Micronationalism to the Layman

What is a micronation?

One of the most common questions asked of a micronationalist is what a micronation even is, as public perception has not seemed to have yet had micronations in the public consciousness, but why would it when national and international news rarely pays a cursory glance to the activity? The hardship of the like that most will face with this question is how to come across as serious in the activity, as it is serious for many, but to also not come off as a gun-toting libertarian who is holding a revolution. The most common answer to this question from experience in this has been to simply say a “self-declared independent state” but this is not a fully accurate depiction, as South Ossetia is as well a self-declared independent state but it is a separatist revolution from Georgia, nowhere near to Molossia who as well falls under this definition, which is nowhere near to building border fences to arrest people who go near them and enforcing strict law within its land by the support of a foreign state against the US. We asked Kevin Baugh his opinions on what makes a micronation a micronation, and sent a few questions via email:

Q: What do you consider to be a micronation?

A: A micronation is a tiny, self-declared nation, unrecognized by other, established nations.

Q: What to you is the main thing that separates a micronation from a separatist movement?

A: Micronations tend to lack the militancy of separatist movements. While both have the trappings of nationhood, separatist movements are often willing to fight (actually, not virtually) for their sovereignty than are micronations.

Q: How broad do you consider the term "micronation"?

A: I think it's rather broad, mostly in the definition of what makes a nation. Micronations take all kinds of forms, based on the vision of their creator. They can have territory, no territory, national symbols or none, many citizens or few, and so on. Just about anything under the sun can apply to a micronation, and I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Q: What is your personal definition of a micronation?

A: Well, I think I kind of mentioned that above.

Q: Why do you think micronationalism is a good activity?

A: I think it's a good activity because it allows the micronationalist to use their imagination and creativity, and explore what makes a nation. Nations are complex, complicated things and micronationalists apply imagination to many of those aspects, and interpret them their own way.

Q: How in depth do you think that a micronationalist should detail when speaking to a person not involved in it?

A: That depends on the audience. Some people "get" micronations and you could explain for hours about your nation to these folks. Other people do not "get" micronations, and it's kind of a waste of time to explain to them. For those folks, they might see it as a libertarian project, but often it's best to just change the subject.

Q: Do you have any things on the topic of what is a micronation that isn't covered by these questions?

A: Just that I think the world of micronations is amazing, creative and often exciting. It's great fun to learn about all the many micronations out there and interact with them, and I look forward to seeing what might come next!

How does one do micronationalism?

Micronationalism is a very broad activity, so it can be done in many ways, many different things fall under micronationalism. So the question that someone may ask regarding how one may do it, which can be hard to answer, which is why it is so much more important to discuss it, as avoiding the many trappings of making mistakes in micronationalism can be highly beneficial. In truth there is no one single way to do micronationalism seemingly, but some ways are liked more than others. Through a look in public consideration more offten than not people have been against simulationism, the creation of a partially or entirely fictitious state, as a part of micronationalism. This seems to be because some micronationalists can feel it underappreciated their work in the field of it since it makes it more akin in their mind to playing pretend.