Tinyism is the Best Future

Small is Beautiful.

“Tinyism” is a political point-of-view that believes humanity should be organized into small population micro-states to guarantee maximum democratic alliance to the needs of the citizenry. Tinyism can be attained by fracturing today’s empires and large nations into a vibrant, pointillist map of miniature, citizen-empowered communities. Tinyism, as much as possible, should vest decision-making power in the smallest bioregional and cultural units that make sense.

Examples of Tinyism can first be found in the twelve Mesopotamia Sumerian city-states (4500–1750 BCE), and the 1,022 cities and settlements of the Indus Valley (3300–1300 BCE). Civilization evidently owes its birth to the dense micro-nation aggregates that Tinyism seeks to revive.

Other historical models include the 1,000+ city-states of classical Greece, and the 10–20 of the Italian Renaissance. Both regions were marvelously successful financial and cultural centers of their eras.

The emergence of Europe in the 16th century as the globe’s eminent power can also be viewed as a triumph of the tiny-state model. Although the small nations of Europe combined to form only 6.8% of the world’s total land mass, their naval, military, and technological expertise led to them acquiring 84% of the planet.

Modern history seems to be trending towards smaller and smaller entities. Since 1945, the number of independent nations has tripled, thanks partly the breakup of the Soviet Union (releasing 15 nations). Schisms include Namibia exiting South Africa, Czechoslovakia dividing, East Timor escaping Portugal and Indonesia, Montenegro and Kosovo leaving Serbia, and South Sudan breaking away. Secessions movements today are prolific: Catalonia, Scotland, Wales, West Papua, and Flanders, to name a few. Promoting Tinyism is merely acknowledging what is already naturally occurring.

Are people in tiny nations happier? Yes, says research.

Today the tiny nations of Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg, San Marino, Singapore, Malta, Liechtenstein, Bahrain, and Iceland generally have “happier” inhabitants and higher per capita income than their larger neighbors.

In 2021 all the Top Ten Happy Nations were lightly populated. In order, they are Finland - population 5,548,360; Denmark 5,813,298; Switzerland 8,715,494; Iceland 343,353; Norway 5,465,630; Netherlands 17,173,099; Sweden 10,160,169; New Zealand 4,860,643; Austria 9,043,070; Luxembourg 634,814.

“Happiness” is based on six characteristics: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make your own life choices, generosity of the general population, perceptions of internal and external corruption levels.

Why are small nations happier and more successful?

Here’s five reasons: 1) Small nations are politically faster at making decisions and altering course if needed, 2) the vulnerability of being small motivates many small nations in healthy ways, inspiring them to work harder and smarter, 3) the access to natural resources that large nations acquire is just distracting in the modern world, where “knowledge” and a skilled workforce is more valuable. 4) small nations are closely connected to their leadership. If Finland was ten times larger, the politicians would be detached from the populace, and corruption would infiltrate the system. 5) The superior social cohesion and unity enjoyed by small nations decreases crime. Nations with low violence and homicide rates include Luxembourg, Iceland, and Switzerland even though the latter has 30%-gun ownership.

Even win Africa, the small-populated nations are usually better off economically than their massive neighbors. Contrast the politics and economics of tiny populated Cape Verde, Botswana, Namibia, and Seychelles with the massive numbers of inhabitants in DR Congo and Nigeria, for example.

For Tinyism to guarantee human happiness, five aspirations must be realized:

1) Democracy needs to be maximized. Micro-nations can guarantee this better than large states, because their representatives are more accessible due to the minuscule populations, and it is easier to install Direct Democracy in small nations, either via Town Halls or an e-democracy technological process.

2) A crucial understanding in a Tinyism world is that every region in any micro-nation is guaranteed the option to secede and start their own, even more microscopic state.

3) Egalitarianism as an ambition needs to be shared by all Tinyists. The thousands of separate governing bodies must share a desire for equitable division of wealth. Greed - the desire to be richer and more powerful than others - needs to be viewed as a sociopathic instinct.

4) Open Borders would allow individuals and entire demographics to migrate away from their “homeland” to other micro-nations that better suit their political and cultural preferences, or skillset of work abilities. Some people enjoy urban density, others prefer rural settings, still others want to be pioneers in wilderness areas. Eliminating barriers to travel and residency helps everyone locate a niche where their qualities can best be appreciated.

5) Peace is essential. Conflicts between the thousands of future nations need to be resolved without violence or militarism. Hopefully, a global ethos will evolve that will make murderous battles unthinkable.