Perpetua et firma libertas

This was Cospaia's motto. A land where there was no taxation, no monopoly over the use of force, and a strong community supporting it's astounding development, which had the tobacco business as their greatest ally as the neighboring regions wanted to prohibit it, whilst they took that chance to exploit the nearby illegalization.

As excommunication was threatened, taxation was imposed, and the neighboring territories saw the society prosper, Cospaia's success can be proven through how people started immigrating to it rather than leaving it (for instance, we can see how people in eastern Germany, under soviet rule, fled their homes even under the threat of death, choosing the western part as it was much better to live in. The same thing happened with Cospaia, as it could be seen as western Germany in this analogy).

However, as the papacy and tuscany found it to become too much of a rock in it's shoes, they made it subjugate itself in 1826 through the subjugation act, as such being annexed, receiving so little in exchange that the coin the papacy gave them, with the face of the pope, was called papetto. For such a tragedy, the people that live in the region hold highly their traditions even to this day, finding pride in the phrase Perpetua et firma libertas so that they can remember their past filled with freedom and prosperity.

Yet their ultimate end was not the only thing they had to endure. Suffering from the fame the states gave it, being called smugglers, lawless, and overall chaotic, the republic also survived being invaded during the napoleonic wars. Truly a story of endurance, of the love for freedom that guided their ways in the fight against tyranny.

Though that does not mean such a magnificent people were not well off...because they were. Even without access to the sea, with neighboring powers that could crush it if they found it to be too much of an issue for them, trade limitations and attempts at diminishing it's name, through the free association they thrived in such a way that their technological level could be compared with the territories around them, even being extremely miniscule.

Much of that being due to the persecution against jews. After all, the jewish people were many of those who kept the items sold by the micronation, and as it was with the prohibition on smoking, Cospaia had used that opportunity to get ahead of it's rivals by ignoring the arbitrary laws that held the people back. So, the jews dealt with the goods the freedom based region sold them, from textiles to tobacco, enjoying an ally that they could rely on, after all the peaceful republic cared more about freedom than their rivals' arbitrary laws against people who did nothing but wish to live their lives normally.

Living for nearly 400 years, the republic of Cospaia has a lot to teach us about how a decentralized system can improve our lives. For those people in it, numbered about three hundred people, only needed a council of elders...which participation and contribution to was voluntary...in order to solve their issues, even with the lack of a military force. All that because the papal states and the republic of florence had, during their settling of territorial disputes, made the slip of technicality which both did not want to meddle with. Meaning, Cospaia was given the chance to be born through the inefficiency of governments that used force to maintain themselves, which they quickly took by declaring their independence.

So when you think about liberty, think about Cospaia, the greatest example we have of a people who prized their freedom rather than the state. And when you think about Cospaia, think about how revolution is not needed in order to be truly free, think about how the state itself does not know how to control us, that eventually it will do the same slip the papacy did, that our crypto can help us in getting rid of disturbances to our property, and we will live by the same motto I started this article with:

Perpetua et firma libertas

I hope you have enjoyed my first article. If you have any criticisms, let me know so that I can get better and provide you, dear reader, with the best experience possible.