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110 The Costco Connection FEBRUARY 2017
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Welcome to Molossia
SOME PEOPLE BUILD model airplanes
or furniture as a hobby. Kevin Baugh built
a country. Not as a political statement or
social protest, but simply for fun. But the
Nevada Costco member, officially known
as His Excellency President Kevin Baugh
of the Republic of Molossia (molossia.
org), thinks it is more like a vocation
since it takes up a lot of his, and the first
lady’s, time.
A micronation—sometimes referred
to as a model country—Molossia is located
inside the state of Nevada near Reno. It
was originally founded on May ;;, ;;;;,
as the Grand Republic of Vuldstein, after
Baugh and his high school friend, James,
saw the ;;;; Peter Sellers movie The
Mouse That Roared, a political satire.
“James was the king. I was the prime
minister,” explains Baugh. “After a while
he went to a different school, but I stayed
with it. Once I obtained property here in
northern Nevada in ;;;;, I changed the
name to Molossia, put up the flagpole,
raised the flag, and we’ve been going
strong here ever since.”
Wikipedia says there are thousands
of micronations across the globe. “There
are a wide variety of agendas, if you
wanna use the word ‘agenda’—reasons for
starting your own micronation,” explains
Baugh, “and some can be political state-
ments. We’re not.”
Denizens of Molossia pay U.S. taxes
and vote in local and national elec-
tions. Everything Baugh says has tongue
planted firmly in cheek.
“We have ;; citizens,” His Excellency
claims. “Here in the Molossian home
territory we have a total of seven human
and five dog citizens. Yes, sir, dogs are
citizens. The rest ... are expatriates living
in the U.S., mostly nearby in Nevada and
then over in California. All Molossians
are family members.”
Molossia comprises ;;.; acres, “but
our home territory is only ;.; acres in
this portion of Nevada,” Baugh says. “The
other two provinces are ; acres in North-
ern California and ; acres in Southern
California. But they are uninhabited.” It’s
small in size, but large in spirit.
A number of small buildings, including the president’s office, a post office,
a bank and a trading post, dot the main
street. “We have the Tiki Hut Bar and
Grill, and then we also have our customs
shack,” he says. Passports are not needed
to visit, but Baugh will happily stamp
yours if you bring it. Day visitors are welcome but prior arrangements must be
made. A guest house is on his wish list.
As for Costco, Molossia doesn’t have
its own. Baugh says, “We use the one over
the border in the U.S.”—Steve Fisher
Top: Reaching the Molossian border. Above: The
Molossian post of;ce—U.S. stamps accepted.
Below: His Excellency being master of his domain.
PHOTOGRAPH Y: MOLOSSIAN MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
Click here to watch an interview
with His Excellency. (See page 9
for details.)