Who Founds Micronations?

If one superficially studies the many micronations that exist, it is easy to reach the conclusion that micronations are founded by single individuals.

The facts, however, are a little less obvious. Micronations may be founded by one or two individuals, but they don’t really become micronations through the efforts of the founder(s).

As Yoko Ono once put it, “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” A micronation is not a single person’s achievement or property, but a shared achievement, and at best the property of the children of those who started dreaming, but also working hard together.

Yes, work. A micronation may start because of a common belief, or because of people who know each other and spend time together, but it doesn’t really become something genuinely compelling to the point it begins to establish a culture, and in the longer term a history, unless natural institutions are born from the micronation.

The natural institution is usually not an association in micronations with a certain lifespan, as these usually involve little or no work, and is usually not some prefabricated government agency, as these in the beginning are completely artificial. No, associations and government agencies actually evolve later. The natural institution may be a church, or maybe an organisation offering a product or service, but it is always something that people do together with enthusiasm and pride.

A micronation may be started by a male or a female, and sometimes it may be started by a minor, but a minor or a single individual does not ultimately determine a micronational culture or history. It takes two to tango, but it takes at least three and usually more to give birth to a micronation.