Kosovo Independence

"People can secure the means of existence in two ways: by creating them or by stealing them". Frederic Bastiat, Economic Harmonies

Kosovo just declared its independence. This is a new Muslim state.Counting Kosovo there are 193 countries in the world. The smallest is the Vatican at 0.2 square miles, followed by Monaco at 0.7 square miles. Here is a list of the 17 smallest countries in the world. http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/smallcountries.htm

There are some Serb Christians still living in Kosovo. They are unhappy.

If the Albanians Muslims living in Kosovo can declare their independence from Serbia, and I think they have the right to do so, then the Christian Serbians living in the new Kosovo should have the right to declare their independence from Kosovo, even if they live in a small town or village, and the United States should recognize their small country.

I was asked if I thought the state of Israel had a right to exist. I do not think it has a right to exist just because some powerful members of the United Nations Security Council, out of WW II guilt for not preventing the holocaust, decided Israel should be created. Many Jews owned private land before Israel was established. These Jews certainly had a right to declare their independence and call their country Israel. At the same time many Palestine Arabs who own private land have a right to declare their independence and call their state Palestine, or anything else.

What if the Amish people in the United States dislike how the laws of the United States treat the Amish? The Amish people who own private land should have the right to declare their independence and create their own small country. If a few Amish farmers who own their land want to remain part of the United States, they should be allowed to declare their independence from the new Amish country and remain apart of the U.S.

Why do Russians not want Kosovo to be independent? Do Russians living in Moscow own land in Kosovo? If they do then they should be able to declare their independence from Kosovo and join Russia.

Why does Russian President Putin refuse to recognize Kosovo? He simply would rather preside over a large country than a small country.

The Russians living in Moscow do not want to see their country become smaller. The same thing happened in the United States when the southern states declared their independence. President Lincoln did not want to preside in the reduction in size of the United States. Presidents want to see their empires grow.

Group behavior is also a reason for wanting to keep the group large. The larger your group the safer you may feel. A large country is less likely to be invaded than a small country. A large country offers one a greater chance to access food and resources for survival that may be thousands of miles away.

It would be difficult to find a habitable spot on the globe that has not been invaded and occupied by someone who was not the original inhabitants. This has created conflicts. When the human population was small, groups used to move to vacant land. As the human population increased, land was fought for. Recent technology allowed written legal title to show land ownership and avoid taking land that belongs to another. This written legal title now allows people to declare their independence and be owned only by them, not by someone living a thousand miles away.

You say this will lead to many small states that will be unmanageable. I disagree. I hope there will be thousands of small states. Small states will find it to their benefit to trade with other small states. They will buy their government services; passports, treaties, protection, and other necessary services, from private providers like IBM or Allstate. Or they may sign treaties with other countries to provide government services. This will make governments compete for customers, thus improving government services.

If President Putin wants to enlarge his empire, he should compete for customers like private companies compete for customers.

When a man is allowed to declare his independence, he will no longer go to the polls with the delusion he is in control of his destiny.

Charles Tolleson