The next Asgardia Answers live stream on the Official Asgardia Facebook page will be held on October 21, 2017 at 14:00 UTC.

(See the graphic to see the closest timezone for you!)

Join Lena De Winne, CEO of the Asgardia NGO, to ask questions and talk about Asgardia and the issues about building a nation. Ask questions and get live answers! Talk about what you did on Founding Day!

We also want to know what you'd like to talk about! Suggest a topic or ask a question below and we'll see if we can't discuss it live!

Hello Asgardia!

As you know, it's Founding Day! It's been one year since Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli announced in Paris Fance Asgardia, the first ever space nation – a global, unifying and humanitarian project. We've come so far in such a short amount of time!

To celebrate, there are many community organized events going on around the world. To name just a few...

The Asgardia 'In Your Space' photo party will run from October 12 - 15. Use the hashtag #AsgardiaFD0001 on selfie pictures taken in your area celebrating Asgardia and share it to your Asgardia blog!

See more information on the civic Asgardia blog post here:
https://asgardia.space/…/17357-founding-day-photo-challeng…/

Asgardia Phillipines is running a contest through their National Community Facebook page for the community in the Phillipines. For more information you can find it here: http://bit.ly/2zdZ4z1

Asgardia Finland has created their own community event on the Finland Facebook community page here:

http://ow.ly/Ipiv30fOCty

Kahif Shaikh, a national community center volunteer of the Indonesia National Community Center is hosting a livestream about Asgardia on his personal page on 12 October 8pm UTC +5:30 Indian standard time.

https://www.facebook.com/kashif.shaikh.98892

Ana Godinho a Civic Asgardia National Community Center volunteer has created an online space themed scavenger hunt for the community to enjoy! You can find it here:

https://goo.gl/forms/a9dH0jSc96ESl7bI3

Check your local National Community Facebook Page to connect with other Asgardians or on the Forums or the Facebook groups!

Happy Founding Day everyone!

Hello Asgardia!

Let's show our Asgardia spirit for Founding Day with a new photo challenged 'In Your Own Space'! Between October 12 - 15, 2017 make a sign and take a selfie with yourself and your friends sharing your space! Post it to your Asgardia blog and share it to social media with the hashtag #AsgardiaFD0001!

We'll be watching for your creative photos!

This coming Founder's day i will be celebrating by teaching my children about the stars and our solar system, I may not have a chance to live in space myself but I am sure at least one of my children will and follow in my footsteps to make a better future for all of humanity. #AsgardiaFD0001

There has been a lot of discussion regarding taxes for Asgardian citizens and I want to discuss it from a different angle.

On eath, the common saying is "Money is the root of all evil" and for good reason. If you look at what money does for society, it becomes quite clear that the idea of the monetary system is not only flawed, it's completely unnecessary.

Here are a few things to consider when discussing the need for the monetary system:

1) Most crime is monetarily motivated either directly or indirectly. This includes nearly all crimes aside from crimes of passion and mischief/vandalism. Removing money as a factor would limit any crime for the purpose of greed, necessity and money related emotional crimes.

2) Money greatly limits the advancement of health and medicine. Shoestring budgets are the main reason for the lack of progress in fighting diseases. Most medical scientists, as well as health practitioners, will tell you that they just don't have the budget to run the necessary tests or buy required equipment.

3) As a scientifically motivated nation, limiting the available funds allocated to scientific research and equipment would cripple a nation that focuses on scientific research as a main form of industry.

4) Money fosters class systems. As long as you have a monetary system, you will also have upper, middle and lower class. As a nation that boasts equality, it seems counterproductive to allow the ability to create class systems. In a situation such as space, homelessness and poverty is a much bigger problem, as there is no possible way to survive in space without money in a currency based society.

5) Money is irrelevant in a resourced based economy system. If we are the ones building a space habitat, it would make sense to implement as much technology as possible to fully automate the entire system. This means that the availability of jobs would be extremely limited and therefore would limit the ability to explore personal interests.

6) The only use for money in a self-sustained habitat would be for the purpose of travelling to earth and doing trade with earth nations. Within Asgardia, the only other purpose for currency would be purchasing non-life essential products from other Asgardians, such as art. All other products could easily be built into the design of the ship. The only other purpose would be to pay taxes to a government that has nothing to spend it on.

7) By using asteroid mining, as well as manufacturing scientific equipment and rocket fuel, Asgardia would be able to generate a huge revenue stream for our GDP. This would allow us to trade with earth-based nations for any other supplies we may need, past what we can produce. If set up properly, there is nothing that we shouldn't be able to produce ourselves anyway. The income of the sales could be evenly spread throughout all citizens for the purpose of travel to earth.

8) People will be free of the need to work and could focus on passions instead of mundane activities. This would allow for little restriction on the ability to further develop yourself and truly live your life. We would see some people become lazy and not do anything but the reality is that people like that already are lazy. It is not my business what someone else wants to do with their time, as long as it does not negatively impact society. In this case, no individual would have the ability to negatively affect any other citizen's life. I personally am not defined by the job that I must do but by the passions I follow during the time that I am not at work.

The only reason to implement a monetary system is to facilitate greed. There is no logical use for money in a space nation and the implementation of it only causes problems, rather than fixing them. Money is limiting and can be completely debilitating.

If I am voted into a position of influence, I will push for a moneyless, resource-based economy and truly free us from the broken systems of the earth and free the human mind.

A truly free society.

Hello Asgardia!

We'd like to let you know that uploads to the Asgardia-1 satellite are still open until October 1, 2017!

After that time, uploads will be restricted to the website only and uploads will not be transmitted the to satellite before launch. After, uploads to the satellite will be technically restrictive in terms of files sizes.

So if you haven't uploaded your file yet, do so today!

Kind regards,

Rebekah Berg

Head of Community Affairs

NGO Asgardia

You can see the original livestream video broadcast at the following locations:

Facebook

YouTube - not currently available

The transcriptions for September 16, 2017 Asgardia Answers, hosted by Lena De Winne, are now available. The volunteer Community Center teams are working hard at translating it into many of the spoken languages of Asgardia and as they become available will be added to the list below.

Engl ish Transcript

Finnish Transcript

Hindi Transcript

Portuguese Transcript

Italian Transcript

If you have a translation of the transcripts that you have done yourself, please email a Google doc link to adminteam@asgardia.space so it can be reviewed for accuracy before it is added to the list.

Hello Asgardia,

As requested by the community, we have made the new temporary National Symbols available for download for citizens personal use on the Asgardia.space website. Asgardians may use the national symbols of Asgardia for non-commercial purposes only, such as introducing and promoting Asgardia, forum or Facebook avatars, etc.

https://asgardia.space/en/national-symbols/

Using any national symbols or elements of the Asgardia visual identity, including any use for commercial purposes, requires explicit written consent from Asgardia, and is otherwise prohibited.

Good day Asgardia!

Did you see the Asgardia Answers Live Stream held by Lena De Winne on August 19, 2017? Here is a link to the YouTube archive version of it:

Asgardia Answers Live Stream - August 19, 2017

Can access YouTube? We have transcriptions available in several different languages here:

English

Chinese

Greek

Hindi

Italian

Portuguese

Turkish

Don't see a language you want? Check the pinned post on Facebook for your country community page and request for them to do a translation!

Our humanity seems to be missing in recent decades.  Countries are hurting their own people, we still have war, poverty and the fight to be the top dog or the richest is still happening.  We aren't showing our humanity, our empathy and understanding to each other.

As all of us Asgardians look to a better future in the stars, we can't forget that we need to work on forging a better life on our planet.  For everyone.

Over the last few days we've seen physical attacks in Barcelona, Charlottesville; verbal attacks all over the world; threats to the safety and security of our planet in the form of war and nuclear arms.  Everyone seems to be gunning for everyone else... climbing over the bodies of others so they're first to the top... they're the better one... the more accomplished one... the right one.  This has to stop!

Each of us is responsible for our circle... our lives and those of us we influence by our behaviour, our work, our words and actions.

Humanity is lacking in our culture... or if it is still there, it is hiding.. in disgrace? in horror?  in knowledge that we aren't listening?!  We have to do more than just exist on this planet... we have to show that we are worthy of the title human.  We have to show our humanity to others... feel it within us.  Work for the better... whether it betters you and yours... or the situation... or makes you feel better.

Show your humanity!  Inspire others to show theirs!  We are more than nationality, skin colour, religion, political-bent... we are humans!  We can love hard, do good for others, take care of our planet and in all those things, we are taking care of ourselves.

This is doable!  Humanity First!

Hello Asgardia!

Here is a friendly reminder about online safety.

Asgardia will never contact you to learn your account details. We will not message or email you to request money. No one should ever ask for your password.

Asgardia: the Space Nation is free for everyone to participate in. Donations are only accepted through the donations page on the Asgardia.space website.

Similar to any secure online business transactions, never share your login information with anyone.

Cheers!

Rebekah Berg

Head of Community Affairs

NGO Asgardia

Hello, Asgardia!

Welcome to the second installment of Let’s Talk, Asgardia! Today, I would like to address some of the questions and concerns from the community regarding leadership elections that are currently under way. I am going to focus on how the community itself can participate in this process and ensure that the leaders they think are best are elected.

Participation Equality

On June 13, 2017, elections for leadership began. In these elections, Asgardians can nominate themselves and vote for others.

FUN FACT:

As of July 8, 2017, there were more than 5,000 leadership nominations!

The leadership positions are open for all Asgardian citizens. Leaders need to show the community what they can do in their position as a leader. They need to become involved in the community online and in person. Unlike many countries around the world, where there is a cost associated with running in an election, signing up to run in Asgardia is free. In Asgardia, everyone has equal footing and an equal chance to prove to the community that they are the best person for the job.

FUN FACTS:

In order to remain impartial, those who are employed by NGO Asgardia, as well as the National Community Managers (formerly Chapter Advocates), are disqualified from running in the leadership elections.

Also leaders at the Trendsetter and Ambassador levels are disqualified from volunteering with Civic.Asgardia; this allows them to devote more time to leading their regions.

How to Evaluate a Leadership Candidate

Are they using their real name? Are they displaying their real picture?

We welcome transparency in Asgardia and are striving to make a responsible society. As with any real government or elected position, community leaders in Asgardia must be accessible, and they must be real. This is not a popularity contest. These leaders will be expected to sign important documents with their real name, and to engage with real-world people and businesses to help build Asgardia. If they want to be leaders, people must show their face and use their real names.

What type of content is included in their campaign posts?

Asgardia is a fledgling nation. It needs community leaders with vision and drive, leaders who can help to create a solid foundation that withstands the test of time and that supports Asgardia’s case for statehood to the United Nations. Our first leaders are breaking ground to lead us into the future by supporting Asgardian citizens globally and within their local area. Whether an elected leaders works within a single city or whether they represent an entire country, community leaders build Asgardia.

Is the candidate located in your relevant area?

Debutant level candidates can only be supported by voters within 300km of their location. While Asgardians can vote for Strategist, Trendsetter and Ambassador  candidates anywhere in the world, voters must remember that if leaders are far away, they may not consider your local needs when elected.

Questions to Ask Leadership Candidates

(What we want to learn about people by asking these questions.)

What types of topics have they discussed on the Asgardia forums and social media outlets?

Leaders must be able to engage with the local community constructively and professionally. They need to be aware of local concerns and ideas, and be able to provide feedback and suggestions that will help Asgardia in a positive manner.

Are they skilled in both English and their local language(s)?

Like the United Nations, Asgardia must have an operational language, which is currently English. Leaders must be able to understand the policies and processes in order to enact them within their areas. Also, they must be able to lobby effectively for their local citizens.

Do you feel they can professionally represent your area to both Asgardia and to the public?

Successful leaders must convey not only confidence, but also must communicate the goals of Asgardia to its citizens and the public. Leaders will be an important part of how the public perceives Asgardia.

How conversant are they in Asgardia policy and procedure?

While representing your area, your leader must understand Asgardia’s history and culture. Use common sense as you evaluate their ability to properly answer questions about Asgardia and its policies and procedures.

What are their plans to help Asgardia grow?

Asgardia grows through member support. Leaders help engage and mobilise citizens in their communities. Ask questions and learn how your candidate plans to help Asgardia become a successful nation, a helpful nation, a long-lasting nation. Use your own judgement in evaluating if these goals are realistic and in line with the core concept of Asgardia.

How will they encourage local members to gather and participate in Asgardia?

Asgardia is a virtual nation, but it is made up of real people. In-person events and responsible management of resources are important in the expansion of our nation. Ask direct questions to find out what they have planned in this area.

What potential do you anticipate for business growth, fund-raising, professional accreditation, and community development grants?

A strong leader needs to grasp many aspects of the community. Nation-building is more than politics. A candidate must have a plan to work with Asgardian businesses. They should have ideas about how to generate revenue and how to encourage citizens to help Asgardia grow.

Have they responded to questions from the community previously?

Leaders themselves grow and evolve. Look at your candidate’s behavior online over the past few months. Find their posts in the forums. Look to see if their behavior matches their statement of intent.

For Next Time

If you have any suggestions for a future Let’s Talk, Asgardia!, please leave a message for me here or send a comment to your national chapter or center.

Cheers!

Rebekah Berg

Head of Community Affairs

NGO Asgardia

Hello Asgardia!

We wanted to let everyone know that the automatic removal process is now up and running. Which means that if you no longer want to be a member of Asgardia you can log into your profile and now click on 'Delete Account' at the bottom of the screen.

What this means:

• Your account will be locked from logging in
  • Your personal data will be removed from our database
  • Your personal profile on the website and on forum will no longer be viewable
  • Your email address will be flagged as an account that was removed
  • Your votes on the national symbols will be removed
  • Your agreement to the Constitution will be removed
  • Your posts on your personal blog will be removed
    Your Candidate profile will be removed (if applicable)
  • Your posts on the forum will be removed
  • Your username will remain but still be associated with your locked account
• 
  

If you change your mind and would like to be restored, you will need to email citizens@asgardia.space with the request. They will restore your account and provide a temporary password for you to log in. Once you re-log in you will need to input your personal data and reaffirm your agreement to the Constitution.

We ask for your patience as there may still be bugs in the system that we are trying to fix but are endeavoring to provide this convenience for you.

Kind regards,
Rebekah Berg
Head of Community Affairs
NGO Asgardia