To test my ideas, a well-wisher gave me a small island (Forvik). I declared it a Crown Dependency and then spent every penny I had - first to design and build a boat to get access, then to build a house. Forvik is now like Shetland in microcosm. Once the lightbulb went off in my head that Forvik represents the true status of Shetland and that the existing authority is actually an illegal regime, it made it easy to answer questions like 'Is it legal?' - ''Don't you need permission?' and so on.

Another important aspect of this project is to introduce a new kind of democracy - a system where the people have the power over their elected representatives - to get rid of the liars, thieves and tyrants in government. Forvik's system of democracy will be based on Roger Rothenberger's Beyond Plutocracy and will be the first working example of it in the world.