A man in Nevada along with dozens of other people have established what's
referred to as micronations within the United States.
Which isn't really a thing and they still have to abide by state and local laws and
federal laws, but nonetheless, let's go into fantasy land and
talk about what they're up to.
It all started in 1977 when a 15 year old Kevin Baugh and
his childhood best friend James Spielman.
Watched The Mouse That Roared a satirical 1959 movie about
a tiny fictional nation waging war on the US.
I was struck by the imagination and creativity of that said the 60
year old who asked to be referred to as your excellency or
President Baugh during a phone interview with insider.
>> No [LAUGH].
>> So it's good to have land as Stewie famously said in family guy,
keep that in mind as I continue with this story.
Four decades later, Baugh says that he lost contact with his friend,
but his own personal miniature country lives on.
He established his own miniature country that has really no power.
But nonetheless, let's continue.
>> It has some power.
>> Not really, no.
He served in the army in the 1990s before settling in Nevada with his family.
And around that time he started taking this whole micronation thing seriously.
And so now Baugh is the self proclaimed benevolent
dictator of the Republic of Malaysia.
[LAUGH] A one acre micro nation with a population of 35 in
the Northwestern Nevada desert, otherwise known as I bought land and
I have some control over the land I bought.
>> [LAUGH] He's got, well too, okay, look.
So, first I was gonna say he's got 35 people there, that's actually not there.
>> That just his family members.
>> Yeah, and they're counting three dogs.
So it's actually 32 humans.
Okay.
I don't know the dogs are know that their citizens of Malaysia.
>> Malaysia.
>> I got to get used to it.
Of course I wanna go by the way, you know what the biggest.
>> You wanna go really?
>> Of course I do.
>> It looks like a hoot.
It really does.
>> Me and Dave Koehler and the other guys,
we're gonna have the time of our lives there.
It turns out by the way, the top business industry in Malaysia
is tourism 200 people a year ago to see what the hell it is.
>> Just also like 35 people, which by the way,
that number as you mentioned, includes three dogs in one acre of land.
Sounds like hell.
>> [LAUGH] And so this story gets better and
better wait till you know what it was before he turned into Malaysia.
Can't say it, sorry, the good citizens of Malaysia.
>> Malaysia.
>> So it is only one acre, but he says for the tourists, don't worry,
it only takes an hour and a half to do visit all the sites,
an hour and a half ago, around one acre.
>> [LAUGH] What is like, what do you do instead, Nevada desert,
okay, but I don't know why I'm being so bitter about this.
There's really no need, it's just that everything is about branding,
everything is about branding.
But if you strip the branding out of it, the whole micronation branding,
it's just a guy who owns an acre of land in Nevada and
he feels like he's the king of the castle because he bought that acre of land.
But he has no control over like state and local law, federal law and
in fact he says himself, yeah we follow the federal laws and stuff like.
And we also make sure that everyone who lives in our little micronation
is a citizen of the United States.
Like we haven't forced people to denounce.
Yeah dual citizenship.
No one has denounced their US citizenship.
Is he not merciful?
So you're just a dude who owns like an acre of land and
you literally have dozens of your own family member living in said acre of land
which again already sounds like hell.
But then it's also in the Nevada desert which makes it temperature wise feel
like hell.
I just I don't.
[LAUGH] Why is this fun?
This isn't fun.
>> Hold on.
They got a navy.
>> What do you love about him?
>> Okay, so let's listen.
>> I don't love the guy.
The whole ideas is dumb.
>> Yeah. Look I almost don't want anybody else
doing but it's super fun.
So first of all they're at war and that's tragic and
we'll get back to that in a second.
You're gonna love who they're at war with and they have a navy,
we'll get back to that too.
But first, yeah.
Okay, fine.
It might be the desert, but they have a navy.
But first I wanna tell you the thing that he tried before Malaysia.
Okay, I can't say it.
Okay, so let's go to graphic for, I love this part, for a short period
afterward after he first formed it, it was ruled as a communist dictatorship.
Baugh said that the communist iconography the micronation used riled up the locals.
So he decided to turn Malaysia into a capitalist military dictatorship and
he dresses like a capitalist like dictator, right.
But the hilarious thing is the locals are like, that's totally fine.
[LAUGH] Delinquent communist.
We don't want any communist around here.
Maybe you're trying to help your capitalist dictator.
Great, no problem.
He's in the local floats.
[LAUGH] The fact that they were mad at him when his like non existent
micronation was communist is hilarious.
It's hilarious.
And I liked that he wanted to start his communist because he's like, well,
we're trying to take care of everybody here, right.
So I thought we'd be communist, right?
But people didn't like it.
So I returned to being a dictator.
>> I feel like most households, which I guess under these definitions,
you could consider micronations are usually communist in the way they operate.
>> Yeah.
To some degree because the parents have to do everything they possibly can and
usually take as little as they can possibly take and give to the kids.
That is pretty communist.
Come to think of it.
I never thought about it that way.
Okay, now I'm beginning to wonder, okay.
>> So in other words this is all just branding but continue.
>> Okay.
All right look look they're a real loss here.
I love this.
>> You love this? >> Okay, I'm secretly gonna do it.
Okay but not at all.
Secret.
Okay, graphic seven.
I can pass whatever laws Sienna.
As long as I don't offend a bigger country around me because you don't wanna make
them mad, which is true of a lot of countries, by the way.
You can have your own money, your own stamps,
your own whatever customs holidays, things like that.
So it's really fun and they do and so they have their own currency.
They have even their own time zone which I'm gonna explain the second,
which is awesome.
But look the people that live there are totally into it and
they like making up their own laws and they treat them like laws do they actually
put anybody in prison if they break the law?
Probably not, right.
>> We should be able to do it though.
Yeah. >> No let's not do that.
Okay. But
as long as you're creating new rituals and stuff, that's great.
Why not?
All right.
Number eight, the time zone is 39 minutes ahead of Pacific Standard Time and
21 minutes behind mountain standard time using the unique and
nonsensical Kokintz system.
Of course.
>> Obviously.
>> Measurements based lengths on the size of balls, hand and
volume relative to the size of a diet Pepsi cans.
Okay.
The currency it's not cookie dough.
It's tracking based on cookie dough prices.
Okay so they got this whole thing worked out and they go by.
They really do.
>> I mean look we used to base the value of our currency on the gold standard and
now it's based on nothing.
It's just based on the Federal Reserve pumping out as much money as it wants.
Their currency is actually linked to be honest.
Their currency makes more sense than our currency.
>> Does you see all of a sudden we're learning something from Malaysia.
>> Thank you.
>> But if you think Malaysia is a bad name you'll be happy to
know it's way better than what it used to be originally.
It was called the Grand Republic of Volts Stein.
>> I like that better.
>> Volts Stein sounds vulgar.
>> Yeah.
>> [LAUGH] Okay well that's a different thing.
That's a different micronation if you want that.
Originally Spielman was the king.
His buddy grew up and decided not to do anything as a regular person.
Okay.
Baugh was the prime minister before he turned into a dictator,
which to be affair was really forced upon him by the locals.
And so they do have a navy, it's inflatable kayaks and
they do take him to Lake Tahoe every once in a while.
>> To do their trainings of course.
>> Yeah, they're doing trainings.
I love this guy.
>> Yeah. Look,
I gotta say I was being super negative towards this story really.
And then you guys showed that picture and he looks lovely and
he looks like a lot of fun.
That's why I love the guy.
Okay.
Like I love the sinner, I hate the Sin Jake.
No, I just hate that's the thing.
They're not micronations.
It's just a guy who bought land and you get to like make decisions about what your
household is like, that's just called life.
[LAUGH] He just has more fun with it than other people do.
But like look what, okay, what do I fantasize about the most?
I fantasize about one day owning an acre of land myself, not to create or
branded as a micronation, but just to feel like I live far away from everyone else.
Like I want a grand total of two people living on that acre of land.
>> Okay, but what if we call it Casper Ville.
>> You can call it whatever you want, I call it freedom.
>> Okay.
I thought of a disastrous name for my nation.
You Christen.
>> Would Charlie be considered one of the people?
>> According to Baugh's laws,
but you don't have to follow Baugh's laws sounds hilarious.
[LAUGH] You create your own Casper laws.
Okay, don't worry about Baugh's laws.
>> Okay, then let's fantasize about what kind of laws we would have in our own
micronation.
Definitely but
first I want to tell the good people who he's at war with because I promised.
>> Important. >> And look,
you can go to u turn disastrous.
So they have been at war with mustache [LAUGH].
>> Honestly?
Good.
>> Okay.
>> Right. >> Yeah,
I mean they need to police that mustache and mustaches stand the whole time.
And so it's about time somebody regulated on them.
>> If it's november, you better stay away from Malaysia.
>> Okay, that's right.
So these micronations are going to war against each other.
And so they said,
well, what does it consist of basically emailing one another negative things.
Okay.
I wish real war was like that.
>> You should take that job, you would love it.
>> Yeah.
They were constantly at war with mustaches stand.
Okay.
In fact, that's what I'm gonna call the right wingers online.
In fact, all of our enemies online are now mustache stand.
>> Perfect, love it.
>> And then finally that one was resolved.
But the one that is unresolved is their ongoing war with East Germany.
>> Yeah.
>> They couldn't resolve it because it's no longer a country.
And so they never got to to declare a ceasefire.
So they're technically still at war with East Germany, just so you know.
>> It's a damn shame