A different path to building the Nation.

By Ross Cheeseright | 10/04/2018

As many of you will know, I have been working on helping to build Asgardia for a long time now. That journey took me on the road of running for Parliament where I got to meet many-many new Asgardians. Once the decision was made to allow only those Asgardians of over 40 years of age to run for Parliament, I stepped down from the race and registered myself as a Government Candidate.

Since then I have been overwhelmed with the support and have gained over 1,700 votes from people who voiced their support for me and I enjoy a daily discourse with many new Asgardian friends.

Recently, however, a new path has opened that will allow me to help make Asgardia a reality.

I have always had 2 main goals in Asgardia.

1: To give my time an energy to Asgardia to make the project a success.
2: To build upon my knowledge of Virtual Reality and try to bring Virtual Reality to Asgardia.

I will still be working on Virtual Reality for the nation and trying to show Asgardians the benefits of the technology and working on my blogs, research and communications, but I will also be taking a role in Asgardia’s Administration.

My main duties while working for Administration revolve around internal communications and helping to grow the nation by spreading the good word of Asgardia and getting new Citizens interested in our Nation.

This will allow me to work directly with the Head of Administration and Lena De Winne to make sure people are kept up to date with official information.

I’m 100% committed to making Asgardia a real and independent nation and helping to realise its core goals.

Let’s get to work.

• Ross Cheeseright

I spent a lot of time on Asgardia’s networks, on our social networks and on our own website. Much of the time I spend there is enjoying debate and discussion with people from all walks of life. One topic that I have seen come up time and time again is the subject of what role Religion will take in Asgardia.

I’ll preface this by saying that I do not subscribe to any religion – I’m a facts guy – If you show me compelling evidence, I’ll change my opinion in line with the best facts that we’ve got on hand with the understanding that I might need to change my opinion again down the line.

And I don’t think that this discussion needs to take place from an angle of ‘is religion good or is it bad’ but rather, it needs to take the form of “What does our constitution say about it.”.

What does the constitution say about Religion?

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 4:

All citizens of Asgardia are equal, irrespective of their Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 11:

Asgardia is a nation of free spirit, science, internationalism. Every Asgardian can freely practice any religion of Earth in Asgardia.

Chapter 5 > Article 16 > Point 4

Prejudice during elections and referenda based on Earthly country of birth, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, wealth, and any other attribute is forbidden.

Chapter 2 > Article 2

Asgardia is the first independent, free, unitary, and social Space Nation, which is transethnic and secular , is based on morality, fairness, peace, and the equal dignity of every human being, looks to the future and the infinite Universe, and is a Kingdom.

The Analysis of the language

So – as we can see from the language used in the constitution, there are two main facts that outline Asgardia’s perspective on religion:

This language suggests that while Asgardians are free to practice a religion, Asgardia is secular in nature. Being secular means that there is no relationship between the nation and religion. Therefore, while religion would be allowed in the nation, the nation would not base its decisions, rules or laws upon religion.

“Separation of church and state.” would be a good way to sum it up.

Asgardia wants to join the UN. Does that make a difference?

The UN has some fairly strong views on religion – specifically article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in where it states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The wording here outlines the freedom of religion and to manifest that religion is a basic human right.

If Asgardia wants to join the UN, that might explain why in the preamble it states that Asgardian Citizens are free to practice any earthly religion in our Nation.

Another vast repository of support from the UN for religious practice can be found within the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

Conclusion

I can understand Asgardian desire to ‘put the past behind us’ and ‘look to the future’ and to many people this means leaving all things that divide us on Earth. Few things in history have been more divisive than religion.

However – There is a danger that rather than expressing a desire for science and leaving behind our earthly divides, someone might end up discriminating against someone – and prejudice might come through if some stigma is attached to religion.

It’s important that Asgardians lead by example and I think that also means accepting people, regardless of their “ Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.”

And while Lena de Winne may have said:

"Asgardia is a free-of-religion society. Everybody is free to practice their religions on earth, but we do not take our religion with us to Asgardia."

I only partly agree with that. Asgardia, as a nation, should be ‘Religion-free’ in that it should not inform our decisions, laws or motivations. However, I that ‘banning’ religion and actively discriminating against people who have Earthly religions would be walking down an incredibly dark path and I will be eagerly watching this point when it reaches the floors or Government and Parliament.

I spent a lot of time on Asgardia’s networks, on our social networks and on our own website. Much of the time I spend there is enjoying debate and discussion with people from all walks of life. One topic that I have seen come up time and time again is the subject of what role Religion will take in Asgardia.

I’ll preface this by saying that I do not subscribe to any religion – I’m a facts guy – If you show me compelling evidence, I’ll change my opinion in line with the best facts that we’ve got on hand with the understanding that I might need to change my opinion again down the line.

And I don’t think that this discussion needs to take place from an angle of ‘is religion good or is it bad’ but rather, it needs to take the form of “What does our constitution say about it.”.

What does the constitution say about Religion?

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 4:

All citizens of Asgardia are equal, irrespective of their Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 11:

Asgardia is a nation of free spirit, science, internationalism. Every Asgardian can freely practice any religion of Earth in Asgardia.

Chapter 5 > Article 16 > Point 4

Prejudice during elections and referenda based on Earthly country of birth, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, wealth, and any other attribute is forbidden.

Chapter 2 > Article 2

Asgardia is the first independent, free, unitary, and social Space Nation, which is transethnic and secular , is based on morality, fairness, peace, and the equal dignity of every human being, looks to the future and the infinite Universe, and is a Kingdom.

The Analysis of the language

So – as we can see from the language used in the constitution, there are two main facts that outline Asgardia’s perspective on religion:

This language suggests that while Asgardians are free to practice a religion, Asgardia is secular in nature. Being secular means that there is no relationship between the nation and religion. Therefore, while religion would be allowed in the nation, the nation would not base its decisions, rules or laws upon religion.

“Separation of church and state.” would be a good way to sum it up.

Asgardia wants to join the UN. Does that make a difference?

The UN has some fairly strong views on religion – specifically article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in where it states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The wording here outlines the freedom of religion and to manifest that religion is a basic human right.

If Asgardia wants to join the UN, that might explain why in the preamble it states that Asgardian Citizens are free to practice any earthly religion in our Nation.

Another vast repository of support from the UN for religious practice can be found within the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

Conclusion

I can understand Asgardian desire to ‘put the past behind us’ and ‘look to the future’ and to many people this means leaving all things that divide us on Earth. Few things in history have been more divisive than religion.

However – There is a danger that rather than expressing a desire for science and leaving behind our earthly divides, someone might end up discriminating against someone – and prejudice might come through if some stigma is attached to religion.

It’s important that Asgardians lead by example and I think that also means accepting people, regardless of their “ Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.”

And while Lena de Winne may have said:

"Asgardia is a free-of-religion society. Everybody is free to practice their religions on earth, but we do not take our religion with us to Asgardia."

I only partly agree with that. Asgardia, as a nation, should be ‘Religion-free’ in that it should not inform our decisions, laws or motivations. However, I that ‘banning’ religion and actively discriminating against people who have Earthly religions would be walking down an incredibly dark path and I will be eagerly watching this point when it reaches the floors or Government and Parliament.

As the elections draw to a close, it certainly seems that Asgardia is looking towards the future – there are a lot of developments, Parliament is being selected, there is a design contest for the Solar and Lunar currency and there is a big contest to select the next finance system with a grand prize of $10,000.

One of the areas that I’m most interested is our ‘home’.

Asgardia exists in a digital space – it’s a large decentralised population that is connected through our various networks (Facebook, Asgardia.space, twitter etc.) and that allows us to come together from all across the world and work together to build this Nation.

However; much of the functionality of the website right now is driven towards “Reading.” – We get news, we get articles, we get competitions, we get decrees and important updates form the HoN – And that’s really great, but there isn’t a lot of functionality for the people to give back.

So I want to start a discussion and see what features people think that the website should have to enable contributions from the Citizens.

For instance, I’d like to see a Central Library of works that were authored by Asgardians and are available to Asgardians. Literary works, fiction, Sci-fi, Academic, Reports – all coming together to start expanding our own nation’s culture.

What sort of features do you think that we should see in the future?

By Ross Cheeseright & Ivan Rosel | 21/02/2018

Introduction

In the text of Decree 15, HoN Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli announced that he would bring an end to the funding of the nation, with all funding due to wrap up by the end of the year. The purpose of Operation: Treasury is to start exploring ways for Asgardia to develop its own funds.

Aim

To mobilize and organize a think-tank of volunteers from  the community with a view to source viable methods of funding Asgardia in both the pre and post formation of Parliament, and to help deliver the vehicles and services required for Asgardians to generate income and trade with one another.

Objectives

1. Operation: Treasury will seek to bring into the fold any Asgardians who think that it is something they might be able to help with.
2. This Operation will seek to explore, address and propose and implement both short-term and long-term solutions regarding the financing of the nation.
3. The operation will be comprised of independent citizens, parliamentary candidates and government candidates, but no current ranking officials or members of Asgardia NGO.
4. Within the scope of this operation will be the research and establishment of revenue-generating businesses or solutions, project proposals and reports.

Scope

As we are not currently permitted to raise funds on behalf of Asgardia, the think-tank will be limited to conducting research, making proposals or developing projects that have the involvement or the formal agreement of Asgardia’s copyright holders / Asgardia NGO.

Transparency

One of the primary goals will be the absolute transparency of the operation and every effort shall be made to share the details, costs, income and expenses of any projects that are run. Furthermore, all reports, investigations and research will be shared with the community, with Parliament and Asgardia NGO.

First Step

The first step we are taking is to notify the community of this think-tank and start to gather together volunteers so that we can conduct meetings and brainstorming sessions to come up with some solutions to the financial problems that we’re facing as a Nation.

How you can help

Salutations my fellow Asgardians,

Many of you have may have recently seen something about a 100 EURO fee circulating around on our Social Media 'outlets' and I have seen that it is causing some confusion so I wanted to write a blog to clear up that confusion a little.

What's going on?

On the Feb 01, 2018 Decree 14 was announced and attached to that decree was a special provision that incites a 100 EURO mandatory donation (fee) for those people willing to enter into Parliament. The purpose behind this fee is for those people running for Parliament to show that they're serious and that they're willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Is it for my Citizenship ID?

No. This has nothing to do with your registration as a Citizen. This is a fee for those people willing to get into Asgardian Politics.

Is it a scam?

It's common practice in many countries to have a fee for those people willing to join a parliament or a government to ensure that only serious candidates are applying. Furthermore, in the provision it states

" the money can be returned to you if you so choose, can be transformed into your registration fee for a candidacy to other bodies of government administration, or can be applied toward the purchase of Asgardia national currency – the Solar ."

So it's highly unlikely that this is a scam! Of course, if you're not comfortable with giving Asgardia your hard earned money, don't.

I have already donated, do I need to donate again?

No. Any money that you have donated so far is counted towards your total donations. So if you've already donated 100 Euros or more, then you're covered and can continue on your way to the top.

I don't have enough money for that, what can I do?

Official word from the CEC is that you are allowed to fund-raise money for your election campaign and when people are submitting donations, they need to clearly state on them that the donation is for your election campaign. This will then count towards your total. A good way to get support from your followers and share out any potential risk.

Where can I learn more?

Go and read all the information attached to decree 14 and make sure that you bookmark my blog to get regular information.

Support me:

I want to work hard for Asgardia, but I can't do that without your support. If you want to help me commit my time and energy, you can vote for me as a Government candidate or support me on Patreon .

Hello there my Fellow Asgardians,

Some of you eagle-eyed people may have noticed that my campaign profile has appeared under the "Government Candidate" section of the website, complete with a whole new campaign platform. Here's the rundown.

What happened?

Some time ago I announced that I was pulling out of the Parliamentary Elections. It had been decided at the highest levels that persons aged below 40 were not eligible to run for Parliament, after a hard-fought campaign and over 1,100 votes and a poll to petition the decision, it was upheld and my Parliamentary Election campaign came to an end.

When I pulled out of the running, it was not possible to vote for multiple candidates and there was no such thing as a Government candidate and honestly, I had no intentions of joining the Government race.

My decision was to leave the race and give back all those 1,100 votes to my supporters so that they could vote for someone that was actually eligible. I didn't want such an important vote simply being thrown away on someone that wasn't eligible.

Why are you running?

I have been working in Asgardia behind the scenes and I have been following the developments of the nation with a keen interest and I can see that there are a lot of areas that need people to drive action, results and fairness. Following the announcement of decree 14 and 15, I can see that in order for the nation to succeed, we're going to need to 'take the bull by the horns' and start to self organise.

I have seen, through recent communications, that there are going to be multiple positions in the Government that will need to be filled and I feel that I can bring a lot of skill and drive to the ministry of information and communication that will allow me to ensure better standards for Asgardians.

Furthermore, it seems like this ministry will be the perfect place to house my efforts to bring Virtual Reality to the nation and eventually, create a completely off-world VR ecosystem free from reliance on other nations for their internet superhighways.

Where can I find out more?

After re-submitting my profile for the new Government Candidate race, it seems that it was re-instated with all my original votes. I have completely overhauled my campaign page with new information befitting the post that I hope to attain in the future.

The profile can be seen here: https://asgardia.space/en/user/784722/profile/view/

If you'd like to support me (and you haven't already voted for me.) then please head over there and learn a little bit about me.

Let's build a nation!

Regards,

Ross Cheeseright

Government Candidate.

Hello Asgardians. I'm surprised with the lack of communication here, so I thought I'd start a conversation by saying hello and introducing myself.

Hello!

I'm Matthew, I live near Oxford, England. I work at the University of Oxford as a Research Software Engineer (aka "Code Monkey"!).

I'd like to see this Asgardia experiment have a positive attitude on how we perceive our fellow humans wherever they may live.

What do you do? And why are you here?

I've offer my candidacy for parliament on a generic platform designed to find the best of what it means to be human and to work to improve the lot of the human race in the future, sustainably and humanly. Now is the time in life to give back and be courageous, to use skills acquired in business and technology to address the injustices of many people on earth, create optimism for the future and purpose in peoples lives. Technology and resources are the key, used in the right way, to free humanity from, suffering, scarcity and drudgery. Humanity must expend it's horizons and ambitions for the future to honour all intelligence and contribute to the creation of a better universe for all sentient beings. Strive to be better.

https://asgardia.space/en/user/479830/profile/view/

I just wanted to share a thought with all my fellow Asgardians.

Equality.

On Asgardia there should be social, political and economic equality of the sexes.

It is so hard to achieve it here because no one is used to it, but if we could built a place where male and female are treated the same way, it is going to be something normal for everyone.

No more fights, no moro protests, we can all just live peacefully together.

I also think that being gay, lesbian, transgender etc. should be seen as a normal thing, it is again something hard to achieve here but new nation, new rules.

Everyone should be able to be who she/he wants to be and not be afraid to show it.

Introduction

Asgardia has made an indirect statement on the age-limit for Parliamentary candidates. On the 24 ^th of December they have updated the website, splitting the candidates into two categories. Parliamentary candidates and Government Candidates.

I am disappointed that this has not been communicated in any meaningful way but their answer is clear: They will not be lowering the age to become a member of Parliament. It is good to finally have a resolution in this matter as it was a debate the drove on for a long time.

What does this mean for me

I have currently over 1,100 votes from people that wanted me to become a member of Parliament and to represent them in Parliament. I campaigned to become a member of Parliament so that I could put in time and effort to build up and shape the nation into something successful and I have been driven by your support and your wishes.

I have no intention of running for a position in Government at this time.

I cannot stress enough how disappointed I am that I cannot fulfil my promises to everyone and it is with a heavy heart that I officially announce the withdrawal of my campaign from the election race. I am truly grateful and humbled by your support and your belief in me.

However, at this time a decision has been made by the head of the nation and we must respect his decision in this matter.

The future

This is not the end of my participation in the Asgardia project, while I am bitterly disappointed in how the elections have been conducted I still have faith that Asgardia can learn from its mistakes and that more robust procedures can be put in place in the future.

This is just the Alpha stage of our nation and there is a long way to go yet and a lot of work still to be done.

I will be taking a step back from politics to focus my efforts on getting results for Asgardia just as I promised in my campaign. I will continue to study and work towards developing Virtual Reality and I will be looking to do what I can to find those other Asgardians who also want to get to work.

If the rules on Parliament change in the future, then I will start another campaign – I hope that I will be able to count on your support once again.

Thank you for everything, my fellow Asgardians.

Yours sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright

Salutations my fellow Asgardians,

It is tradition in my Fiancé’s country to celebrate Christmas on the 24 ^th of December, in mine, we do it on the 25 ^th but as she must live away from home, we decided to keep her traditions so that she can be reminded of home.

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about being a member of Asgardia is learning about all the different cultures, people and traditions that they have in their countries or communities.

Traditions are a funny thing and they’re deeply rooted in our cultures and our societies. At times, they can be more harmful than good – but in this case, eating good food, sharing gifts and strengthening our family bonds – This is a tradition that I can get behind.

As the year comes to an end, it has a funny way of making you reflect and so here are some of the highlights from year in Asgardia.

1. Debates, discussions and thinking about the future of Asgardia.
2. Running for Parliament and breaking the 1000 supporters mark.
3. Being interviewed by international newspapers.
4. The hype of the (successful) Satellite launch.
5. Reading all the news articles about us.

I’ve met some truly awesome people through this project. Every day I’ve had the privilege of having chats and discussions with people about the future and about Asgardia – there is never a dull moment when you’re a part of a community that dreams about the future.

Whatever traditions Asgardia has in the future or whatever your traditions are now it’s customary for people in my culture at this time of year to say, “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.” and with it go genuine well wishes.

Have a good one.

Yours Sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright

To my dear supporters,

“Asgardia is a nation of dreamers” – so our new promotional video says, and since I joined Asgardia I have seen the dream slowly start to turn into a reality and it is upon that basis that I have formed my campaign.

As soon as it was (accidentally) announced that the age-limit for the Parliamentary elections was 18 and over, I joined the race without hesitation and started my campaign in earnest in the hopes that I could sit in Parliament and help take your dreams forward.

Since that time I have had the opportunity to meet more and more Asgardians and make friends with people from around the globe and it has truly amazed me that in spite of where we grew up or what challenges we face in our daily lives, so many people have been able to put aside their differences and to come together under this concept.

And though we have a lot of work to do, I’m fortunate enough to have seen a glimmer of the future of Asgardia.

I am overwhelmed that over one thousand of my fellow Asgardians that see the same potential that I see, feel that same about Asgardia as I do and who believe in my abilities to get the job done.

Whatever happens with the elections going forward, I’m proud that we can work together to make positive changes in the world even if it’s something as small as sharing our ideas and accepting one another’s cultures.

Thank you so much for all your support, let’s continue to challenge the status quo and turn this dream into our reality.

Yours sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright, Asgardian.

What is really out there waiting for us, what can be discovered? We need are in a new space race ... but there are a few things we need to be successful.

We are limited by resources and tools, we have the capability of contracting to various governments and in so doing the beginning of our trading.

We need to work as a team to cross obstacles, risks will need to be taken.

We are at the dawning of a new age .... People are looking at the skies and wonder when they will be available to all people....

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alien-probe-or-galactic-driftwood-seti-tunes-in-to-oumuamua/

Divine Mercy®
"The Origin"

IN OCTOBER 2015, SIX YOUNG TALENTED STUDENTS FROM CHINA WHOM WERE DEEPLY INFLUENCED BY  AMERICAN HIP HOP AND SUB-URBAN CULTURE, GATHERED TOGETHER TO LAUNCH THEIR OWN FASHION LABEL, Divine Mercy®.

THE CORE VALUE OF THE BRAND TO BE IDEALIZED AS A MERCIFUL GIFT FROM THE GOD WHICH OFFERS MANKIND WITH VISIONARY IDEAS IN ITS FASHION, MUSIC AND MEDIA PRODUCTION.

Divine Mercy® GREW TO BE THE EMBODIMENT OF THE CURRENT YOUTH CULTURE, AND CONTINUE TO INSPIRE OUR GENERATION WITH ITS DYNAMICALLY YOUTHFUL BELIEF AND ATTITUDE.

©2015-2017 Divine Mercy®. All Rights Reserved.

Hello my fellow Asgardians,

So the minimum age polls are now closed and in the short space of time that they were open, they generated 1,488 responses which is hundreds more than any petition managed to get in a 60 day period. The polls didn’t just generate votes, they also generated a whole heap of discussions on the various social networks with people voicing their opinions and arguments for both sides, however, regardless of what the differing opinions may be, the numbers don’t lie.

972 people - representing 65% of the votes - believe that, in some form or another, 40 years old is to high for the minimum-age to be eligible to run for Parliament.

I often tend to shy away from discussing the number of votes I have as that in itself can be seen as an inflammatory topic. So I preface this by saying that this is not a boast in any way, my intention is simply to give gravity to the situation.

I have now got over 800 votes. 450 votes more than the 2 ^nd place candidate – It clearly shows on my profile my age and despite this I have attracted such a majority of support.

The fact that I have attracted 30% of the total votes in District #1 should count for something when Dr. Ashurbeyli weighs up his options to make a decree of call a referendum – or not, as the case might be.

The final decision on how to proceed will rest in the hands of the head of the nation and either way the decision will draw its fair share of criticism but his is one of the burdens of calling yourself the head of the nation, you need to make tough choices along the way.

Right now, the scope should be thinking about the future – invalidating hundreds of candidates because of an arbitrary yard stick that doesn’t accurately reflect the will of the people is surely not the way to go.

Now we wait and see what happens next.

Hello there my fellow Asgardian Citizens,

The opinion poll that Civic Asgardia is running on the subject of the age-limit is running out time. It's due to expire on December 04, 2017. If you haven't yet voted, please do so. With enough voices all talking together as one, we can send a strong message to the Head of the Nation and ask him to use the powers outlined in the constitution to resolve this matter and allow people under the age of 40 to be duly elected in this Parliamentary election.

Link to the poll:

http://community.asgardia.com/polls/

Yours Sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright

November 28, 2017

The ongoing debate about “Minimum age.” Has raised some interesting points from the community and I would like to address some of them in this post.

18 Vs 40.

By far, one of the points that needs to be addressed is the ‘polarized maximum’ debate that, generally, takes one of the two following stances

1. “18 is far too young to run for parliament, they don’t have enough life experience!”
2. “We don’t want a bunch of old men running Parliament!”

It’s common for people to jump to extremes and generalisations when they’re making their arguments, that’s fine – making arguments succinctly isn’t a natural skill, it takes time to cultivate but this ‘polarization’ of views that draw on extremes needs to stop.

Just because someone is young, doesn’t mean that they don’t have skills to bring to the table. It certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t have experience in life or the ability to have cultivated some expertise in each field.

Just because someone is older does not mean that they don’t have the energy, passion or drive to represent. It also doesn’t mean that they’ve got no idea of how the digital world works.

Age, experience, skill, wisdom, passion – these things exist on a spectrum.

“Young people don’t know law”

The role of a member of Parliament might involve Proposing new laws and voting on legislation, but it doesn’t mean that you need to be a legal expert.

This is how laws are made in the united kingdom

1. An issue or problem emerges on the government’s agenda
2. Ideas for addressing an issue are considered
   1. Proposals are made on how to address the issue
3. Interested groups are consulted including ministers
4. Ministers agree which proposals to take forward.
5. Selected proposals are made into bills
   1. Highly specialised lawyers – called parliamentary counsel – work to translate the principles outlined in the governments proposal into detailed legislation.
6. Parliament considers and scrutinises bills
   1. To become law, a bill must be approved by MPs
7. The bill goes through several stages:
   1. First reading – read out in chambers and made available to parliament.
   2. Second reading – MPs discuss the main principles of a bill. MPs vote at the end of this stage, particularly if a bill is controversial.
   3. Committee stage – Bill is considered line-by-line by committees of MPs. Changes called “Amendments” are proposed and voted on.
   4. Report stage – The bill with amendments or changes is ‘reported’ to the house. All members can review the amended bill those not involved can suggest further changes.
   5. Third reading – MPs debate and vote on the bill in its final form.
8. Finally the bill is approved and then gets the Monarch’s (largely symbolic) seal of approval and it becomes an Act.

Parliamentarians do not write the law. Experts write the law – Parliament debate how that law would affect the people and they consider how it would affect the people that have elected them—the people that they’re representing.

Then, once the matter has been debated and the points have been put forward, the votes are made to accept the law or reject it.

The idea that Parliamentarians need to have training in law is not correct. We will require legal experts to create the ‘letter of the law’ while the parliament will decide the principles of it.

What is the rest of the world doing

In most countries, the minimum age is much less than it is in Asgardia, especially in constitutional monarchies. Generally, it’s accepted that as soon as you’re legally considered an adult, you’re allowed to run for a position.

Have a look at this list of other countries that don’t seem to have any issues with the minimum age being below 40:

1. Austsralia - 18
2. Austria - 18
3. Belgium - 21
4. Canada - 18
5. Denmark - 18
6. France - 18
7. Germany - 18
8. Japan - 25
9. Norway - 18
10. England - 18
11. Scotland - 16
12. United States – 25

And in many of these countries, people as young as 18 have been elected into their respective Parliaments.

It’s not constitutional to change it.

The argument that it’s not ‘constitutionally viable’ to change the current framework shows a lack of understanding of the mechanisms in the constitution. Some people make that argument that by changing the age-limit to 18, we’ll be breaking the constitution.

This isn’t true. The constitution contains mechanisms that allow the head of the nation to make progress for the nation in the absence of a parliament or legislation, they are as follows:

1. Article 46 of the constitution says:
   "In the absence of Asgardia’s laws and for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the Constitution before the election of the Parliament and the formation of the first Government, the Head of Nation shall issue necessary decrees that will remain in force until respective laws are adopted."
2. Article 45 says:
   "Proposals on amending the Constitution may be made by the Head of Nation, the Supreme Space Council, or the Parliament."
3. Article 44 says:
   "Asgardia’s Constitution may be amended by means of an electronic voting by Asgardian citizens – a referendum"

So it is wholly constitutional for these changes to be made by the head of the nation prior to the end of the election period.

Choice

The important thing here is that we allow Asgardians to choose their future. An adult should have the choice to run and a citizen should have the choice to support that person. Locking out a huge portion of our population due to what appears to be an arbitrary figure that is not consistent with the rest of the world is not good for Asgardia.