Freedonia

Firefly: That's a good idea. You can wash your neck, too.

I would say he was awfully taxing rather than tiresome, but have you ever thought of that place many dream for? A place a little bit closer to Heaven, a place where statism reigns not and liberty is proclaimed across the land?

Let me take you now to my anarcho-capitalist Freedonia. It is a pleasant land, bejewelled with placid blue lakes, bedecked with white-capped mountains and babbling with verdant brooks. But let's cut the flowery prose and get to the point, they have a tax burden of 5% and dropping as the powers that be see the continuing fruit of their wholesale privatisations and monetarist reforms.

What makes Freedonia interesting is not so much how a libertarian nation is run but the fact that it is bordered by several statist nations including the grievous Sylvania which delights in coshing its citizens for 55% of their GDP each burdensome year. Relations between Freedonia and these socialist neighbours are somewhat strained as events shall unfold.

How Freedonia began to emerge from the darkness of statism is a tale for another day, but suffice to say that its good citizens came to their senses and ousted the political ruling class in a relatively bloodless manner as befits a non-coercive system of practise. As it happens, the last few years have been somewhat akin to the pains of a mother travailing in birth as a handsome and healthy child is brought forth to the wonderment of the political world. The various class actions brought against the now rather small and decentralised authorities of Freedonia bring into sharp relief what was then as opposed to what is now.

Consider the class action of the elderly who demand that somebody – anybody – makes good on pre...

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...ot only is the best and bright talent heading off to sunnier fiscal climates but the companies are uprooting and following them as well! These events cease not to leave the debating chambers of their parliament as demands are made by lobby groups and trade unions to do something about it. One may assume unemployment is increasing in Sylvania but it is not yet. A person emigrating to Freedonia will have their position refilled, but the companies beginning to relocate there are beginning to affect the desperate attempts of the Sylvanian government to fill the gaps with State-controlled startups. The most noticeable thing is the gradual population shift and the superior quality of the workforce leaving which drives down replacement wages and tax revenues. Sylvania is borrowing heavily, needless to say. How this pans out in the next few years is a subject for another day.