A frequent criticism of micronations is that we're "just playing" because we're "not real nations". Well, that's actually a good thing, in my opinion.
In order to explain why, I'm going to start with a quote from Belle of the Ranch (YouTube), who often states, "Nations don't have friends, they have interests." In other words, nations are always looking for a competitive advantage, and that drives who they ally with. Micronations, on the other hand, are not competing with each other (for the most part they don't have shared economies, they aren't claiming the same land, and they aren't competing for other resources, except maybe citizens), and therefore self-interest does not drive which other micronations they maintain relations with.
Thus, a micronation is free to choose its "friends" using any criteria it likes, including shared interests, shared beliefs, or even just shared experiences (such as MicroCon!). It's because of this that I've formed a number of good friendships through the micronational community - since I am not wondering what another micronational ruler is trying to gain from me, I don't have to second-guess every word and gesture in a conversation.
Of course, that's also why Slabovia doesn't bother signing "recognition treaties" with other micronations - there's no need for them in our view. Your micronation exists (in our eyes) from the moment you declare it, and it will continue to exist until it explicitly doesn't - i.e. you state (for whatever reason) that you're wrapping it up or subsuming it in another micronation or whatever. Arguably, your micronation continues to exist even after you've departed this world, as long as there's someone around to remember it.
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| A centrepiece of micronational flags MicroCon 2019 |
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