Review of “How to Start a New Country”

Photo by Nastya Sensei

Photo by Nastya Sensei

Dr. Balaji S. Srinivasan presents a novel concept of Cloud Countries in his 9 April 2021 essay titled “How to Start a New Country”. While there is no doubt that there are communities which exist only online, the question of creating a political entity starting with a digital community is not commonly discussed in the workaday world. Srinivasan balances historical precedent, technological advancement, and social tendencies to establish the possibility of a new type of polity: Cloud Countries.

Srinivasan provides the reader with a brief overview of seven ways to start a new country. The first six - Election, Revolution, War, Micronations, Seasteading, and Space Colonization - have been a part of broader public discourse. The first three could be considered traditional and the last three more contemporary. The novel county-creating method introduced by Dr. Srinivasan in this essay is the idea of Cloud Countries.

Cloud Countries are proposed as the preferred method and based on the concept of “cloud first, land last”. The formation of an online digital community would be the first step toward such an entity. Cloud Countries would form based around interactions in digital space using upcoming, readily available technology (such as VR). Srinivasan draws a playful analogy to LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing Game) and discusses how such a “feat of imagination practiced by large numbers of people at the same time” can be incredibly powerful, suggesting cryptocurrency as an example.

Cloud first, land last can seem very counter-intuitive at first. It goes against what humankind has traditionally done for as long as history has been written (and arguably longer). The question to ask, then, is what would be the problems of a cloud first, land last country or civilization?

One could argue that many of the problems a cloud-based country would run into are likely the inverse of those faced by territory-based countries. Cloud-based countries would be composed of people who opted-in because of a shared ideology, rather than shared location. Territory-based countries are made up of people who are within a certain proximity, but may have drastically different ideologies.

When ideologies differ too much internally, the result is sometimes revolution and violence (i.e., the US Civil War, the French Revolution, and many others throughout history). However, ideology is only part of what holds polities together, there is also an internal physical dependence. Human-beings are physical, and regardless of ideology we all have basic physical needs such as food, water, and shelter.  When a country is based on contiguous territory, it is arguably easier to create and maintain the baseline requirements for a population, and particularly to maintain and distribute them in the face of a disaster.

Dr. Srinivasan’s Cloud Country vision would be of a polity that achieves both numerical and societal definitions of a country (outlined in his essay). I think it’s safe to assume that his vision would be of a country that is also resilient. In order for a country on Planet Earth to persist through time, it must be able to withstand both natural and humanitarian disasters. The method of territory acquisition and occupation proposed in the article creates a vulnerability that could result in reduced resilience of a Cloud Country.


re•sil•i•ence

n. the quality of being able to return quickly to a previous good condition after problems


Dr. Srinivasan proposes a “reverse diaspora” in which territory would be acquired by a Cloud Country, but “not necessarily contiguous territory”.

There are at least three characteristics which increase a country’s resilience that would be limited or made impossible without at least one large swath of contiguous territory owned by a Cloud Country. It is these three items that need to be more thoroughly addressed in order to establish if a Cloud Country could be resilient and, therefore, persist throughout time:

  1. Self-sustaining agricultural production.

  2. Adequate natural resources.

  3. A baseline of internal supply chains.

Self-sustaining agricultural production. As mentioned before, humans are physical beings that have physical needs. Food and water are chief among these. While it is possible the acquire food and water from other countries (this is currently done) one could pose that the stability and independence of a nation is heavily dependent on that nations ability to feed its peoples.

Adequate natural resources. Natural resources are highly undervalued in today’s society and go hand-in-hand with self-sustaining agricultural production. In the US, it’s rare for people to ponder where all their building supplies are sourced (often forests and mines within the US). Whole economies are built around natural resource management, extraction, development, etc. This includes recreation and conservation efforts as well as mining and timber harvesting. While there are plenty of skill sets with a high market value that are not related to natural resources on the surface (say architecture) they are often linked in other ways.

A baseline of internal supply chains. Supply chains are another wildly undervalued piece of society. They appear invisible, especially if you live in a well-stocked city. One observation that most people could make during the beginning stages of the pandemic is that not having well established internal supply chains is a vulnerability. Most people did not suffer dramatically in the US - toilet paper and cleaning supplies ran out in many locations, but deaths were generally caused by the virus not the breakdown in supply chains. But if we were to scale the supply chain breakdown, what could have happened? People could have starved. If water distribution broke down people could have died of common diseases or thirst. When electricity went out in Texas at least 111 people died.

I would therefore argue that a Cloud Country’s resilience will suffer to the degree that its citizens are dependent on surrounding countries’ agricultural production, supply chains, and natural resources.

For example, if a natural or humanitarian disaster to occur, the Cloud Country’s pockets (distributed throughout the world) would be dependent on other country’s agricultural production, supply chains, natural resources, and governments to survive the event. Such dependence would reduces the Cloud Country’s individual resilience and would also likely serve as a barrier to achieving societal recognition.

The most obvious solution to this problem would be for Cloud Countries work toward acquiring contiguous territory. There are likely other, better solutions and I feel these are very much worth discussing as well.

You can read Dr. Balaji S. Srinivasan’s whole essay on 1729.com/how-to-start-a-new-country.

What to do with your Christmas Tree, after the holidays

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1. Check with your city / local recycling center

This happens to be a really easy task for me personally, even though I live in a one bedroom apartment, because Denver is totally prepared to take and use Christmas Trees. They have a Treecycling program where you can place your tree on your curbside or drop it off at one of their two facilities. The Christmas trees will be used to create mulch and compost for Denver's annual Mulch Giveaway and Compost Sale.

2. Check For federal programs

Tell City Ranger District employees prepare to install recycled fish habitat in an Indiana lake. Photo © U.S. Forest Service on USDA Flickr

Tell City Ranger District employees prepare to install recycled fish habitat in an Indiana lake. Photo © U.S. Forest Service on USDA Flickr

There are dozens of state and federal programs around the country that collect Christmas trees and use them for habitat improvement and restoration projects.0

For example, the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers submerge and anchor Christmas trees to the bottom of selected ponds to provide habitat for juvenile fish.

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Rather than submerging trees to create underwater habitat, they can also be placed along stream banks to stop erosion and help restore degraded stream banks.

3. Winter Mulch

Check to see if there is a tree recycling events where you can bring your live tree and have it be shred down to natural mulch that you can take home and use in your garden.

If shredding your tree isn’t an option, you can break off the needles, cut the branches into small pieces and use it as much. You could also use limbs to cover your garden beds, protecting them from frost.

Don't Underestimate the Big 4

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Since I’ve started living in St. Croix, a place which is beautiful, but has practically no recycling, I’ve had a bit more of a struggle keeping up with my own zero waste goals. However, it has given me a whole new appreciation how important eliminating those first few disposables from your life is: Plastic Bags, Water Bottles, Straws, To-Go Coffee Cups, and napkins.

Though I’ve had to make constant compromises when it comes to waste here, I have been able to stay away (mostly) from these items, and that alone has absolutely made a huge difference in my waste production.

So here’s a little review of the BIG 4 - even if you have no intentions of going zero waste, eliminating these can make a huge difference!

1. Plastic Bags

The no-brainer! We see reusable bags all over the place now, which is awesome. The hardest part here is simply remembering your reusable bags. I tend to keep a few in my car, one stuffable one in my bag, and the rest right by the door of our apartment. Usually this means I don’t go to the store empty handed.

I brought one stuffable one here to St. Croix, and that combined with my large purse has kept me covered here!

2. reusable water bottle

In most locations here on St. Croix, rainwater is collected via cistern and used for bathing and washing, but generally not for drinking. There’s also many historic buildings, from which the tap water is not drinkable. These realities result in most locations using jug water dispensers and a supply plastic cups, including my own office!

But having a reusable water bottle has kept me both hydrated (as long as I remember to drink from it!) and zero waste with regards to water. I prefer stainless steel water bottles, mostly because of their durability and ability to be endlessly recycled.

3. Straws

This one is the most simple, but somehow it feels like you have the least control over it!

When you are out at a restauraunt or bar or wherever else you could possible get a straw, just as for “no straw, please” with your drink orders. You will get looks of annoyance, confusion, begrudging respect, excitement, & I’ve even gotten a free drink out of it before (coffee)!

I’ve also had many a waiter, waitress, bartender, etc. put a straw in my drink, realize the mistake, (sometimes) make direct eye contact with me, take the straw out, and subsequently throw it away. AH!

All of this can feel a wee bit frustrating, and I get it. I’ve found the best attitude to have is to just try your hardest. If you ask for no straw and one comes, don’t freak out. Just keep on keepin’ on!

Also sometimes carrying your own straws helps servers remember / understand wtf you’re asking for. There are so many options out there: stainless steel / silicone, bamboo, glass, potentially things I don’t know about! So find whatever works best for you and go for it!

4. reusable Coffee Mugs

So, my partner worked at Starbucks in the mountains for a bit, before my zero waste days. I used to hop off the bus and pickup a free chai latte for myself on my way to work in the morning. Admittedly, almost always in a to-go coffee cup. Single use. Not recyclable. I don’t even want to think of how many of those stupid freaking cups I’ve thrown away.

However, that was just because he would have them pre-made for me. I’ve been bringing my own tea and coffee around and having mugs filled since I was in high school. I just wasn’t thinking about it quite as analytically as I do now.

Anyway, the only person I’ve had refuse to fill my coffee mug was a Delta flight attendant who was being a complete a**hole must have been having a bad day. Almost any coffee shop will ablige no problem, and often give you a small discount for your efforts!

I love both Hydroflask and Klean Kanteen’s to-go coffee options. I’ve also used my Klean Kanteen tumbler for alcoholic drinks many a time at festivals and other events - keeps my drinks nice and cool even in the summer heat!

My dutiful Hydroflask kept my coffee warm all night in the field on Buck Island, monitoring mama sea turtles!

My dutiful Hydroflask kept my coffee warm all night in the field on Buck Island, monitoring mama sea turtles!