Last Saturday I had a gig at the Liberpulco conference near Liberland. I sang three of my songs about Bitcoin and Libertarianism: Honey Badger Don’t Care, Human Action and my new single Bitcoin Bull Run.
The latter fits especially well, as in its chorus I sing “I’d rather live in Liberland than in Sweden”. If you haven’t heard of it yet: Liberland is a new state that was founded in April 2015 on a piece of land between Croatia and Serbia that is claimed by neither country. So it was no man’s land before Vit Jedlička, a Czech libertarian, declared the 7 square kilometres on the banks of the Danube to be the Free Republic of Liberland.
Vit’s goal is to create the freest state in the world, based on the principles of libertarianism. Government is minimal, taxes are voluntary, voting is done by Blockchain technology. People who either pay voluntary taxes or perform other meaningful work for Liberland receive a token called Liberland Merit, which defines the weight of their vote in elections.
The reason why the area also known as Gornja Siga is neither claimed by Croatia nor by Serbia is a border dispute between the nations, which formerly were part of Yugoslavia, before it split up in the 1990s. Serbia maintains that the centre line of the Danube forms the border between the two countries, while Croatia claims that the border runs along the boundaries of the cadastral municipalities along the river, which reflect the course of the Danube in the 19th century, before hydraulic engineering works altered its course. Therefore, neither Croatia nor Serbia consider Liberland to be part of their territory.
In the past, Croatia has prevented people from entering the country. Vit Jedlicka and other activists have been arrested several times. However, the situation seems to be changing. Liberland is now open to all holders of a Schengen passport. Liberland’s neighbouring countries seem to understand that the country could become a very attractive location for innovative companies due to its favourable tax system and free market economy. More than 800,000 people have applied for Liberland citizenship, and around 1,500 have been accepted.
I have met Vit Jedlička many times at several occasions, e.g. at the Latin American Bitcoin Conference in Buenos Aires and BTC Prague, and I totally support his project, but I have never made it to Liberland myself. Well, technically speaking, I still haven’t yet, as the Liberpulco conference took place in ARK Village, a beautiful Liberland satellite in Serbia, a few kilometres downstream from Liberland on the River Danube.
Around 250 Libertarians and Anarchists from all around the world gathered at ARK village to listen to inspiring talks and to celebrate Liberland and the birthday of its president. For the second time, Liberpulco was organised in cooperation with the Anarchopulco conference, which takes place every year in Mexico. I had the honour to sing my songs after the speech of Anarchapulco’s founder Jeff Berwick and before the one by President Jedlička.
It was my first time at an anarchist conference, and I was pleasantly surprised that many of the talks dealt with rather spiritual topics, such as self-development, quantum healing and similar things that I would not have expected in this context. Many people wrongly associate anarchism with bombings, destruction and chaos, but most anarchists are actually very peaceful, considerate people.
It was enlightening for me to see that I am not the only one interested in spirituality as well as politics and economics. Before Liberpulco, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to release songs about mindfulness, Buddhism and quantum physics, as well as songs about Bitcoin and libertarianism. Now I know that these topics go well together.
Although I disagreed with some of the speakers on their political views (I like to say: We agree to disagree!), I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and was thrilled with the audience’s response to my songs. My song ‘Bitcoin Bull Run’ will be released on 26 September. I hope you enjoy it as much as the audience at Liberpulco did!
