It is a necklace with a pendant in the shape of Kurdistan, bearing the Kurdish national emblem and colors.

Free Kurdistan!

Stateless anarchist Gogulski posting a nationalist statist symbol! Way off, you say?

Free Kurdistan is an idea. It is a dream shared by millions inside and outside the territory. First and foremost, it is an idea about community, identity and self-determination. A dream and an idea to celebrate.

Secondarily, Free Kurdistan is an idea that must touch the ground someplace. Within the generally-accepted context of things on this planet, that means that Free Kurdistan should become a state.

‘Round these parts, we hold that states are illegitimate, unnecessary and undesirable. However, I support the idea of Kurdistan becoming a state, both because that’s what a lot of Kurds want for themselves, and because I hold that so long as we are to have states, we should have as many as possible, and that they should be as small as possible.

Free Kurdistan!

The questions folks have about what I’ve done in renouncing my US citizenship and becoming intentionally stateless seem endless sometimes.

It seems that what information is out there in the public sphere doesn’t lead many to a clear picture of the legal reality of things. I guess I’m partly here to help clear some of that up.

A while back I found an article at nowpublic.com by Alvarez Galloso (“Renunciation of US Citizenship Is Not A Joke“) on the topic, which contained an error. In the comments, I pointed out the error, and then forgot about the article.

But I happened upon it again recently, and added a bit more, which I repeat here now.

Mike Gogulski at 17:15 on September 25th, 2008

As a bit of a student on exactly this matter, I must nitpick:

The individual must also make a trip outside of the United States of America to see if the country where he or she wants to become a citizen of will accept him or her

Untrue, and conflates unrelated issues.

First, yes, they must make a trip outside the US. The reason for this is that the law requires the renunciant have demonstrated intent to no longer reside in the US, which excludes renunciation on US territory. But the potential renunciant may or may not have the intent to become a citizen of the country where they renounce their citizenship, and/or may or may not have an intent to become a citizen of some other country. As far as the operation of the legal/administrative process goes, from what I have seen the present or prospective future citizenship of the renunciant is not an issue for consideration by the State Department, unless a broad administrative discretion is applied. Legal residence is a different matter, and can indeed lead to trouble if not addressed properly.

Additionally, many nations are signatories to UN-backed treaties on refugees and stateless persons which provide varying levels of protections to stateless persons found on their territories, at least if they have lawful residence, the most generous of which recognize nearly all of the same rights for them as for citizens. The “acceptance”, at least in theory, is automatic, though there are places in the laws as implemented out there which use the word “may” in places where the seeker of state-recognized status might rather see the word “shall” in relation to the government’s duties. And there’s always that administrative discretion to contend with, too.

The renunciant can certainly make the inquiries and do the research necessary to find out the requirements for becoming a citizen of another country in advance, and without leaving home.

Mr. Galloso replied:

AlvarezGalloso at 18:49 on September 25th, 2008

In this segment, you may be right. Thanks for adding to the discussion.

And I followed up:

Mike Gogulski at 04:48 on May 14th, 2009

Just to follow up, I stand very strongly by my words above!

I renounced my US citizenship on 8 December 2008 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Later, I received a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, and then later applied for and was issued a 1954 Convention Travel Document, a passport-like thing for stateless persons, by the Slovak Ministry of Interior.

Additional information for the would-be renunciant, as well as my own story and radical politics, can be found at my site.

Cheers,

Mike

Issuance went without problems; see image at right. I’m now once again fully in compliance with all laws of the Slovak Republic regarding legal stays of foreigners. Hooray!

Especially fun is the comparison of this Most Holy Document to the one it was issued to replace. Where my old visa (the image I posted of which, unfortunately, has the relevant bit blacked out) had “USA”, my new one displays “BEZ”, with bez being the Slovak word for “without”, presumably with reference to an implied field label of “citizenship”.

My substitute Slovak temporary residence permit sticker, as affixed to my Stateless Person's Travel Document. I can has traveling paprz, plz?

An interesting bit. My visa is a “temporary residence”. I asked the cops there when I could apply for permanent residence. “After 5 years of legal residency,” they told me. Huh, I thought it had been 3 years… now I have to do some reading of obsolete versions of the Act on Foreigners’ Stays in the Slovak Republic, or whatever it’s called, along with inquiring as to which version of the law will apply to me. Whatever. The only real difference between temporary and permanent residence here is that the permanent resident only has to turn up at the Aliens’ police once every 5 or 10 years, as opposed to every 12-18 months, for a new grant of permission to draw breath, metabolize, excrete and procreate on the territory of the Slovak Republic. I asked, then, when can I apply for Slovak citizenship — not, necessarily, that I plan to, but that I should at least have information of that sort at my fingertips. After a bit of back-room talking with higher-ups, the young officer who I’ve been interacting with there since I first presented myself for issuance of a stateless person’s travel document returned to tell me that I really ought to inquire at a different office, the obvodný úrad (the “District Office”, or something to that effect), since it’s the good folks there, rather than the Aliens’ Police, who deal with citizenship issues.

While he was away from the front desk, I chatted with the other cop-lady there who had attended me originally, stickered my traveling papers, canceled my stamps, solicited my signatures, and so on. I mentioned to her the fact that, which the Slovak legislation on foreigners’ stays refers two two different types of ordinary stay with varied timing characteristics — prechodný pobyt, temporary residence, and trvalý pobyt, permanent residence — the legislation on citizenship, as it pertains to stateless persons living legally in the territory, provides that a stateless person legally resident in the Slovak Republic can apply for citizenship after 3 years of nepretržitý pobyt (continuous residence).

“Huh, that’s interesting,” she said. “Well, go on and ask them folks at the obvodný úrad, and they’ll get you sorted out.”

I also submitted an application there for issuance of a replacement sticker for my residence permit, which I’ll have to pick up there in a couple of weeks.

Slovakia stateless person's 1954 Convention Travel Document, cover

So, I’m now an officially-documented stateless person. I’m also once again officially a human being, at least as far as concerns those annoying institutions like banks, government offices and so on, which treat people like they don’t exist if they don’t have currently-valid state identity papers.

Surprising to me, my new Proof of Humanity actually does have information and the Slovak national regalia on the front cover.

Some interesting text, verbatim from the English version, from page 33:

The holder of travel document under the Convention of 28 September 1954 is an alien with legal status of a person without state citizenship, who was granted a permission for permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic. He/she is under protection of the Slovak Republic. All whom it may concern are hereby requested to afford the holder of this travel document all necessary aid and protection according to international law.

And the data page

Oooooh, protection!

Some typical translation errors there with regard to the use of articles. Neat conflict, too, between what this document says and what my visa says. I’m actually here on a temporary residence permit, not permanent.

In any case, coming back from bureaucroland I couldn’t get Iron Maiden’s old track “Back in The Village” out of my head.

Welcome back to The Village, Number Six.

(Updated: linked to full-resolution images)

Iron Maiden, “Back in the Village”, Powerslave, 1984.

Turn the spotlights on the people,
Switch the dial and eat the worm.
Take your chances, kill the engine,
Drop your bombs and let it burn.

White flags shot to ribbons,
The truce is black and burned,
Shellshock in the kitchen,
Tables overturned.

CHORUS
Back in the village again,
In the village.
I’m back in the village again.

Throwing dice now, rolling loaded,
I see sixes all the way.
In a black hole, and I’m spinning
As my wings get shot away.

BRIDGE
Questions are a burden,
And answers are a prison for oneself,
Shellshock in the kitchen,
Tables start to burn.

CHORUS

No breaks on the inside,
Paper cats and burning barns,
There’s a fox among the chickens,
And a killer in the hounds.

BRIDGE

CHORUS

But still we walk into the valley,
And others try to kill the inner flame,
We’re burning brighter than before,
I don’t have a number, I’M A NAME!

CHORUS x2

Back in the village,
And I’m back in the village,
And I’m back in the village, again

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There was much waiting around the office to do, as the staffers there were quite unfamiliar with the process and regulations for folks like me.

I was required to also submit a certified translation into Slovak of my Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States and €33.50 in official duty stamps.

My photograph and fingerprints were taken, and I provided a digitized signature. Looks like my document will have the hated RFID chip with biometric data embedded in it.

In return for all this I received the document below, confirming acceptance and approval of the application. I will return in 2-3 weeks to pick up my passport-that-isn’t-a-passport and to submit another application (and €4.50 in duty stamps), this time for re-issuance of my residence permit sticker. I’ll have to return once more a couple of weeks after that to pick up the sticker.

Potvrdenie o prijatí žiadosti o vydanie cestovného dokladu cudzinca (Dohovor z 28. septembra 1954)

Číslo žiadosti:                  EC-ECBA1-090216-001
Číslo záznamu (Č.p.:):    UHCP-727/RHCP-BA-OCP-Z-2009
Dátum podania:              16.2.2009
Pracovisko podania:      EC2 Bratislava
Adresa pracoviska:        HROBÁKOVÁ 1237/44 BRATISLAVA

Meno:                                             Michael Jude
Priezvisko:                                     Gogulski
Tituly:
Dátum a miesto narodenia:    8.8.1972, Phoenix
Štátna príslušnosť:                  Osoba bez štátnej príslušnosti

Žiadosť o vydanie cestovného dokladu cudzinca (Dohovor z 28. septembra 1954) bola SCHVÁLENÁ

Poučenie:
Žiadateľ bol poučený, že doklad si môže vyzdvihnúť výhradne na tom útvare, na ktorom požiadal o jeho vydanie.

Žiadosť prijal (meno a priezvisko):        Pečiatka a podpis prijímajúceho orgánu:
XXX XXX                                                           [illegible signature, stamp]

Confirmation of acceptance of application for issuance of foreigner’s travel document (Convention of 28 September 1954)

Application number:        EC-ECBA1-090216-001
Record number:                UHCP-727/RHCP-BA-OCP-Z-2009
Submission date:              16.2.2009
Submission workplace:    EC2 Bratislava
Workplace address:           HROBÁKOVÁ 1237/44 BRATISLAVA

Name:                                     Michael Jude
Surname:                               Gogulski
Titles:
Date and place of birth:    8.8.1972, Phoenix
Citizenship:                       Stateless person

The application for issuance of a foreigner’s travel document (Convention of 28 September 1954) was APPROVED

Guidance:
The applicant was advised that the document can be picked up exclusively at that office to which he applied for its issuance.

Application accepted by (name & surname):    Accepting authority’s stamp & signature:
XXX XXX                                                                  [illegible signature, stamp]

The interview runs to about 10,000(!) words, and ranges rather widely, from discussion of my statelessness through psychology, anarchism, religion and psychedelic drugs. There’s a whole lot there, go check it out!

Big thanks to you, Sunni! And stop apologizing already!

The staffer offered me the choice of picking it up in person or having it mailed to me, with signature-on-delivery confirmation. I opted to pick it up in person.

If I don’t make it down there during their opening hours, it’ll have to wait until after the new year.

As far as I know, the issuance of this document means that I became a stateless person on 8 December 2008, that having been the day I swore the Oath of Renunciation and surrendered my US passport.

For more exciting bureaucracy, stay tuned to this channel!

Audio, direct from Radio Slovakia International, unedited, 12.3MB, 26min 52sec (my segment begins around 15:00): streaming MP3 — downloadable MP3 (no longer available)

Google Video, trimmed to just my segment (11min 2sec):

TRANSCRIPT

Commentator: On the eighth of December, 2008, there was a press release that was different from the rest. A 36-year-old American, Mike Gogulski, started a process to become a stateless person and renounced his American passport and citizenship. This is not an everyday thing, so we talked to him on his feelings about the US and soon being a person of no state. Christopher George met him in our studio.

Christopher George: Before the interview, I must state that Radio Slovakia International, as an institution, does not share the ideas and ideology of Mr. Gogulski, but feel he has the right to express his own opinion via our broadcasts.

Mike Gogulski: My name is Mike Gogulski, I’m 36, a former American living here in Bratislava.

CG: How long have you been here?

MG: I’ve been legally resident for about two and a half years, and I’ve been visiting the country since about 2004… mid-2004.

CG: When did you start the process of becoming a person of no state?

MG: Well, in very real terms, the process only began a couple of weeks ago when I first visited the American embassy here in Bratislava…

CG: A few weeks ago?

MG: Two weeks ago, to actually start filing the paperwork. The mental process is one that started quite a long time ago… I suppose — really about ten years — when I first had this idea that said, “I want to leave America, go live somewhere else.”

CG: What is your idea of the US government… or the US in general, as an American?

MG: Well, the …

CG: …as an ex-American…

MG: …as an ex-American? Well, like every government, the United States government in my view is a criminal organization, it just happens to be one of the most powerful ones in existence today. So, where I see American politicians talking loudly about ideas of freedom and democracy and free markets, the reality, I think, is rather different.

CG: Do you believe in the system? Do you believe in American politicians when they go electioneering and so on? Do you believe that … they’re a politician and they have a set of beliefs that they will follow?

MG: With respect to politicians there’s a couple of important things that I believe. The first is that the desire for power over other human beings really ought to be considered a sort of mental illness. The other is that politicians, especially at the national level… they don’t hold the real power in the system. The real power is held by what you could call plutocratic interests… the politicians are the instruments for the implementation of their policy.

CG: Do you think this is problematic in the system in that most politicians are sponsored by various companies and lobbyists and so on before they even get into office, and when they are, they…?

MG: Well, yes, sure, there are any number of cases that you could look back on and see politicians taking campaign contributions from certain industries or from certain companies then later repay the favor by sponsoring or signing on to legislation that favors those entities, even when those acts of government are contrary to the interests of the people. So, sure.

CG: Your attempt to become a person of no state in relation to Slovakia… is this a place where it is possible and easy to fulfill this goal?

MG: From my reading of the law and the treaties regarding statelessness and stateless persons, I believe that in Slovakia it is possible to become a stateless person, if one thinks that’s desirable. Is it easy? I don’t know yet. I’m just beginning a bureaucratic process with the Interior Ministry, by way of the Aliens’ Police, to become documented as a stateless person. Slovakia is signatory to one UN treaty on the status of refugees and two on the treatment of stateless persons which set up a number of conditions that give congruent rights to stateless people legally in the territory as are enjoyed by citizens and legal residents with citizenship.

CG: I have here in front of me a scan of your trvalý pobyt, which means your residence permit…

MG: My residence permit.

CG: And it says that it expires on the 21st of the fifth [sic], 2010…

MG: Correct.

CG: Do you see this as problematic? What is the process? You’ll have to go there and renew it, of course…

MG: My understanding right now is that… I’ve sent a letter to the Foreign Police saying I forfeited my American passport, which contained my povolenie na trvalý pobyt… na prechodný pobyt, actually, it’s temporary, not permanent…

CG: Oh, it’s not even trvalý…

MG: Yeah. My understanding is that my legal residence here is tied to my person, not to my citizenship. So, I’m still a legal resident by virtue of a file entry having been made at the Foreign Police office. I’m applying now for them to issue a 1954 Convention Travel Document for me as a stateless person and then re-issue the visa sticker.

CG: So, do you see any problems in the future with extending your residency permit?

MG: If the Slovak government decides that I am “undesirable”, for whatever reason, and makes a notation in my residency file with the Foreign Police, the Foreign Police have broad discretion to refuse to renew or grant a residence permit. So it is possible that they would refuse to renew it. What position would that put me in? I’m not exactly certain. I would be a stateless person now no longer legally present in the Slovak Republic. Would I be deportable to America? I’m not quite sure.

CG: And with regards to your application, do you see it being just a formality, and it’ll be accepted?

MG: I hope so. That’s certainly the impression that I got from a letter that I received from the Foreign Police in response to an inquiry about applying for a Stateless Person’s Travel Document, and in which I mentioned that I would renounce my American citizenship. Of course, you know, the bureaucracy likes to answer questions directly, so there may be other factors that come into play when I actually face the application and approval process. But I don’t expect anything dramatic.

CG: So your application went in on the 8th of December, if I remember, right?

MG: Well this was my application to renounce my US citizenship. I haven’t yet filed the application for these other documents from the Slovak government because I am waiting for a certificate from the American government certifying that I’ve actually lost my citizenship.

CG: How have the few days since then been? Has it been a normal average day, normal average week?

MG: Normal average days, normal average week… I go to the grocery store and I buy food and nobody asks me for ID. I go to the bank machine and withdraw cash and there’s no problem. I ride the bus and eat in restaurants and do my work. [ed: my final comment here, stating that my cat doesn't even realize anything has changed, was edited out of the broadcast.]

CG: Do you see this being a long, drawn-out process?

MG: I hope not. What I’ve been led to expect by the American embassy is there will be a period of up to 30 days while they process my application to renounce. By the end of that period I should either receive the Certificate of Loss of Nationality or receive a letter stating that my application has been rejected for some reason, together with my passport returned to me. After that, I will apply immediately to the Foreign Police for this Travel Document and my new visa… my replacement visa. That’s a process which can take up to three months. So, there’s a possibility that it might be March 8 or April 8 before I’m documented again.

CG: So, you obviously don’t see yourself going back to America.

MG: No plans…

CG: And, Slovakia? Are you interested in staying here?

MG: Well, I’ve been here for some time already and I feel quite at home here. My professional work as a translator is connected directly to the Slovak language. I have a small community of friends here. I don’t have any real desire to leave or to go anywhere else.

CG: And to other people, would you suggest this as something to do if they feel that they are against, or that they clash with the system?

MG: Well, it’s a terribly dangerous and risky kind of step to take, I think. I wouldn’t go out preaching that Americans ought to renounce their citizenship as a means of protest. However, if there are some who think they might want to do that, well, they’re certainly welcome to contact me through my website and ask me about my own experience. But there are limitations and restrictions that anybody doing that is going to have to accept.

CG: What about the current change that has been happening in America? Where do you see this, where do you see the new presidency going?

MG: There was a comedian back in the 1980s named Bobcat Goldthwait who once had a great line in one of his stand-up routines that said, “Blaming Ronald Reagan for how screwed up the country is is a little bit like blaming Ronald McDonald when you get a bad cheeseburger. Neither of them really run the show.” Barack Obama, a very charismatic politician who has rode himself into office kind of on a wave of messianic fervor, is already being revealed as a tool of the plutocratic elite that really controls American politics and American policy. So, as far as “change”? Maybe they’ll move some soldiers from Iraq to Afghanistan instead.

CG: So no administrative problems, really? Because it seems you have letters from most … embassy, and banks, and … I guess the list goes on. People and institutions that are happy with the situation, really.

MG: There were two main concerns for me in renouncing my citizenship. One is with respect to the identification function that a state passport provides. So, for example, if I walk into Tatra banka, where I’m a client, and ask to withdraw money in cash from my account, they want to see my passport. At the moment I don’t have a passport or a stateless person’s Travel Document, so what I have for this interim period while I’m undocumented, in order to manage the ID function, is, one, this notarized copy of my passport and visa. The second is I executed a power of attorney designating a friend of mine as being able to sign for all legal acts in my name. So, if I needed to withdraw cash from the bank, I would take her along to the bank branch and she would present her ID and sign for me, based on the power of attorney.

The other function of the passport, obviously, was to hold the residence permit sticker. Right now I don’t have that, so I could have a real problem if I were stopped by the police.

CG: If anyone out there wants to visit, or to find out more information about yourself, could you please give them the link?

MG: My personal blog, my website, is www.nostate.com, just n-o-s-t-a-t-e-dot-com.

Mainstream media:

Today I have a studio interview with Radio Slovakia International. Will update with broadcast times and audio if and as available.

News sites:

Anarchistnews.org: Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release)

Digg: American renounces citizenship, becomes stateless person (self-submission)

G-Vision: Obyvateľ bratislavy sa zrieka amerického občianstva (press release snippet, in Slovak)

INESS: Osoba bez štátnej príslušnosti (press release, short commentary in Slovak)

Infoshop.org: American renounces citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release)

reddit /r/Anarchism: American renounces citizenship, becomes stateless person (nostate.com) (self-submission, 44 comments)

UK Indymedia: American renounces citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release)

vybrali.sme.sk: Američan žijúci na Slovensku sa vzdal amerického občianstva (Slovak-language social news site, press release snippet linked to Ambience blog post below, unfriendly commentary)

Blogs:

Ambience: Američan žijúci na Slovensku sa vzdal amerického občianstva (press release, mixed commentary, in Slovak)

After Armageddon News: Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release snippet)

(A)utonomous Resistance: American Renounces Citizenship, Becomes Stateless Person (press release)

Corktageous: Mike Gogulski Foolishly Rejects The “Freedom” Of The US Dictatorship (press release, friendly commentary)

Cryptogon: Bratislava Resident Renounces American Citizenship, Becomes Stateless Person (press release, friendly feedback) — Thanks, Kevin!

DarianWorden.com: Man No Longer Claimed as Citizen (press release snippet)

Detainees: Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release, petty comments)

Less is More: Things I read – December 12, 2008 (link, comment)

No Treason: Nostate.com blogger renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release, friendly commentary)

Optionism: Renunciating as Legitamacy (link, pro-sovereignty dissent contra renunciation)

Rabbit Creative: Pay us, or we will kill you. (press release)

Rad Geek People’s Daily: Gogulski becomes stateless (press release, friendly commentary, hilarity ensuing in the comments)

The Radical Libertarian: Mike Gogulski: Fuck America (press release, friendly comments)

See For Yourself: Man renounces US Citizenship, becomes stateless (press release)

¡Ya Basta!: Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release)

Forums:

3monkeyz.net: American renounces citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release, friendly reactions)

The Cassiopaea Forum: Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person (press release)

diskusné fórum.sk: Fico boduje (random linkage, Slovak)

FreeMarkets.ca Forum: Mike Gogulski Of nostate.com Renounces His U.S. Citizenship (press release)

The Road Home: Re: General News (press release snippet, friendly commentary)

Just sent to every relevant Slovak media outlet, a few others besides, plus a bunch of personal contacts. Anyone got a big list of editorial contacts for American media?

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA, 10 December 2008 – Citing US war, human rights abuses, rapacious state capitalism and hypocrisy, Bratislava resident Michael Gogulski announced today that he has renounced his United States citizenship and become a stateless person as a means of “political divorce”.

Gogulski, 36, renounced his citizenship on 8 December 2008 at the American embassy in Bratislava, surrendering his US passport and culminating a two-week process and months of personal preparations. He currently awaits a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States confirming his loss of American citizenship. As Gogulski has no other citizenship, he is now a stateless person.

“I was disgusted to be associated through citizenship with the most dangerous gang of criminals in the world, the United States government. Renouncing my citizenship is a means of achieving a political divorce with that vile institution,” Gogulski said. “American politicians extol their state in terms of liberty, human rights, free markets and the rule of law. Examination of the country’s history and present actions reveals nothing but lies and hypocrisy. The genocide of Native Americans, slavery, nuclear slaughter at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, support for brutal dictators, the torture of innocents at places like Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib, the massive robberies for the benefit of big business in the name of ‘rescuing’ the economy, the world’s biggest prison population, the growth of a domestic police state and the brutal wars of oppression underway in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia paint a rather different picture. America, via its government agents, is truly exceptional – exceptionally evil,” he stated.

Gogulski says that when he receives the Certificate of Loss of Nationality he will apply to the Slovak Interior Ministry for a Travel Document – similar to a passport – under the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, which Slovakia signed in 2000. He says that he has no plans to leave Bratislava until then, and that he recognizes that his life without citizenship will be more difficult, especially with respect to travel. But, “if the Schengen Zone is to be my cage,” Gogulski states, “I think it’s large enough for me. There’s enough to explore within Europe to last a lifetime.”

On his personal blog, Gogulski indicates that he works as a freelance translator and editor. He also writes about anarchism and supports the revolutionary theory called agorism, which posits that free-market service providers will compete with and eventually supplant states, giving rise to a voluntary society. “Governments pride themselves on notions of ‘equality’ and ‘rule of law’, but fail to apply the same standards to themselves that their subjects must endure,” he says, explaining his political philosophy. “The foundation of state power, taxation, is robbery. That the robbers have fancy uniforms, impressive titles and the sanction of law does not in the slightest way change the basic formula for extortion: pay us, or we will kill you.”

Michael Gogulski’s blog can be found at www.nostate.com.

###

TLAČOVÁ SPRÁVA

NA OKAMŽITÉ VYDANIE

Obyvateľ bratislavy sa zrieka amerického občianstva a stáva sa osobou bez štátnej príslušnosti

BRATISLAVA, SLOVENSKO, 10. decembra 2008 – s uvedením dôvodov vojny vedenej USA, zneužívania ľudských práv, nenásytného štátneho kapitalizmu a pokrytectva dnes obyvateľ Bratislavy, Michael Gogulski, oznámil, že sa vzdal svojho občianstva Spojených štátov a stal sa osobou bez štátnej príslušnosti ako prostriedok „politického rozvodu“.

36-ročný Gogulski sa vzdal svojho občianstva 8. decembra 2008 na americkom veľvyslanectve v Bratislave, odovzdal svoj pas Spojených štátov amerických a zavŕšil tak dvojtýždňový proces a mesiace osobných príprav. Momentálne očakáva Osvedčenie o strate občianskej príslušnosti Spojených štátov, ktoré bude potvrdzovať jeho stratu amerického občianstva. Keďže Gogulski nemá inú štátnu príslušnosť, je teraz osobou bez štátnej príslušnosti.

„Bol som znechutený tým, že mám byť spájaný občianstvom s najnebezpečnejšou bandou zločincov na svete, vládou Spojených štátov. Vzdanie sa občianstva je pre mňa prostriedkom dosahujúcim politický rozvod s touto podlou inštitúciou,“ povedal Gogulski. „Americkí politici ospevujú svoj štát, pokiaľ ide o slobodu, ľudské práva, slobodné trhy a právny štát. Preskúmanie histórie krajiny a súčasných krokov odhaľuje len klamstvá a pokrytectvo. Genocída amerických domorodcov, otrokárstvo, jadrový masaker v Hirošime a Nagasaki, podpora brutálnych diktátorov, mučenie nevinných na miestach, ako sú Guantanámo a Abú Ghraib, obrovské krádeže v prospech podnikania vo veľkom v mene „zachraňovania“ hospodárstva, najviac väznených občanov na svete, rast domáceho policajného štátu a brutálne vojny útlaku, ktoré sa dejú v Iraku, Afganistane a Somálsku, vykresľujú skôr odlišný obraz. Amerika je cez svojich vládnych zástupcov skutočne výnimočná – výnimočne zlá,“ uviedol.

Gogulski hovorí, že keď získa Osvedčenie o strate štátnej príslušnosti, požiada slovenské Ministerstvo vnútra o cestovný dokument – podobný pasu – podľa Dohovoru o štatúte osôb bez štátnej príslušnosti z roku 1954, ktorý Slovensko podpísalo v roku 2000. Hovorí, že dovtedy nemá v pláne opustiť Bratislavu a že uznáva, že jeho život bez občianstva bude zložitejší, najmä pokiaľ ide o cestovanie. Ale „ak sa má Schengenský priestor stať mojou klietkou,“ hovorí Gogulski, „myslím si, že je pre mňa dosť veľká. V rámci Európy má človek čo objavovať počas celého života.“

Na svojom osobnom blogu Gogulski uvádza, že pracuje ako prekladateľ a redaktor na živnosť. Zároveň píše o anarchizme a podporuje revolučnú teóriu nazývanú agorizmus, ktorá predpokladá, že poskytovatelia služieb na voľnom trhu budú súťažiť so štátmi a nakoniec ich nahradia, vďaka čomu vznikne slobodná spoločnosť. „Vlády sa chvália pojmami, ako je „rovnosť“ a „právny štát“, ale sami zlyhávajú v uplatňovaní rovnakých noriem, ktoré ostatní musia strpieť,“ objasňuje svoju politickú filozofiu. „Základ sily štátu – zdaňovanie, je krádež. To, že títo zlodeji majú elegantné rovnošaty, pôsobivé tituly a odobrenie zákonom, ani v najmenšom nemení základný vzorec vydierania: zaplať nám, lebo inak ťa zabijeme.“

Blog Michaela Gogulskeho nájdete na adrese www.nostate.com.

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