Sôgmô à Vincennes: Verre de paix contre la tempête de Washington

The Organisation of the MicroFrancophonie will meet this weekend in Vincenne to share micronational ideas and to discuss together political subjects about the world, at the same time that the presidency of Donald Trump is heating up for his press conference in Helsinki with Russian president Vladimir Putin and for having invited him to the White House. Between these two sides, the American one and the micronationalist one, one can see that the micronational system can work more friendly, more respectfully, and more diplomatically than a president of a macronation. For “career micronationalists,” it’s probably not a surprise. What is more, a country like Sandus, which is known by several English-speaking micronations as “aggressive” (we never know why), will finally meet the majority of members of an organisation which we created as a founding member, despite the fact that we are not a French-speaking country by upbringing but by education.

Yesterday, I was received well by two micronational heads of state, HSH the Prince of Aigues-Mortes and HE the Minister-President of Saint-Castin. We traversed Paris and the Seine, we dined humbly together according to Sandum custom, and we drank a bottle of rosé wine which came from the Camargue region where Aigues-Mortes is located. Our intimate discussion is confidential because it was between heads of state, but it was very amicable and not at all like that of the fat American prince with his G7 and NATO allies. In the same week that he described Montenegro as an aggressive country that could begin another world war, French-speaking monarchs and presidents will have had a pleasant and productive weekend, where each person can discuss micronational ideas ranging from the ecological role of micronations to the culture of our nations. As pacifist countries, we do not have reason for sabre-rattling.

For us Sandum people, this visit is perhaps a little more important because we wish to distinguish ourselves from Americans and from Trumpian diplomacy. For a country comprised of Americans and totally of English-speakers, it is very important to distinguish between our micronation and our macronation. The former is a polity where one goes according to their accord and their intention, the latter is outside of our control except at the ballot box. For the majority, and it is the same for those who come from the UK, we are not content being our macronationality because of its history, its conservative politics, its xenophobic diplomacy, etc. But it is here in Sandus where, like the lyrics to le Chant des partisans, “each person knows what they want and they are doing”—and we know that we are completely dissatisfied with the American president.

With a light hand, now, we would like to say that we are not American but Sandum, that we are French-speakers because of our education, that we are human like everyone else. (This is perhaps difficult to understand for the racists found in the US and who voted for the worst American president in recent history.) We reject with incredulity the 45th American president’s politics. We stand for Sandum ideals: compassion, socialism, and pluralism. We have stood, we stand now to protest, and so we will stand for strike action against the government of Donald Trump.

Comrade C. Soergel P.