The world is replete with peoples who believe they would benefit from nationhood if only the nation in question existed, but it's not on the list. But already it's not that simple: maybe it does exist, but as a sub-nation within another nation: the Navajo nation comes to mind. It's defined within US law. But what is the US defined within? A community of nations, which tries to achieve some form of stability and rules based order, but fails in many dimensions.
What's to keep a Ghost Nation from recruiting citizens without upsetting pre-existing citizenships? A Ghost Nation has no existence in the eyes of the United Nations, or maybe quasi-existence. Take Palestine for example. Some states recognize it as a state, but there's not enough gravitas in the picture to rescue its would-be citizens from extermination programs undertaken by some UN members.
That the UN is unable to keep its own members from cross-border incursions by military forces is a fact of life. Indeed, frustration with international law has led to a general breakdown in the whole structure, leaving the question open as to whether this current configuration was more transitory than many at first believed. Is anyone working on restoring its integrity?
When people hear other people say "race is a social construct" they have no idea what that means. Aren't nations social constructs too then? Yet we take them seriously. Just because a concept is a "social construct" doesn't mean it comes with a strong opt out option. Racist states insist on labeling by race, which is how we know they're racist. You can't have apartheid if people won't play the game in the first place.
Those hoping to keep the idea of nation-states intact may not see time running out the way I do. They see nothing to be concerned about. But then I'm not seeing anything all that melodramatic about calling out melodrama.
We all know what programming means. We're programmed to act in our various roles as social creatures. I'm not seeing that changing or needing to change. What's always changing are the programs themselves, not our ability to self-reprogram.
In the newer programs, perhaps one gains citizenship in a ghost nation without moving anywhere. There's no specific place you need to be to be a citizen of X. On the other hand, you may be expected to fulfill duties of citizenship in some way, let's say not by joining a military necessarily, but maybe that too. Citizens work to serve their fellow citizens. Service to others is what gives rise to a sense of nationhood.
Existing UN member nations may feel their sovereignty is threatened by ghost nations, but given they've learned to co-exist with various global entities already, such as banks, shipping companies, airlines, oil companies... it's not a stretch to see ghost nations as akin to universities, with spread-around campus facilities.
That's how I'm seeing Palestine these days.
Not all its facilities are in West Asia by a long shot. Nor is its citizenship clearly defined. People of any religion might choose to "dualize" and identify as Palestinian in addition. I could be a Palestinian. So could you. We could have another million Palestinians by the end of the month, which sounds pretty meaningless and empty. So what? I'm not saying I know exactly. I'm exploring the space of possibilities.
