I'm one of the new members of the Asgardian community, but I'm hesitating to become citizen for a few reasons that I'll lay out in this blog.
I'm looking for feedback, as I'm sure I'm not the first one struggling with the questions I have.
...
I'm one of the new members of the Asgardian community, but I'm hesitating to become citizen for a few reasons that I'll lay out in this blog.
I'm looking for feedback, as I'm sure I'm not the first one struggling with the questions I have.
But let me start with saying that I'm very impressed by the main ideas behind the constitution and its supreme values. I adore the will to improve the world and mankind promoting unity, equality, freedom, tolerance, morality, just to name a few pillars. These are qualities that are lacking in most of the world. These ground principles are a sound foundation for a better world, not to forget space as well.
I do however have some reservations about the constitution.
My main problem is that you have to accept the constitution as it is to become a citizen. Generally speaking, that is not an unreasonable requirement. In this case however, because the nation and its constitution are so new, it very well may be that there are some sticky points that may need some polishing before requiring to adopt the constitution as it is.
My main reservations are about taxes, and political parties. A lesser reservation is about the lack of rules around weapons. Let's take them one by one.
Taxes
The constitution states that Asgardian citizens shall pay voluntarily established taxes and levies in accordance with Asgardia’s laws. By itself, that is not an unreasonable obligation, as every state has its taxation system. The problem is that the laws do not exist yet. Therefor you don't know what you're signing up for.
Political Parties
Asgardia has no place for political parties, says the constitution. As far as I know, there are no democracies that do not have political parties. The few states that tried, saw they efforts falter. A state without parties is de facto a one party state - the party of the government. More often than not does a state with a one party system slip into a totalitarianism. And as we all know, there are very few well functioning totalitarian regimes.
Weapons
Asgardian citizens possess the right of peaceful and unarmed assembly, without prior approval, states the constitution. Other than in this one sentence, there is no mention about arms. That absence leads me to think that there is tolerance for regular citizens to be armed when not assembled. Needless to say that this leads to much unnecessary loss of life, be it accidentally or intentional.
I wish there were a way to adapt the constitution, so that it would alleviate my reservations.
If you have similar reservations, and you were able to overcome them in some way, I'd like very much to hear about how you went about that.