The promise of exit has always haunted those who would rule over others. From the German forest tribes who frustrated Roman legions to the digital nomads who slip between jurisdictions, humans have sought spaces where voluntary cooperation replaces coercive hierarchy.
These temporary autonomous zones arise from a simple economic calculation: when the costs of control exceed the benefits of extraction, freedom becomes possible. The state retreats because of the cold logic of diminishing returns, and in that retreat, human creativity flourishes.