The Nounish Professor
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I had a plan. I was going to reflect on my time at FarCon and upack what I learned and experienced. But then the Sultan entered the chat. So I detour the unpacking to share how I bought a Congressional seat for my birthday in state 13 of The United Territories of The Sovereign Nation of The People’s Republic of Slowjamastan.
I know what you’re thinking….
1) What
OK let’s rewind a couple days to when the newly minted Governor of Feeshissippi, the 12th state of The United Territories of The Sovereign Nation of The People’s Republic of Slowjamastan, shared that there was one more state available for claiming, to which the community that has developed around The Real Good News Show came together and decided to grab the last state.
Unfortunately, that last territory became unobtainable so a deal was negotiated with the Sultan and the Governor of Feeshissippi to divide Feeshissippi into two states, one to be named later by the Real Good crew, creating the Bunk Bed States.
The United Territories of the Sovereign Nation of the People’s Republic of Slowjamastan meets the criteria for a nation-state as defined by the 1933 Montevideo Convention.
So wtf is Slowjamastan?
Slowjamastan is a miconation founded by His Excellency, Randy “R Dub!” Williams, Sultan of Slowjamastan in the California desert, accessible from California Highway 78, 70 miles from San Diego. The Sultan has visited all 193 countries around the world so why not found your own?
As CNN reported, “Two years on, and while the Sultan of Slowjamastan has instigated more than a few bizarre laws (he’s outlawed the wearing of Crocs, for example), the Republic also has all the trappings of a fledgling nation-state. It issues its own passports, flies its own flag, prints its own currency (“the duble”), and has a national anthem that’s played on state occasions.
The Republic of Slowjamastan even claims over 500 registered citizens, while 4,500 more are said to have been conditionally approved or are waiting in line for citizenship. Now that Williams is set to complete his lifetime goal of visiting every country in the world, he’s inviting tourists to visit the Republic of Slowjamastan as he plans to create the world’s foremost “micronation.”
So wtf is a miconation?
Gonna just straight up go to Wikipedia on this one:
“A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified separately from de facto states and quasi-states; they are also not considered to be autonomous nor self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence.”
Funny enough, this isn’t my first experience with a micronation. I moved to the Conch Republic – aka the Florida Keys – in 2001 and have even celebrated Conch Republic Days. Technically this was considered a protest micronation. It occurred in 1982 in response to the US Border Patrol requiring a border check to enter or leave the Keys, leading to a 17 mile backup. So in protest the Florida Keys seceded from the Union, hit the Coast Guard with stale Cuban bread, and then demanded foreign aid. Yes, this might be the only miconation created due to a traffic jam. I’ve flown the Conch Republic flag for many years. Clearly this type of weirdness attracts me.
But the to be named state 13 of the Republic of Slowjamastan actually has the opportunity to be a Network State.
So wtf is a Network State? (and if you’re thinking wtf is a DAO, I just can’t with that right now so Google away).
So for those nounsfolk who know me well, you can already see where this is going. (I think Chris Co-Created could write the rest of this post lol.) A while back, we had a book club to chat about The Network State and how it might apply to NounsDAO. So of course when this all bubbled up, I immediately went to that thought and of course launching a DAO on Nouns.Build.
The concept of a Network State has been explored by Balaji Srinivasan. The Network State in One Informal Sentence:
A network state is a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.
Yup, that pretty much sums up the Bunk Bed States of The Sovereign Nation of The People’s Republic of Slowjamastan, except for that whole diplomatic recognition part. But we’ll get there. So we need a DAO to manage this insanity, right?
But there is a twist here – the Governors of the Bunk Bed States are not very DAO friendly. They don’t know it yet, but they pretty much are already acting like a DAO – we just haven’t put any tools in place for operating as such. But if ever there was a good story to be told of a nounish DAO, this is it. So we’ll step back and watch as this organically unfolds.
Wait, but Prof – what about the Crocs?
Ah yes, the Crocs! The law around Crocs might be the undoing of state 13 as there is already a rumbling from some who take issue with this particular law of Slowjamastan:
Crocs are not allowed inside the Republic of Slowjamastan
Punishment for violation: We will forcibly remove a “Croc” and beat you over the head with it.
I take no issue with this law, in fact I applaud it, and agree that this atrocious footwear should be outlawed. But others seem to like these monstrosities. And thus, a skirmish erupted on the bird app, including an appearance by the Sultan. It’s clear we have a bit of a generation gap.
But really, it’s day 2 and this crew is already getting warnings from the Sultan. Over Crocs.
There are other important laws of note in the Republic of Slowjamastan, all of which I will unpack individually in future posts. But I did want to highlight this one as I do believe it to be critical:
“Mumble Rap” is not permitted to be played publicly.
Punishment for violation: You will be assigned to listen to full-length albums from real hip-hop artists, including (but not limited to) L.L. Cool J, De La Soul, Kool Moe Dee, A Tribe Called Quest and Queen Latifah. You’ll then be required to submit a 500-word (minimum) report to show your understanding and comprehension of the differences between true hip-hop and mumble rap.
On more than one occasion I have educated my child on quality hip-hop, including the artists above. For those who are unschooled, please review my playlist: Older than Hip Hop (because I am)
I’m leaning into the absurdity.
I am officially a member of Congress of the state 13 of The Sovereign Nation of The People’s Republic of Slowjamastan. I have no idea where this is all going but I can guarantee the ride is going to be hilarious. And there will be no Crocs, except nounish crocs.
18
The next phase of the wondrous craziness that is Goodlandia in Slowjamastan. I actually wrote about this a while back if you want to learn more about how this came to be. https://paragraph.xyz/@nounishprof/thesultanentersthechat