There's something timeless and romantic about living on the ragged edge of civilization.
Whether you prefer the American Old West, the final frontier of space, or somewhere
in between, the thought of living in roguish freedom is certainly appealing to many.
If you are hoping to find somewhere free from the shackles of laws in our world today, here
are some places you might want to investigate.
On the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan sits an area known as Ungoverned Afghanistan
and it is just that, ungoverned, at least to some extent.
More officially know as The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, it provides a great opportunity
to experience all the danger and thrills of the Old West in the modern era.
While officially under the jurisdiction of Pakistan’s federal government, the areas
are considered “semi-autonomous”, which means that they are bound more by tribal laws
than the Frontier Crimes Regulations that Pakistan has put over them.
Basically the law of the land is whatever the local tribes and warlords make it out
to be.
When the Supreme Court of Pakistan refuses to deal with the region, you just know it’s
a dodgy area.
Seven tribal districts, also known as agencies, divide the land with six frontier regions.
Though they are represented in the Parliament of Pakistan by elected representatives, the
tribal districts have no problem with rejecting Parliamentary resolutions they don’t approve
of.
Surprisingly, support for the Pakistani military is high among the tribes, with nearly eighty
percent approving of an eventual military government.
For now, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas remain a hotbed of militant activity,
thanks in no small part to the lack of control Pakistan wields over the region.
If you fancy rubbing shoulders with outlaws, brigands and warlords then be sure to book
the next available flight.
If sand dunes and open spaces are more to your liking, then you’re going to love the
Western Sahara.
It has the honor of being one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world,
with around two people per square kilometer, based on best estimates.
With all that space, it’s simply a daunting prospect for any one government to control
it.
The Western Sahara region was considered a Spanish colony until the late 20th century,
after which Morocco and Mauritania fought with the native Sahrawi people for the right
to the land.
Mauritania soon gave up, leaving Morocco to claim the most valuable portions while the
Sahrawi were left with vast tracts of barren desert.
Despite Morocco’s tenuous grasp on the region, the United Nations refuses to recognize their
claim.
Instead, they consider the Western Sahara to be a “non-self-governing territory”
due to the question of whether Spain had adequately “decolonized” it when they cut ties and
left.
For now, if you’re interested in herding camels with the Sahrawi and hiding among the
dunes, it seems that no one knows what laws actually apply to the area or how to enforce
them.
Best to take advantage of the situation whilst it lasts.
If you were to commit a crime out there the locals wouldn’t even know who to report
you to, never mind prosecution.
With the region’s lack of laws mainly attributed to political negligence and a general mindset
of “wow this area’s so large and unpopulated who actually gives a toss.”
I imagine you could probably get away with quite a lot in this vast expanse of barren
dessert.
If living the pirate’s life on the high seas appeals to you, grab yourself a boat
and head out to international waters.
Territorial waters for any nation only extends twenty-two kilometers out from the shore,
you aren’t truly free until you move through the contiguous zone, which extends another
twenty-two kilometers beyond.
And even then, if you’re caught engaging in egregious acts of piracy, any nation has
the ability to bring you to justice.
But there’s a whole lot of water out there.
Unless you attract an awful lot of attention to yourself, you’re just another speck on
the horizon.
There’s something magical about the high seas.
Since the very first ships, the idea of sailing the open ocean has inspired generations of
artists, spawning beautiful paintings, books, and even movies.
To apply laws to such an unruly stretch of water would almost be an insult to what is
one of Earth’s last true remaining wildernesses.
International waters are regulated out of necessity in our modern world, but enforcing
the rules is an impossible task for the world’s governments.
Thus, the world’s oceans remain one of the last truly lawless places on Earth.
As the great Hugo Grotius said in the early seventeenth century, people from all nations
have a right to the waterways of the world.
He called this right Mare Liberum, Latin for “The Free Sea”, and his book by the same
name laid the groundwork for the concept of international waters, as we know them today.
So set sail for the high seas, and celebrate the freedom Grotius championed centuries past.
In January of 1991, Somalia suddenly found its central government dissolved as it plunged
into a bloody civil war that still rages on to this day.
In the two decades that followed anarchy ruled the day, as warlords fought among themselves
for the opportunity to rule small sections of the fragmented country.
There have since been several attempts to reestablish order in the region, starting
with the short-lived Transitional National Government in 2000, and most recently with
the Federal Government of Somalia in 2012.
Only time will tell whether the latter is effective, though the formation of a parliament
and election of an official president lends some momentum to the effort.
Meanwhile, the region remains fractured.
The concept of government is only half the battle in a world of militants and local rule,
where might makes right when it comes to the law.
And in the Internet Age, it’s hard to gain credibility when there are multiple web pages
all claiming to represent your fledgling government.
Piracy is a major problem in Somalia.
With basically no laws or enforcement agencies to keep a lid on things, pirates rule the
high seas around the country, making the waters surrounding Somalia one of the most dangerous
shipping routes in the world.
In 1923, the British government decided to grant New Zealand their own little piece of
the ice-encrusted Antarctic wasteland.
They established the Ross Dependency, New Zealand’s own little cheese-shaped triangle
of Antarctica.
Which included a swath of the continent and also extended out into the sea to cover a
small archipelago known as the Balleny Islands.
To date, New Zealand hasn’t quite figured out what to do with them.
There has been no attempt thus far to establish a colony on the islands.
Though still technically under the governance of New Zealand, if there is a bright center
to civilization then the Balleny Islands are certainly far from it.
Though the Antarctica Act of 1960 established a precedent for prosecuting criminal acts
in the Ross Dependency, it doesn’t seem anyone is willing to make the trip to actually
enforce the law.
The closest anyone in New Zealand has come to acknowledging the Balleny Islands’ existence
directly was a proposal to establish them as a marine preserve in May of 1999.
That’s pretty much the equivalent of saying, “Well, we can’t quite figure out what
to do with them.
Perhaps we should just leave them to the penguins and fish.”
Even within the United States, there are certain places that escape the roving eye of the law.
Located in an arid expanse of the Sonoran desert in Southern California, Slab City is
one such place, where people go when they really want to get away from it all.
Officially the site is owned by the State of California, though it is small and desolate
enough to avoid close scrutiny by the government.
Built on the remnants of an old military barracks, Slab City is named for the large concrete
slabs left behind after the barracks was demolished.
Most of the residents live in RVs, campers, and tents, amidst shanty structures that serve
as meeting places for music and community gatherings.
Though they purchase most of their supplies from a nearby town, the “slabbers” pride
themselves on their self-sufficiency, choosing to go without many modern luxuries in exchange
for the freedom Slab City offers.
Called “the last free place on earth” by its inhabitants, the population of mostly
hippies and plain old weirdo’s fluctuates with the seasons.
From the one hundred and fifty or so permanent residents, to nearly two thousand people during
peak months.
Some are attracted to the weather—others, the isolation—but all enjoy the rare opportunity
to experience a lifestyle free from the burden of regulation and rules.
Free, at least, until the State of California demands the land back.
Last, but certainly not least, is Pitcairn Island in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
With a population of only forty-eight people as of a July 2014 estimate, it is the smallest
national jurisdiction in the world by population.
On an island of only forty-seven square kilometers, that means there isn’t much room to spread
your legs—you’d better hope you don’t make any enemies whilst you’re there.
Pitcairn Island, and the unpopulated islands around it, are claimed as a British Overseas
Territory by the United Kingdom.
Because we all know how much the UK just loves to stick flags into things and say it’s
theirs.
Though the residents of Pitcairn Island bend their knees to the crown ruler, they’ve
been allowed to establish a local parliament to handle matters on the island via representative
democracy.
Essentially, the islanders are left alone to craft their own laws and self-govern, as
long as the Queen can peek over their shoulder now and then.
Despite Britain’s claim to Pitcairn Island and its surrounds, the United Nations still
considers the area to be a non-self-governing territory.
With so few people involved in the democratic process, it must be difficult to cast votes
objectively.
Vote for the wrong person, and you just might have your dinner burned that night.