Something tells me these freedom cities would be a different beast entirely. Somehow I doubt the UK private towns don’t follow the national or local laws of the country.
The City of London (which is not London) is probably the most relevant example here, it’s enjoying its own representation in the government, its own laws, its own police force, and functions almost as a separate state in the Kingdom.
Right, but they probably understand civics and aren’t dumbass libertarians who think taxes are theft, and that they shouldn’t be providing anything for the people that live and work there.
Also, the US has a storied history with company towns. I can promise you that this is not what you are thinking it is. This will be towns owned by massive corporations that will pay people in scrip that they can only use at “the company store.”
So imagine Walmart coming in and buying an entire town, and instead of paying the people a living wage, they give them credits that they can only use at Walmart.
Until not too long ago, here in the West Country, there were also partially self-governing collections of tin-mining towns. The tin trade was subject to stannary law, made at stannary parliaments, enforced at stannary towns in Devon and Cornwall. Tin, when refined, could only be sold in the first instance in stannary towns, where it would be made into standardized coinage. Tax on tin was also collected in the stannary towns and sent to the Monarch (or in Cornwall, the Duke of Cornwall).
The City of London is a more extreme example, since its government had representatives from each of the guilds operating in the city (and now has representatives of the large corporations, as well as a much smaller number of representatives of the people who live in the City). While it’s not London, it is about one square mile within central London. It’s a remnant of the way that many English cities were run from late Saxon times until the 19th century, and is the only “city” that has been exempted from democratic reforms.
It doesn’t really function as its own state since it has no separate courts (it owns and partially runs the Old Bailey, but that’s for all of England, not just the City), no defense or foreign-policy capacity, and none of the other functions of a state. It’s a Liberty (an area with enhanced or different rights) rather than a state. These, particularly parts of cities owned and run by the church, used to be common throughout England.
It doesn’t really function as its own state since it has no separate courts (it owns and partially runs the Old Bailey, but that’s for all of England, not just the City), no defense or foreign-policy capacity, and none of the other functions of a state. It’s a Liberty (an area with enhanced or different rights) rather than a state.
It’s the same for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Or for 50 states inside the US.
Incorporating an HOA or a company making a retirement village is not really the same as Amazon or Monsanto funding some sort of handshake with the state government to make some sort of lawless zone for them to take advantage of.
The City of London (which is not London) is probably the most relevant example here, it’s enjoying its own representation in the government, its own laws, its own police force, and functions almost as a separate state in the Kingdom. Only corporations registered in the city can vote for its government, private residents cannot.
Then there are loads of towns and villages owned by the aristocracy, places like Clovelly, Heydon, Aldbury, etc. Or Poundbury, which was built by King Charles III (the work started while he was still a prince in 1999) because he just wanted to experiment with architecture.
It’s funny how Americans here are so against the idea, yet there are plenty of private towns and villages here in the UK and it’s just normal.
Something tells me these freedom cities would be a different beast entirely. Somehow I doubt the UK private towns don’t follow the national or local laws of the country.
The City of London (which is not London) is probably the most relevant example here, it’s enjoying its own representation in the government, its own laws, its own police force, and functions almost as a separate state in the Kingdom.
Right, but they probably understand civics and aren’t dumbass libertarians who think taxes are theft, and that they shouldn’t be providing anything for the people that live and work there.
Also, the US has a storied history with company towns. I can promise you that this is not what you are thinking it is. This will be towns owned by massive corporations that will pay people in scrip that they can only use at “the company store.”
So imagine Walmart coming in and buying an entire town, and instead of paying the people a living wage, they give them credits that they can only use at Walmart.
Until not too long ago, here in the West Country, there were also partially self-governing collections of tin-mining towns. The tin trade was subject to stannary law, made at stannary parliaments, enforced at stannary towns in Devon and Cornwall. Tin, when refined, could only be sold in the first instance in stannary towns, where it would be made into standardized coinage. Tax on tin was also collected in the stannary towns and sent to the Monarch (or in Cornwall, the Duke of Cornwall).
The City of London is a more extreme example, since its government had representatives from each of the guilds operating in the city (and now has representatives of the large corporations, as well as a much smaller number of representatives of the people who live in the City). While it’s not London, it is about one square mile within central London. It’s a remnant of the way that many English cities were run from late Saxon times until the 19th century, and is the only “city” that has been exempted from democratic reforms.
It doesn’t really function as its own state since it has no separate courts (it owns and partially runs the Old Bailey, but that’s for all of England, not just the City), no defense or foreign-policy capacity, and none of the other functions of a state. It’s a Liberty (an area with enhanced or different rights) rather than a state. These, particularly parts of cities owned and run by the church, used to be common throughout England.
It’s the same for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Or for 50 states inside the US.
Incorporating an HOA or a company making a retirement village is not really the same as Amazon or Monsanto funding some sort of handshake with the state government to make some sort of lawless zone for them to take advantage of.
You should learn a thing or two about the City Of London.
What is an example of a private town in the UK?
The City of London (which is not London) is probably the most relevant example here, it’s enjoying its own representation in the government, its own laws, its own police force, and functions almost as a separate state in the Kingdom. Only corporations registered in the city can vote for its government, private residents cannot.
Then there are loads of towns and villages owned by the aristocracy, places like Clovelly, Heydon, Aldbury, etc. Or Poundbury, which was built by King Charles III (the work started while he was still a prince in 1999) because he just wanted to experiment with architecture.