Many of us, led by db and Kh, have been debating the subject of immigration. I would love to see America get back to her pre-1913 roots, but for numerous reasons, I think that such effort is a waste of time and resources.

Freedomforall, in response to my suggestion that America sell its "government land" to pay down at least part of its debt, asked if such a sale could include the right to secede.

That prompted me to consider the possibility of buying land from debt-ridden countries (some of which are experiencing hyperinflation) at rockbottom prices, with autonomy being required as a condition of purchase. As debt piles up all around the world, there will be some opportunities along these lines for vultures like myself to come scavenge the debris. Perhaps an island off the Venezuelan coast with some nearby oil? In our previous discussions about a physical Gulch, our premise had been to buy land that the nearby government would largely ignore based on its track record of freedom (or lack thereof). That may be the wrong premise to work from. Why should we not provide a value for value trade in their time of desperation? The question then is how long do we wait. The price for the land in such desperate countries should continue to go down, but the conditions in our own countries might get bad enough that we could get trapped by 10-289.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Thailand are working toward the development of micronations off their coasts. Interestingly, Google is developing the first such island. The linked article describes some of the first work along these lines.