Government- it's everywhere.
But for those looking for the ultimate escape from Big Brother there's no better choice
than the only US city with no laws!
Known as Slab City, this little slice of Libertarian paradise is situated about 50 miles north
of the US-Mexico border, right in the heart of the Sonora desert.
The place gets its name from the large concrete slabs which are all that remains of the barracks
that once housed US Marines during World War II.
At the time the US ran a research center looking into the effects of desert conditions on concrete,
as well as techniques for building with concrete in high temperature environments.
Each batch of concrete is specially made for its specific environment, and the careful
chemistry can be disrupted with disastrous results.
Thanks to the Sonora desert's 105 + degree temperatures (40 C) which can reach as much
as a whopping 118 degrees (48 C), the place was the perfect proving ground for researching
concrete curing techniques in very high temperature environments.
After the US Marine Corps moved out, new residents moved in.
Drifters, the homeless, adventurers, and those simply seeking to live off the grid found
the place to be the perfect home.
Technically a city only in name, Slab City has no government oversight, and no government
services.
There's no police, no fire department, or medical services to call in an emergency.
Likewise there's no city maintenance to repair broken roads or buildings crumbling apart.
With no sewage system, residents must dispose of their own waste, and you can forget about
powering your favorite electronics as there's no public electricity available.
So how do the residents survive?
Mostly by being extremely independent, though a certain sense of community still prevails.
While you'd expect the place to devolve into a lawless den of villainy, the truth is Slabbers-
as they call themselves- tend to like good neighbors no different than you and I.
Drug use may be tolerated as long as it doesn't interfere with your neighbors, and disputes
are rare and often handled internally.
Surprisingly, there's been few incidents of violence amongst the 150 or so strong year-round
population.
As far as maintenance goes, neighbors tend to help neighbors out with jobs too difficult
or labor intensive for any one person, mirroring the lifestyle of our ancestors.
Very few people have working automobiles, and the original roads built by the government
still remain largely drivable.
Though this being the high desert, dirt roads are often forged by vehicles to circumvent
any rough spots in the asphalt that remains.
This is one place where nobody is going to yell at you for being a bad driver, unless
you run into someone else or into someone's makeshift home.
Residents have made their home out of any available materials, with some trucking in
storage creates and similar building materials to make a home out of.
The concrete remains of the government buildings still standing are often appropriated by Slab
City homesteaders, and during the summer there's a healthy amount of tents.
As far as electricity, while there are no public services available, some residents
generate their own electricity with solar panels and gas or diesel generators.
Some residents have even set up windmills, which are a perfect fit for the perpetually
windy Sonora desert.
For food and water though the residents have to hit up the local town of Niland which is
about four miles away.
There residents can stock up on plastic water bottles, canned foods, and other survival
necessities- including the ever necessary toilet paper.
Bathrooms in Slab City are kind of a personal affair though, and often you'll end up having
to dig your own hole.
Covering it up is pretty much mandatory, as poor hygiene is frowned upon by residents.
So is building your poop hole in a neighbor's yard, or in a frequently traveled thoroughfare.
If you're planning on making Slab City your new home it's important to practice proper
poop etiquette.
The population of 150 or so fluctuates with the season, as a large portion of the population
tends to be “snowbirds”, or individuals fleeing colder temperatures up north.
This part of the population sets up shop at Slab City during the colder winter months,
for about 4 to 5 months at a time, before returning north.
However, even in temperatures that reach 120 degrees during Slab City's summer you'll still
find a thriving population in this city without laws.
Well, not quite without laws.
While there may be no municipal laws, this doesn't mean that Slab City is truly lawless.
Technically, every piece of sovereign US territory is subject to state and federal laws- unless
it's not a state in which case federal laws still apply.
That means that far from a true Libertarian paradise, Slab City is still technically subject
to the same everyday laws that you and I have to deal with.
That means no murdering just because you're bored or lost at a game of cards, and no producing
illegal narcotics for sale or recreational use.
Technically, Slab City residents still have to file taxes and report any income.
Enforcement however is another matter altogether, and with no permanent police presence federal
and state laws are more 'guidelines' than hard and fast rules.
Slab City is for better or worse largely self-governing, though authorities will still step in for
major reported crimes.
If anyone actually reports them- unsurprisingly the population of Slab City tends to be drawn
to the location because of their mistrust or outright hatred of any authority figure.
While Vegas may claim that anything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, the very misleading
slogan actually applies to Slab City more than the City of Sin.
But if you really want to get away from Big Brother, you're probably going to have to
go to one of these of the most lawless places on earth.
If the high desert environment of Slab City beckons to you, why not head on over to a
truly lawless state, such as Libya.
With the death of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has descended into chaos.
The strongman may have been a brutal dictator, but under his rule Libya at least enjoyed
strong rule of law.
Surprisingly, women enjoyed far more freedoms than in most other Muslim nations, and education
was free.
A dictator is still a dictator though, and rebels toppled Gaddafi in 2011 for his many,
many abuses against his citizens.
Since then the country has splintered with various factions vying for control.
At the top of this power struggle is Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who is the leader
of the only internationally recognized government and based out of Tripoli.
His major opposition is Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army and controls
most of eastern and southern Libya.
Even ISIS had its own state in Libya until recently when the world collectively sent
them to meet their makers throughout the latter half of the 2010s.
This still leaves Libya a highly splintered and lawless country, with many charming slices
of Libya up for grabs to the nearest strongman.
Even within zones claimed by one faction or another, lawlessness prevails and the rule
of law is hardly if ever enforced.
But if you'd still like the comforts of a major city without pesky laws, then a trip
to Ras Khamis should be in your future travel plans.
The Israeli-Palestinian struggle has raged for decades, and has left one tiny slice of
territory basically completely void of any sort of authority.
The neighborhood of Ras Khamis technically is part of Jerusalem, though the mayor of
Jerusalem refuses to acknowledge it as such.
Cut off from the rest of Israel by a massive wall erected by the government, Ras Khamis
is also technically inside Israeli-controlled territory, but the government has so far left
the place to its own devices.
Even Palestine has pretty much ignored Ras Khamis.
What may be surprising is that we're not talking about a few dozen people in one tiny neighborhood-
we're talking about a population of 20,000 people who have had to basically govern themselves.
After neither Israeli or Palestinian authorities would see to their city services, the residents
of Ras Khamis took matters into their own hands and simply paved their own roads.
They've even built up skyscrapers without any sort of government oversight- one hopes
that they at least abided by some sort of construction codes.
There's technically no taxes, though a local council established by residents does take
up collections from time to time for city services.
This still leaves the area struggling with water supplies and basic essentials such as
trash pickup.
In response, residents have taken up their legal cause with the Israeli government, claiming
that being part of their territory entitles them to civic services.
So far though the residents have had to make do for themselves, and judging by how well
they've managed to thrive they're doing a good job at it- though functioning city services
would make life a whole lot better for all.
But if proximity to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute makes you nervous, then perhaps you'd
prefer a more remote region that has no laws.
Located on the Palestinian-Afghanistan border, a region known as FATA- or Federally Administered
Tribal Areas- is notorious for being the modern version of the lawless American wild west.
This region is well known to American military leaders and the global intelligence community,
as it's the safe haven and breeding ground for an alphabet soup's worth of terrorist
groups.
That's thanks to the fact that though the place is technically within Pakistan's territory,
no Pakistani government yet has dared to try and actually govern it.
The area is littered with various tribal groups all fiercely loyal to their own, but more
than willing to band together to keep out any authority figure they disagree with.
The lawlessness has attracted dozens of different criminal and terrorist groups, which make
the area their home.
In response, the United States has spent millions in intelligence gathering, and used drones
to attack terror targets in the region as Pakistan forbade the US from using ground
forces to eliminate terror networks operating there.
This is a place where might makes right, so if you plan on moving there you'd better bring
a few very well-armed friends.
As long as you're not rude to your neighbors and have the firepower to defend your claim,
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan can be your new home away from home.
Our next destination overthrew both hostile drug cartels and corrupt government leaders
to declare itself autonomous.
Cheran, Mexico- a town once ruled by drug lords and corrupt politicians in service to
those drug lords.
Once, Mexican cartels plundered the natural resources of the city, conducting illegal
lumber operations and forcing locals out of the industry.
Politicians elected with help of the cartels turned a blind eye to this, as well as to
the frequent extortion rackets run by the cartels on local businesses.
Then a group of women decided to change everything.
First they approached the illegal lumberjacks, but were chased away with guns and the threat
of violence.
They resolved themselves to stop the illegal lumber operation in town by stopping the trucks
driving through it, where they'd be close enough to their neighbors that they could
call for help.
The plan worked, and as the trucks were stopped outraged locals ran to help with machetes
and their personal rifles.
Soon there was a confrontation between the local police and armed loggers- with the police
on the side of the loggers- and the 20,000 strong population of Cheran.
The locals quickly set up their own militia, and drove the cartels, their illegal logging
operation, and the police and elected officials out of town.
Government parties were outright banned as they were seen as causing division between
the people, and armed checkpoints set up throughout the city to prevent cartel gangs from trying
to reclaim the town.
The militia also serves as a police force, with penalties to minor offenders including
fines and community service.
Any serious offenses are referred to the state's attorney general, though incredibly the city
has had very few serious crimes since the government and cartels were kicked out.
So far Mexico has been happy to leave the city a semi-autonomous entity, and the cartels
haven't dared to return yet.
Women comment that they feel safe to walk the streets at night, and the massive forest
that surrounds the city has been preserved by the armed patrols of the Ronda Communitaria,
the name of Cheran's militia.
Now anyone seeking to conduct logging in the protected forest must get permission directly
from the self-appointed authorities.
Not quite fully independent, Cheran still receives federal and state funding, and it
is recognized as an indigenous Purepecha community by Mexican laws.
Even its ban on political parties has so far been upheld by Mexican courts.
In a city ravaged by cartel violence, Cheran is a beacon of hope, and in the future may
encourage other Mexican cities to take matters into their own hands when the government is
helpless against the mighty cartels.
Now go check out Crazy laws that still exist around the world, or click this other video
instead!