Part 1 - A State in the Third Millennium
Part 2 - Vaduz
Part 3 - Balzers
Part 4 - Triesenberg
Part 5 - Malbun
Part 6 - Eschen
Part 7 - Schellenberg

I recently came back from a trip to Liechtenstein. I went to this country with great expectations but somehow the reality managed to surpass them. The reason I chose it as a tourist destination was a presentation about Liechtenstein I saw on a libertarian conference. The presenter claimed that Liechtenstein is a real world example of voluntaryism (anarcho-capitalism) and informed us about the country's unique constitution. If you don't care about historical, economic and political information about Liechtenstein you can skip to part 2.

Before the aforementioned presentation I thought that Liechtenstein is a city-state and like most Bulgarians I wasn't certain which one was Liechtenstein and which one was Luxembourg. The principality is indeed a micro-nation but it consists of 11 municipalities and has a territory of 160 km² (by comparison Monaco has a territory of 2,2 km², San Marino 61 km² and Luxembourg 2 586 km². The population of Liechtenstein is 38 500 (Monaco – 38 400, San Marino – 33 300, Luxembourg – 602 000).

In the 17th century political games in the Holy Roman Empire (not holy, not Roman, not empire) lead to the purchase of feudal territory by the princely family which was necessary for getting the title of the Prince (or maybe it was the other way around?). It seems like the princely family didn't care much about the property and the goal of the acquisition was entirely political. For almost a century no one from the family set foot in the principality. At some point after several empires fell apart it turned out that nobody wanted this country so they become a sovereign and independent state and at some point the princely family moved to live there.

Liechtenstein was relatively poor but it turns out that is not so bad because during World War II all sides forget to annex it and it ends up neutral in the war and independent after its end. Independence alone did not make the principality rich and it needed a way to get on its feet. Prince Franz Joseph II starts reforms, lowers taxes which brings industrial and financial service companies to the country. As of today Liechtenstein has the highest standard of living in the world as well as measures like GDP(PPP). Half of the GDP comes from financial services but industry, agriculture and tourism are significant contributors to the economy. A Liechtenstein company that I believe we have all heard about is Hilti.

The economic miracle of Liechtenstein is not a coincidence. It seems to be the result of planned actions and pro-market positions of Princes who have ruled the country. Today the head of the state is Hans-Adams II (although he has transferred effective power to his son Alois). He sees the state as a company which provides to its citizens the service governance and believes that it must be competitive and not hold it citizens or their property by force. In 2003 these views are reflected in the country's constitution which the population approves in a referendum. Each municipality gets the right of unilateral and peaceful secession and become a sovereign state or join another country. At the same time the Prince is in practice absolute monarch by virtue of his right to veto any law and even referendums (excluding referendums for secession, removal of the monarchy or one to change the Prince with another from the family). Worth noting is that the Liechtenstein monarchy pays its own expenses from the businesses it operates and does not depend on taxes. Prince Alois intends to make the country a destination friendly for companies operating with cryptocurrencies.

The writing on the building on the left says „Government building” If I understand correctly it houses the parliament and the ministries. I want my country to throw away all useless bureaucrats and gather the small amount of useful ones in such a small building. Municipalities do have their own buildings and institutions.

I am not aware of any other country which gives its citizens the right of self-determination especially on so granular level (the smallest municipality has 450 citizens). Polls have yet to find a single person who supports secession from Liechtenstein. Who wants to secede from Heaven? Think about it - if your country allows every neighborhood to secede without fighting would the country stay as it is? In addition the government is highly decentralized. For example the state income tax is just 1.2% and the municipal income tax is sometimes above 15%. I believe that this right of self-determination and self-governance makes Liechtenstein the freest country in the world and effectively a voluntaryistic state.

These things are not simply my interpretation. The Prince has written a book (The State in the Third Millennium) describing his vision of the government. On this picture I am planning the independence of Asenovgrad and absorbing wisdom from the source sitting at the center of Vaduz just below the castle in which the Prince lives.

Do you think my home town Asenovgrad (pictured above) can be like Liechtenstein? What do we need? a) to find a good Prince to rule over us b) to replace our population with population from Liechtenstein c) freedom, self-governance and decentralization d) cannot happen, it works in Liechtenstein because of the air in the Alps. (answer in the comments, can select more than one option)

The country provides excellent public transportation for those who wish to see it. One can ride a bicycle between towns but if you are going to the towns in the mountains you would need to be really sporty because the elevation is quite serious. I don't know if it is allowed to take your bike in the bus. We met a total of two people who didn't speak English after they found out we don't know German. One of them was a gentleman above 70 and the other was a bus driver who did understand what we said but replied in German. The country doesn't have an airport and tourists arrive though Austria or Switzerland. Our route involved a plane to Zurich, train to Sargans and a bus to Vaduz.

Liechtenstein is clean, the roads are in perfect condition, transportation is great and there is practically no crime or unemployment. Seems like everyone is rich and houses are magnificent and have large and green yards. I admit that I have not visited small towns and villages in West Europe but I have seen Geneva and Zurich and I was looking at the Swiss towns from the train and they were not nearly as impressive. Even if something similar does exists the numbers shows Liechtenstein should still be ahead. This country is incredible, it should not exist but it does. I saw it.

And no, you cannot move to live in Liechtenstein, they don't accept immigrants.