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,960
Speaker 1: you don't like it, we've got guns here. And that

71
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 1: is one way to do it. And then there's the

72
00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,960
Speaker 1: opposite way to do it. You could be a Rhodesian

73
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 1: and be like, you know what, we have guns now too,

74
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 1: or Zimbabwe and now this place is called Zimbabwe. Yeah,

75
00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,640
Speaker 1: Zulu Zulu Zulu yeah. Um. And then there's uh, let's

76
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,800
Speaker 1: see the kind of succession that where you go buy

77
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,760
Speaker 1: an island and basically say, okay, this island is now

78
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,320
Speaker 1: its own thing. Yeah. I think didn't Marlon Brando own

79
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 1: his own island? Yeah? I don't think he tried to

80
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,080
Speaker 1: make it his own country, although he may have. There

81
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,920
Speaker 1: are a significant number of islands for sale in the world. Really, yeah,

82
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,560
Speaker 1: they're they're pretty small though, Huh. I guess they range.

83
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,320
Speaker 1: I mean they're small enough or they're big enough. Right.

84
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,120
Speaker 1: The problem is the getting electricity. That's the that's the

85
00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,800
Speaker 1: big problem. I think. Although if I was going to

86
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,440
Speaker 1: buy an island, I would try and keep it off grid,

87
00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,080
Speaker 1: you know, or or you know, do the solar thing

88
00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,560
Speaker 1: or sure, yeah I can't, man, I'd deck my island out. Well,

89
00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,320
Speaker 1: I'd want mine decked out, though you can still deck

90
00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,400
Speaker 1: it out with solar panels and like the the Swiss

91
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,720
Speaker 1: family Robinson or something, that's that's just how I roll.

92
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 1: But the more the more customary way of starting your

93
00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,600
Speaker 1: own country is like we were saying, um, say Zimbabwe

94
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,680
Speaker 1: or something like that is called the land based secession. Yeah,

95
00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,279
Speaker 1: not as easy, No, it really isn't. Because, um, whereas

96
00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,400
Speaker 1: if you were to buy a deserted tropical island that

97
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,719
Speaker 1: no country, that a country technically own but wasn't doing

98
00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,840
Speaker 1: anything with, they probably wouldn't put up too much of

99
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,840
Speaker 1: a fight. If you own property in a country and

100
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,760
Speaker 1: say this is no longer part of this country, you're

101
00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,200
Speaker 1: going to get some sort of resistance, absolutely, right, Like

102
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,800
Speaker 1: Russia Soviet Union obviously dissolved, and uh, they're still doing

103
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,480
Speaker 1: battle with Georgians you know today they definitely they didn't

104
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,800
Speaker 1: just forget and say it's no big deal. Right, Yeah,

105
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,839
Speaker 1: relations among the former Soviet states with Russia are definitely strained.

106
00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,440
Speaker 1: Where yeah, Chester and rebels are, um, not the most

107
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,520
Speaker 1: happy people around, and they will kill children. They've shown

108
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:12,600
Speaker 1: two succeed Yeah, successions are bloody and horrible. Or were

109
00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,680
Speaker 1: they the school? Oh yeah, okay, what was that the

110
00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:23,159
Speaker 1: swap podcast? Yeah? I think so. Um, let's see what else. Oh, Yugoslavia. Yeah,

111
00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,520
Speaker 1: that's another really good example too. Um. There was a

112
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:32,679
Speaker 1: guy named Joseph Tito, right, not Tito Jackson or Tito's

113
00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,719
Speaker 1: handmade vodka. Uh. Tito. Um, was this guy who was

114
00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,680
Speaker 1: a brutal, iron fisted dictator, but there was a he

115
00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,279
Speaker 1: had a reputation where people would say, Tito is a brutal,

116
00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,480
Speaker 1: iron fisted dictator. But you gotta hand it to him.

117
00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:53,080
Speaker 1: He's keeping Yugoslavia together. And this is amazing. This Yugoslavia

118
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,279
Speaker 1: before Tito and then after Tito, we're a bunch of

119
00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:03,080
Speaker 1: ethnic people, um groups living together that it hated each

120
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,120
Speaker 1: other for a thousand years, like the I think the

121
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,840
Speaker 1: problem between the Albanians and the Serbs went back to

122
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 1: um a massacre or the murder of a martyr in

123
00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 1: like twelve something century. So Tito comes along and it's like, no,

124
00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,000
Speaker 1: you all live together in my country. After Tito dies,

125
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,200
Speaker 1: Yugoslavia falls apart, and all of a sudden you have Albania, Serbia,

126
00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,880
Speaker 1: all that stuff. But these were huge, enormous problems for

127
00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,320
Speaker 1: the world. The Balkans are a big match or a

128
00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:35,120
Speaker 1: big flash point, right, But ultimately what happened was a

129
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,400
Speaker 1: bunch of ethnic Albanians said, you know what, we're no

130
00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,800
Speaker 1: longer part of Serbia. Have our own we have our

131
00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,880
Speaker 1: own nations. Now. Uh, that's one way to do it.

132
00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,520
Speaker 1: That's land based session. And like we said, it's usually

133
00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,520
Speaker 1: kind of bloody, right, But there are a few steps

134
00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,440
Speaker 1: that Albanians took that Serbs eventually took um and that

135
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,400
Speaker 1: other people have taken. They are basically like a four

136
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 1: part means of becoming an independent nation. So so also

137
00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 1: I should I have to give a huge shout out

138
00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,920
Speaker 1: to UM Joshua Keating who wrote a really cool article

139
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:16,360
Speaker 1: UM on Foreign Policy Foreign Policy Magazine about this um

140
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,400
Speaker 1: that formed the basis of this article. It's just way better.

141
00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,880
Speaker 1: This is way better. Yeah, fine, it's way better than

142
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:28,119
Speaker 1: the editor at Foreign Policy Magazine. Well, so three things, Josh,

143
00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:29,920
Speaker 1: and there we're gonna talk about the four steps. But

144
00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,440
Speaker 1: three things that generally give you a leg up if

145
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,080
Speaker 1: you want to form a new country is a population

146
00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,920
Speaker 1: of I guess like minded folks, not just a population,

147
00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,560
Speaker 1: a permanent population like this, these people's homeland or this

148
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,960
Speaker 1: is where they live, this is where they farm, not

149
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,120
Speaker 1: they're on vacation. Here. Let's get a country going exactly

150
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,240
Speaker 1: government and land. Those that that will really give you

151
00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:53,800
Speaker 1: a leg up. If you've got those three things, it's

152
00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,120
Speaker 1: a good starter kit. And there's a fourth one that's

153
00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:01,080
Speaker 1: not necessarily those three are internationally recognized as yes, if

154
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,120
Speaker 1: you can. If you have those three things, then you're

155
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,240
Speaker 1: on your way to to forming a country with fourth currency.

156
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 1: The fourth. Now, the fourth is that that government has

157
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,240
Speaker 1: to be able to communicate with the outside world. Um.

158
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,800
Speaker 1: And then that that came out of a treaty in

159
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,439
Speaker 1: three in Monto Video where the US said, Okay, we'll

160
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,680
Speaker 1: leave Latin America alone. You guys are your own sovereign nations.

161
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,280
Speaker 1: Now we'll just undermine you covertly rather than overtly. Um.

162
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,280
Speaker 1: And uh, that's kind of disputed. I think the United

163
00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,280
Speaker 1: States recognizes it's still but other countries don't necessarily see

164
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,199
Speaker 1: that as criteria for nationhood. Well, it's tricky and we'll

165
00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,600
Speaker 1: see here in a minute when we start talking about

166
00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:45,520
Speaker 1: the awesomely funny and wacky sealand I can't wait. Being recognized.

167
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 1: It's it's some people recognize certain things, and some people

168
00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,800
Speaker 1: say your sovereign nation and then or an independent Uh.

169
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,880
Speaker 1: It's it's very formal and informal whether or not you're

170
00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,400
Speaker 1: recognized or not. And I can't really tell when you're

171
00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:05,079
Speaker 1: a legitimate country anymore. Really, the only way there isn't

172
00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,120
Speaker 1: there's another recognized country recognizes you. Even even that doesn't

173
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:13,280
Speaker 1: necessarily mean anything, because take Taiwan. Taiwan used to be

174
00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,480
Speaker 1: a recognized country part of the u N and then

175
00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:22,360
Speaker 1: in ninete Nixon through to the dogs as a in

176
00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,880
Speaker 1: alive branch to China and Taiwan hasn't been part of

177
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:31,520
Speaker 1: the u N since then. Yes, Tetician to come back

178
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,200
Speaker 1: into the UN not even come in the first time

179
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,080
Speaker 1: to come back. They got booted out because Nixon was like, yeah,

180
00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:39,920
Speaker 1: the U S isn't backing you, and we got our

181
00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,720
Speaker 1: little anty chair there with our little placard. I see

182
00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,600
Speaker 1: it right there with the microphone exactly. There's a little earpiece.

183
00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:51,280
Speaker 1: Interpreter's like a cob But yeah, so Taiwan is a

184
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,880
Speaker 1: sovereign nation as far as it's concerned, as far as

185
00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,880
Speaker 1: many other nations are concerned, but it's not officially recognized

186
00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,000
Speaker 1: by other countries. Well, you know a big important one. Yeah,

187
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,320
Speaker 1: and you and protection. That's big because that means that

188
00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,000
Speaker 1: your former country, if you're all of a sudden recognized

189
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,240
Speaker 1: by the UN, can't roll in there and take you

190
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,640
Speaker 1: back by force, at least per the UN's rules. They can't.

191
00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,320
Speaker 1: They're not supposed to know, because once you do that,

192
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:20,080
Speaker 1: that's war. And there's first I should say, once you've

193
00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,800
Speaker 1: completed step two, which is declare independence, right, you gotta

194
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,439
Speaker 1: write your own declaration of independence. And then once you

195
00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:30,800
Speaker 1: write your own declaration of independent to the important people

196
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:32,680
Speaker 1: that need to see that. I guess right, well, the

197
00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,160
Speaker 1: the country that you're succeeding from, they'd be first on

198
00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,120
Speaker 1: the list. And then and then if you can get recognized,

199
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,600
Speaker 1: then you're a sovereign nation basically on the international stage.

200
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,520
Speaker 1: And that's an act of war, an unprovoked active aggression

201
00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:50,080
Speaker 1: on par with um Pearl Harbor or nine eleven or whatever.

202
00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,679
Speaker 1: And I think that would you mentioned Kosovo and Montenegro

203
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,000
Speaker 1: is being on the winning side of that, those laws

204
00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,880
Speaker 1: that kept them protected from Serbia. Yeah. So, um, that's

205
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,840
Speaker 1: because the US recognized Kosovo on the day it on

206
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,520
Speaker 1: the day it declared independence. George Bush was like, hey, yeah, yeah,

207
00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:14,720
Speaker 1: we're going to recognize you as a sovereign nation, and

208
00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,360
Speaker 1: they were like, what, we recognize you right? Um. And

209
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,800
Speaker 1: the reason why Keating points out that back in the day,

210
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:26,080
Speaker 1: during the Cold War, Um, it used to be that, uh,

211
00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,560
Speaker 1: all you had to do is say I'm anti Soviet

212
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,440
Speaker 1: and the US would recognize you immediately. Or you could

213
00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,839
Speaker 1: be like you know, American capitalist pig dogs in the

214
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,920
Speaker 1: USSR would be like, hey, you're on our team, you're

215
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,440
Speaker 1: a country. But um, and they both start printing stamps. Right.

216
00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:46,360
Speaker 1: But with Kosovo in particular declaring independence, it was kind

217
00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:48,560
Speaker 1: of like a thumb in the eye to Russia because

218
00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,640
Speaker 1: you know, former Soviet Soviet state satellite um, and so

219
00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:58,120
Speaker 1: Bush recognizing it was kind of like a to the Russians,

220
00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:02,400
Speaker 1: what was that? You know? What it was? Yes, Josh,

221
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,280
Speaker 1: and those rules that we're talking about. The U N

222
00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,439
Speaker 1: rules are a remnant of the Cold War to protect

223
00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,720
Speaker 1: new states that were not yet recognized by one side

224
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,839
Speaker 1: of the block or the other. Right, they hadn't they

225
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:18,680
Speaker 1: hadn't declared, there's the LC not new kids on the

226
00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,920
Speaker 1: block with a K? Did they spellers with a K? Yeah,

227
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:24,720
Speaker 1: that wouldn't be two kids on the block. That would

228
00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,720
Speaker 1: have been a different bind. So, um, that was the

229
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,880
Speaker 1: first three steps. I believe. Right, you have criteria declare independence,

230
00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,520
Speaker 1: you petition for um U N recognition. And I should

231
00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:41,880
Speaker 1: also say it's incredibly easy to petition for UN recognition.

232
00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,000
Speaker 1: It's almost cute how easy it is. It's almost adorable

233
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,240
Speaker 1: that you can just write a letter and tell him Chuck, Well,

234
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,520
Speaker 1: you just write a letter to the Secretary General and

235
00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,280
Speaker 1: say I would like to be a country. I don't

236
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,439
Speaker 1: even that was a mix of like eight accents. So

237
00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,839
Speaker 1: don't call me out like, um, yes, that's exactly who

238
00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,480
Speaker 1: it's to, thank you very much. So, um, yeah, you

239
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,199
Speaker 1: just write a letter and getting in I mean the

240
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,880
Speaker 1: letter writing part is easy. That's that's the big part.

241
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,480
Speaker 1: And as a matter of fact, as a p s A,

242
00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,800
Speaker 1: we're gonna give you the address send your letter to.

243
00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,560
Speaker 1: If you are going to um declare your independence, you

244
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:22,400
Speaker 1: want to address your letter to Bond ky Moon, Secretary

245
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,680
Speaker 1: General the United Nations, First Avenue at forty six Street,

246
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,840
Speaker 1: New York, New York, one zero zero one seven. And

247
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,240
Speaker 1: all you have to do is say, Mr Bond, Um,

248
00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,760
Speaker 1: we would like to be a nation. We have a

249
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,960
Speaker 1: we have a sedentary population. We have a government. Our

250
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,000
Speaker 1: government can even talk to people if you're into that

251
00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,200
Speaker 1: kind of thing. Yeah, and um, we have a we

252
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,360
Speaker 1: have a geography, so let us send huh chuck. Also, Um,

253
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,239
Speaker 1: to be accepted into the u N, you need recognition

254
00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 1: by a two thirds vote, and a two thirds majority

255
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,920
Speaker 1: is that you're a quote peace loving state that can

256
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,080
Speaker 1: carry out the duties of the u N Charter. That

257
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,520
Speaker 1: means you are in yes, but that can be easily

258
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:14,440
Speaker 1: vetoed by member nations. And um, like you point on

259
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,600
Speaker 1: the article, I guess it's it's you want to make

260
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,880
Speaker 1: friends with the big players in the u N and

261
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,800
Speaker 1: get them on your side. That that would definitely help. Yeah, Um,

262
00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 1: there's a you know, neutral countries are always like sure,

263
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,640
Speaker 1: well neutral, whatever you want to do. Um, they don't

264
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,840
Speaker 1: care much weight though, no not not nearly as much

265
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,920
Speaker 1: as you know the the you could basically call them

266
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:42,000
Speaker 1: bully countries, countries that have the economic and military might

267
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,720
Speaker 1: to push everybody else around make decisions for the rest

268
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,320
Speaker 1: of the world. Um So, if you can get recognized

269
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,160
Speaker 1: and get in bed with one of those guys, you're

270
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,080
Speaker 1: gonna your nation is going to start to thrive. Another

271
00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,720
Speaker 1: um way to get your nation to thrive is to

272
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,400
Speaker 1: tracked foreign investors. Yeah, he pointed out natural resources. If

273
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,560
Speaker 1: you happen to have an island like the one let's

274
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:11,560
Speaker 1: say the Wappony Wooves had Booboo. If you remember, I

275
00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,880
Speaker 1: don't remember that Boobaroo was this uh mineral. I believe

276
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,840
Speaker 1: that the will Ponies had. I remember he was. He

277
00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,120
Speaker 1: wanted their island. That was the whole point. He wanted

278
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,280
Speaker 1: it for Boobooroo because it helped out with whatever his

279
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,200
Speaker 1: business was. Lloyd Bridges, of course we're talking about the

280
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,760
Speaker 1: late great boyd Bridge. I liked his little stint on Seinfeld.

281
00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,760
Speaker 1: Towards the end of his life, he just came out

282
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,880
Speaker 1: because he had He was the father of the Old Trainer, right,

283
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,840
Speaker 1: he know, he was the old Trainer and then his

284
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,560
Speaker 1: son would like drive the car while he was turned

285
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,440
Speaker 1: around like shouting at a out of a bullhorn at Jerry.

286
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:52,080
Speaker 1: But wasn't. Wasn't. His father's son was an old man,

287
00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,840
Speaker 1: and he was like the older man. Anyway, we were

288
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,200
Speaker 1: talking about Joe versus the Bolcano obviously, which we've mentioned

289
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,040
Speaker 1: before and in that movie. Um, he wanted the mineral

290
00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,200
Speaker 1: rights to this imaginary element or mineral and um, that's

291
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,800
Speaker 1: a good way to get soverenity is to attract I

292
00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,040
Speaker 1: guess a wealthy entrepreneur and say, hey, I've got some

293
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,480
Speaker 1: awesome sand on this island. Right. Um, you've got that,

294
00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,960
Speaker 1: you can Um, you can also create currency and back

295
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,840
Speaker 1: it with said mineral or natural resource, Like this is

296
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,520
Speaker 1: an eight gas bucks if you have natural gas. Let's

297
00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,960
Speaker 1: just Nevada thing. There's a guy, um who what's the

298
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:37,760
Speaker 1: name of the place, The Republic of uh Molasia. Okay,

299
00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,240
Speaker 1: there's a guy in Nevada who owns like a a

300
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,040
Speaker 1: parcel of arid land that no one else wants in Nevada,

301
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,680
Speaker 1: and he has declared it in a republic. It will

302
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,280
Speaker 1: never ever get recognized internationally because it's in the United States, right,

303
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,760
Speaker 1: And that that's a perfect example, Chuck of what what

304
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:04,359
Speaker 1: Internet national recognition is? Like, imagine if China recognized the

305
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,840
Speaker 1: Republic of Milasia as an independent nation within Nevada. Can

306
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:10,520
Speaker 1: you imagine when a thumb in the eye of the

307
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,159
Speaker 1: United States, it would go nowhere. There would be nothing

308
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,880
Speaker 1: whe are the Chinese aren't gonna arm this guy? Right,

309
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,040
Speaker 1: So like that's what is going on. I mean, think

310
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:25,199
Speaker 1: about this, like American Indian tribes, Native American tribes have

311
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,800
Speaker 1: petitioned for independence and they can't get it. This guy

312
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,120
Speaker 1: in Milasie is never gonna get it. Then they were

313
00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:34,040
Speaker 1: here long before that guy. Now imagine if this were

314
00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,639
Speaker 1: serious and there there, you know, there were really huge

315
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,159
Speaker 1: like mineral rights at stake. These people were accepting arms,

316
00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,879
Speaker 1: they were warring with somebody that could pull you into

317
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,000
Speaker 1: a war. Then it starts to get like a little

318
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,359
Speaker 1: more nerve racking. But the things the exact same. People

319
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,160
Speaker 1: recognize nations just to take off other nations, to embroil

320
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,360
Speaker 1: other nations and war problems, or to show to scoff at.

321
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:03,560
Speaker 1: It's basically like another popular kid into a locker. That's

322
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 1: like recognizing a new nation that's that's often a company

323
00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,600
Speaker 1: to it and then shutting a locker. Yeah, what is

324
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,920
Speaker 1: the guy Nevada back his currency? Does he have currency

325
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,480
Speaker 1: or just he backed it with chocolate chip cookie? Go,

326
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,199
Speaker 1: And you pointed out that that's not very valid, But

327
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,680
Speaker 1: I point out I countered that, sir, and say that

328
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: I would love for things to be backed with chocolate

329
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,879
Speaker 1: chip cookie though. Well, yeah, I mean I guess I

330
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,720
Speaker 1: would too, But after a while I'd be like, I

331
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,720
Speaker 1: don't want any more money. Yeah, that's true. You eat

332
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:35,440
Speaker 1: enough cookie done, You're gonna get sick to your stomach.

333
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,640
Speaker 1: I would strongly recommend reading that Chicago Tribune UM story

334
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,920
Speaker 1: on that guy, because it is extremely interesting. It's called

335
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,520
Speaker 1: One Nation Under Me by Colleen Mustoni. Came out in

336
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,520
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight on the Republic of Malassia. Awesome.

337
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,960
Speaker 1: He is not the only wacky guy running around UM

338
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 1: with UH saying like I'm an independent nation. Um, he's

339
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:04,240
Speaker 1: actually not. I mean he's kind of serious, but not really.

340
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,080
Speaker 1: I get the impression he's half performance artists. There's a

341
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:13,399
Speaker 1: guy who founded his own nation in the sixties UM

342
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,200
Speaker 1: off the coast of Great Britain, and um it's still

343
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: around today. Seland it's an amazing story. It is. I

344
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,320
Speaker 1: think they're making it, or they talked about making a

345
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,760
Speaker 1: movie and this has been requested. In fact, I didn't

346
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,159
Speaker 1: hear about this at all until someone had requested it

347
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,119
Speaker 1: um a while ago, about six months ago. So whoever

348
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,120
Speaker 1: that was, thank you, so chuck. Apparently a World War two,

349
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: the British um made a bunch of military outposts that

350
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 1: were basically like um oil derricks or oil platforms that

351
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: weren't pumping oil. They're just stationary out in the North

352
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,960
Speaker 1: Sea off the British coast to basically shoot down German

353
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,480
Speaker 1: airplanes in case of attack. Yeah, just big almost like

354
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,600
Speaker 1: stationary aircraft carriers, right, And they tore most of them

355
00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,119
Speaker 1: down after the war, except they left one up. And

356
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,040
Speaker 1: apparently no one has any idea why this one particular

357
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,320
Speaker 1: one has left up. But it was about seven miles

358
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 1: seven nautical miles, which is like one point one something

359
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: land miles. I don't even know why they have those

360
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,639
Speaker 1: what nautical miles? Yeah, he's different in the water, buddy.

361
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,600
Speaker 1: But we hear about it um off of the coast

362
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,480
Speaker 1: of England, right, which puts it outside of the three

363
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 1: mile range of territorial waters. Remember who owns the ocean? Right? Okay,

364
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 1: So this thing is in international waters, even though the

365
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,919
Speaker 1: British built it. Roughs Tower was the name of this

366
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,560
Speaker 1: particular one. And like you said, it stayed there or

367
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,359
Speaker 1: the rest of them were abandoned and then torn down,

368
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,000
Speaker 1: and this one was just it was abandoned and left up. Yeah,

369
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 1: abandon left up. So a guy a pirate radio broadcaster,

370
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,320
Speaker 1: which at the time England was lousy with pirate radio

371
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 1: broadcasters that weren't allowed to broadcast certain things, uh in England,

372
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 1: so they'd go outside to international waters. And what Christians

373
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,840
Speaker 1: later did, it's right. And there was a movie philipsy

374
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: Moore Hoffman was just then about pirate radio. Okay, I

375
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,479
Speaker 1: believe called pirate radio. Yeah, it sounds familiar. But anyway,

376
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: this guy, English Major Patty Roy Bates was a pirate

377
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:13,680
Speaker 1: radio broadcaster who took up residents September nineteen sixty seven

378
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:19,879
Speaker 1: about six thousand square feet this platform is and said,

379
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm the Prince of Sea Land. And

380
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,360
Speaker 1: his wife just shook her head and he said, but oh,

381
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,920
Speaker 1: you're the Princess of Sea Land, so don't shake your yeah,

382
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,679
Speaker 1: and then she was down with it. And this is

383
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: the Principality of Sea Land, and we are our own

384
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,520
Speaker 1: nation and we are not a part of England, so

385
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 1: be it. Yeah, and that was pretty much how it started.

386
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:46,440
Speaker 1: So this guy, I guess the story would probably end there.

387
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 1: But this guy was bound and determined. He was dead

388
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: serious to get call him a crack pot or whatever,

389
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,879
Speaker 1: but this guy made this place right. One of the

390
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,160
Speaker 1: great crack pots though. So, uh, I guess what was that?

391
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 1: That was the nineteen sixty seven. The next year, the

392
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,639
Speaker 1: British Navy sailed into this guy's waters. They were aware

393
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, they went to fix a buoy. Is

394
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 1: that what happened? Yeah, there was uh some sort of

395
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,359
Speaker 1: buoy out there that needed maintenance, so they entered his

396
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:20,119
Speaker 1: waters air quotes and he son son Michael Actually I think, um,

397
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: this was wrong. I think his son Michaels, who fired

398
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,000
Speaker 1: warning shots in the air and got in trouble. Well,

399
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 1: you you get the attention of the navy when you

400
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: start firing shots, like for their attention, you know. Um,

401
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 1: And yeah, that was kind of a that was a

402
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: big deal back on back on the on the island

403
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: of England. Um, a lot of people were calling for

404
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 1: this guy to be court martial there, thrown in jail

405
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,000
Speaker 1: or something right. So a case was brought against him

406
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,200
Speaker 1: in the House of Commons or in the Common Court

407
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 1: right lawsuit basically, and the court ruled, we can't do anything.

408
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: This is not within our jurisdiction. It's not within English jurisdiction.

409
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,720
Speaker 1: They went sweet and through that ruling it was recognized

410
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 1: and documented that this guy had a de facto sovereign nation.

411
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 1: That's right, a court of another nation, another sovereign nation,

412
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 1: ruled that it had no jurisdiction over this place called

413
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,560
Speaker 1: seland this platform out in the ocean. So uh, seven

414
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: years later they proclaimed the constitution. They have since then

415
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: have developed a flag. They have a coat of arms

416
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 1: that's nice and it's on the flag. Um. They have

417
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: a national anthem. They have stamps. They have currency, uh,

418
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,280
Speaker 1: sea Land dollars, which are equivalent to one American dollar. Um.

419
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 1: I guess whatever the American dollar happens to be. That's

420
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,680
Speaker 1: Sea Land changes along with us. And they had passports

421
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 1: made and they gave them out to people that didn't

422
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,160
Speaker 1: sell them. There's about two hundred of them in existence,

423
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:05,400
Speaker 1: real ones today. Yes, there's five hundred times more forged

424
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 1: ones in exists right because people started to use Sealand

425
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 1: as a as like a boy to open bank account.

426
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,159
Speaker 1: They just forged these documents, and since no one had

427
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 1: ever seen him, people would say what is this and

428
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 1: then they go do some research and they'd say, oh, well, okay,

429
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,400
Speaker 1: this is a real thing, okay, and they would give

430
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 1: them the loan. August there'd be a lot of okay.

431
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: August of seventy eight. Let's flash forward a bit um

432
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: they quote unquote win a war. Uh. This guy named

433
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 1: Alexander Ackenbach who um called himself the Prime Minister of Sealand.

434
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 1: Apparently when Roy was I'm sorry, the Prince of Sealand

435
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 1: and the and the Princess were on the British mainland,

436
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:55,120
Speaker 1: he sent in um some mercenaries to take the keep

437
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,480
Speaker 1: wanting to call an island to take Seland why I

438
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,439
Speaker 1: didn't find out why, I'm not sure. To be honest,

439
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 1: I guess he was. I mean, he said he was

440
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,679
Speaker 1: a prime minister, so maybe he was trying to you know,

441
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: he had had enough of Prince Roy's iron fisted rule

442
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: or something, and he wanted to take it for himself.

443
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 1: He was tired of him strutting around, so they they

444
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,399
Speaker 1: sent these helicopters and speedboats in that was a battle.

445
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,600
Speaker 1: They kidnapped the son Michael, Yeah, this is serious, took

446
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,879
Speaker 1: Seland by force. And then Roy hears of this obviously,

447
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: he gets on it and wages a battle against uh,

448
00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:36,720
Speaker 1: these mercenaries and wins and retake sealand holds these people captive,

449
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 1: releases the Dutch there were Dutch in Germans, and charges

450
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: Achenbach with treason because he was prime Minister of sealand

451
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 1: holds him and this is this is the best part

452
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: of the whole thing. Eventually Germany sent a diplomat to

453
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: sea Land to negotiate his release, and that is used

454
00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: today still as de facto evidence because an official diplomat

455
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 1: from a country came to our country to to negotiate

456
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: with us. So that is the facto proof that we

457
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 1: are a sovereign nation. Well, it's proof two out of

458
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 1: two at least. Yeah. Although I mean, like all the

459
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,800
Speaker 1: stuff they were doing internally, like issuing passports and forming

460
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,920
Speaker 1: currency in a flag and other national treasures that um

461
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,719
Speaker 1: that um that that definitely uh suggests that their sovereign

462
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,639
Speaker 1: nation as well. Yeah, they proved they said, hey, this

463
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 1: guy recognized this, this German diplomat came here. But plus,

464
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 1: I mean not just sovereign, but that's like a war.

465
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,160
Speaker 1: They won the war, like you said, and technically, um,

466
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 1: and also that's a lot like um the mouse that roared. Yeah,

467
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 1: I thought of that same thing, man. Yeah, well, I

468
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 1: mean it's like almost exactly the same was that nineteen

469
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: fifty nine? I think the book or the movie, the

470
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,400
Speaker 1: movie with Peter Seller's David Niven. I'm sure those two

471
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,639
Speaker 1: are inseparable. What was the deal? They America declared a

472
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,679
Speaker 1: kind of a phony war on all nation, right, that

473
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 1: was like going under declared war in America that they

474
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: could surrender, not just get pressed, but so they could

475
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 1: get international aid for having lost a war with America.

476
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,320
Speaker 1: Apparently the humanitarian aid pours in. But they won, right right,

477
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: right right? I remember I read that, did you? Yeah,

478
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 1: good for you, Chuck. So uh flash forward a bit

479
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 1: more and um to nineteen seven. Uh, Britain extended territorial

480
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,800
Speaker 1: waters to twelve nautical miles. The day before Britain does this,

481
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,880
Speaker 1: Prince Roy does the same thing. So they have over

482
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 1: overlapping waters. And even though they've never negotiated anything, apparently

483
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 1: there's an understanding that it's split down the middle. When

484
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 1: this happens between countries, you do not mess with Prince Roy.

485
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 1: And understand. The other cool thing is because international law

486
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,840
Speaker 1: doesn't allow you to claim new land when you extend

487
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 1: your sea rights. It was grandfathered in and just to

488
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,920
Speaker 1: this day is still sitting there. Well it's speaking of

489
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,200
Speaker 1: to this day after forty years. Um, Prince Roy is like,

490
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 1: I'm done. I did it. He's gotta be old. He

491
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: is old. He I think he tried to give it

492
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 1: to his son. So I was like, so Prince Roy

493
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: is trying to sell it, Michael in London, He's like it. Um.

494
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 1: It started. It experienced a revival with um some investment

495
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 1: from Haveing Co Limited, which basically says, hey, we have

496
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: Internet servers on this island and they're in a sovereign nation,

497
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 1: which means they can't be shut down except you know,

498
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 1: by attack. And that attracted a lot of people who

499
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 1: like Pirate Bay, like rogue Bit, torrent Um sites mirror

500
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 1: their stuff on these servers. It's a lot like the

501
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 1: internet's version of um offshore bank accounts of the Caymans. UM.

502
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,120
Speaker 1: So the Pirate Bay was looking at selling buying it.

503
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 1: I think it's seven but fell through. As far as

504
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 1: I know, you could conceivably buy Sea Land today. Well,

505
00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 1: Pirate Bay was gonna buy it, but they found out

506
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: that was hardwood floors under the carpet, so they said, yeah, yeah, thanks,

507
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,360
Speaker 1: or they were rotted right. Yeah, so that's Sea Land

508
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,360
Speaker 1: A yeah, and it's still going strong. And I mean

509
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: they claim de facto recognition still to this day. Oh yeah,

510
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 1: well it's the sovereign country. Yeah, dude. If if Britain's like,

511
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 1: we can't mess with you, and they win a war

512
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 1: with Germany and he didn't pay into the health system,

513
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 1: Britain said, all right, you don't have to pay into

514
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,480
Speaker 1: the health system, but don't call us when you get sick.

515
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: So that's a that's a what's considered a micro nation.

516
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 1: Although I realized there are also other micro nations that

517
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,160
Speaker 1: exist only on the web. We need to do one

518
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 1: on those, I think, have we not? Alright, it's on

519
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: the list. All right, you should go do a little

520
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: more research on this. On how stuff works dot com.

521
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: You should probably check out how Do I Start My

522
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 1: Own Country for starters. There's some good links in that

523
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: article too. Um we mentioned who owns the oceans? You

524
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 1: need to know that, and then how currency Works is

525
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: probably a good one to brush up on as well. Right, Yeah,

526
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 1: go read the mouse at roared or watch it. Yeah,

527
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: do that too. You can find all that by using

528
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,320
Speaker 1: the dapper search bar at how stuff works dot com. Right,

529
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 1: I said dapper, so that triggers listener to mail today,

530
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 1: That's right? Uh, Josh, this is another update from Sarah

531
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 1: the Amazing fan. Hey Sara, we get these uh usually

532
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,880
Speaker 1: around her birthday and it gets maudlin. As everybody knows,

533
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 1: we have been keeping up with Sarah since she was eleven,

534
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 1: the amazing eleven year old fan. And Sarah's about to

535
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: turn fourteen, growing up right, not right before our eyes,

536
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 1: but right before our ears, and she just writes the

537
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: best emails. So this is from Sarah. Dear Chuck, Josh, Jerry, Frank,

538
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: the Chair, Handy Dandy microphones, and last but not least,

539
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: the Last Chance garage hat. Wow, she wrote into my hat. Wow,

540
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 1: what a year. I don't know if y'all have been

541
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 1: keeping track. I seriously doubt it, but I can dream, right,

542
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 1: But I will be turning fourteen and fifteen days on

543
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 1: the twenty four and I'm not sure when this is

544
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 1: coming out. But should be sometime around here. Not only

545
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 1: is my birthday in two weeks, but my eighth grade

546
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 1: graduation falls in the day before, meaning that my class

547
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 1: trip to six Flags by the Way, is on my birthday.

548
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 1: It smiley face. Because of the two and a half

549
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: hour to three hour drive, I'll probably be listening to

550
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 1: some epic podcast on the way. Now to the real

551
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,200
Speaker 1: topic of this email, I'm gonna share my hardcore parker experience.

552
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: After I read the blog that Chucker's posted on parkour

553
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 1: in the computer lab at school, I went on a

554
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 1: parkour rampage. Well, not really a rampage, but I just

555
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,520
Speaker 1: decided to randomly walk up to things, jump next to them,

556
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:42,240
Speaker 1: and say Parkour. When I did a Parker jump next

557
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: to one of my friends, she goes, do you watch

558
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: The Office? Apparently there was an episode where some of

559
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 1: the characters went on a park or rampage similar to mine.

560
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 1: I decided to look it up and found that it

561
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 1: was really hilarious. You may want to start a Parker

562
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: club right there at how Stuff Works dot com. After

563
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 1: we watch The Way, too fat old for that. Yeah,

564
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 1: we've learned that this week. Uh so that's she says,

565
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 1: ha ha, ha, well, loving rockets, Sarah the amazing thirteen

566
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 1: almost fourteen year old fan. That is awesome. And she

567
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 1: made a Daniel Ashe reference there at the end with

568
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,600
Speaker 1: loving rockets. I don't even know she meant that, but

569
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 1: I think it's an adorable way to sign an email

570
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 1: for Well, it's Sarah. She's adorable all over. Absolutely, Sarah,

571
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,960
Speaker 1: Happy happy birthday. We're so glad you've been growing up

572
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,800
Speaker 1: with us. We appreciate you. You stay safe parkouring out there,

573
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,520
Speaker 1: Please do have fun at six Plagues. Be careful on

574
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: the roller coasters, you know they make me nervous. And um,

575
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 1: well we'll stay Happy birthday againding next year. Okay, absolutely

576
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: all right. If you have a flag, if you have

577
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,560
Speaker 1: a name of a country, if you have any ideas

578
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 1: for starting your own country, we want to hear about them.

579
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 1: You can post them on our Facebook page. That is

580
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: stuff you should know. After slash, after dot com, after Facebook,

581
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: after you w W, after slash, after slash, after a colon,

582
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 1: after a P, after T, and after an H. Right,

583
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 1: do that in reverse order in the U R L

584
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 1: bar anywhere and it's gonna take you to our Facebook page.

585
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,120
Speaker 1: You can also reach us on Twitter at s y

586
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,719
Speaker 1: s K podcast, and you can send us regular old

587
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:28,720
Speaker 1: fashioned email to Stuff Podcast at how stuff works dot com.

588
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,320
Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff

589
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we

590
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:40,520
Speaker 1: explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow, brought

591
00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,760
Speaker 1: to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready,

592
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:44,359
Speaker 1: are you