Feb 10, 19 / Pis 13, 03 03:00 UTC

Citizenship fee is wrong, and you know it.  

^

Feb 16, 19 / Pis 19, 03 16:11 UTC

I would have to politely disagree. Though it was originally free to become a citizen, the parliament had to amend the law as Asgardia has to make a source of income. It is in a way a form of tax so to speak, each year you are required to pay 100 euros to become a citizen (It's not unreasonable, you get to become a citizen of the first space nation for a price cheaper than how much you pay for Netflix a year). If you don't, you aren't fined or kicked out of the community, you just become a resident (Which at this time, is fairly similar to a citizen). Asgardia is no longer being funded by one man, which makes it closer to becoming a true first space Nation. Therefore, the fee isn't wrong, it is just making it one step closer to becoming an independent nation. 

Also, this is a democracy. If you disagree with the fee, why don't you talk to your government representative and express your concern and together you can come up with a petition for an alternative way the government can receive money to fund itself. Here are some example, though I am not an expert at financial doings in any way, I do have a fairly good mind at Business. 


Not all of these are able to solely replace the fee, but are ideas. I might even suggest some of these if you aren't wanting to :). 

1). Extend the Asgardia Media. Keep all the information currently being produced free, but then have a special page where people can pay a $1 to $2 monthly subscription to get special information. Maybe they have more behind the scenes information on how the government is developing, and special monthly interviews with parliament members. 


2). Create a Asgardia merchandise store. They can sell flags (I have really been wanting an Asgardia flag), Asgardia t shirts, mugs, stickers, posters and all sorts of other normal merchandise store products. There are companies out there that you can use which produce the product when purchased from the shop, so we wouldn't need to buy bulk supplies and store and ship them. 


3). This might be law already, but maybe make a petition to allow mayors and local groups to have fundraisers and then the proceeds can go to the Asgardia treasury. I am an eagle scout in boy scouts and do a lot of concession stands for the clubs I'm in at school, so have a lot of experience with fundraising. If they are able to make a stand that sells baked goods, have a booth at a Farmer's marker where all the citizens grow or make items to contribute to the stand, and members rotate who maintains it. Have a free will donation meal. I had one of those while raising money for my Eagle Project, and we made $1,600 in one night. I live in a rural area, our town has less than 200 people residing in it, and the neighboring down has about 600, so doing an event in a large city could make thousands. And most the food was donated, except for the meat which we bought cheaply in bulk from Sam's club. My point is, there are endless possibilities for local Asgardia communities to help out Asgardia by doing a yearly fundraiser. As an example, lets say only 40 cities do fundraisers. (I'm going with medium to big cities, and leaving out possible small city fundraisers). Say they make $7,000 each, which is on the low side really. That is $280,000. Now adding in smaller communities, say 120 each raise $850. That is a combined total of $382,000. This can't replace the fee, but it can replace a big chunk of it. 


4) Start special programs. I am thinking about possibly seeing interest in an Asgardia Beekeeping program. I know bees don't have anything to do with space, but if we don't have bees, we wouldn't have a lot of the food we eat, which would affect all humans. I will talk about this program in a post I will be posting today. It would take some initial funding, which could be loaned from the government or fundraiser can be held by members interested. For an example I will use my bee idea. After getting initial funding, the program can purchase equipment. This equipment will be loaned to people interested after going through training. Using the bee example, say an Asgardian from Poland is interested. They can go through the training (training would be set up by a committee). After passing the training, the equipment would be sent to them. The only major obstacle is making sure the equipment is kept safe and where to store the extra stock of equipment. The new Asgardian beekeeper will then raise their bees, helping the bees, their personal finances, and Asgardia. You can collect the pollen, wax, and honey from a hive, along with selling nucs (tiny versions of a colony which can be sold to a different beekeeper to create a new hive). Say they make $200 from pollen and wax, and their hive makes 60 pounds of honey (my first year of being a beekeeper my hive made 80 pounds, I have been a beekeeper for 6 years now and my aunt is a master beekeeper). So if you have 60 pounds of honey and sell if for $6 a pound (varies by location on earth), you would have $360 from honey sales. Adding the other products sold you have $560. The Asgardian will give the program x percent, let's say for the example 35% of the profit. The program would then make $196. Let's say the program keeps half to grow and maintain itself, and gives the rest to Asgardia's government. That mean Asgardia makes $98 from that individual, and the individual makes a profit too. Now lets say the program has 200 colonies, and though the profits could vary from 0 to a larger sum than the $98, lets use the $98 as an example. With 200 colonies the government would make $19,600. This would also help give Asgardia a more earthly presence. Now this isn't the focus of Asgardia, but if individuals want to make a program, that wont require lots of work by the Asgard government. However much the government want to be involved, if any,  is up to them. 

Feb 21, 19 / Pis 24, 03 10:04 UTC

The problem with the fee, is that it's a straight fee, and as such, puts a filter on Asgardian Residentship (because they changed the definitions around, there's currently no such thing as Citizenship legally from my understanding). The percentage of income that 100 euros is (or any flat fee) is far greater for poor people than for rich people. As such, proportionally, more rich people will join than poor people.


Instead it should be made like an actual tax, and be a percentage of income. Preferably a percentage of income made through Asgardia.

And if you don't pay the fee, you don't become a resident, you become (after some time) a follower. There's no rights in the laws or constitutions for followers. They're basically foreigners.

Asgardian constitution clearly states that Asgardia is supposed to be welcoming to all with no discrimination on various grounds, including financial. This flat fee is a form of discrimination against poor people.

Apr 14, 19 / Tau 20, 03 21:25 UTC

I think that if there are no services there should be no taxes.

For now you can't even have a business or a job in Asgardia to make up for this fee so speaking about taxes is a nonsense.

May 3, 19 / Gem 11, 03 00:32 UTC

The Citizenship Fee is wrong, in it's current state.

First few years should be like $10 Eura a Year or FREE because you invited us in saying we were all equal before you started kicking us out because we did not pay your fee or were fortunate to join early enough to gear a free years grace period. What happened to Asgardia being for all?


I am okay with Taxing the citizens a little, but not so much right away! We don't have any jobs in Asgardia yet and no Businesses are currently in negotiations with Asgardia as far as I know.

  Last edited by:  Haeley Merrill-Schroeppel (Asgardian)  on Aug 9, 19 / Vir 25, 03 12:59 UTC, Total number of edits: 1 time

Jun 19, 19 / Leo 02, 03 11:40 UTC

I would accept taxation, if it were 100% transparent. I (and many others) would like to know where the money is going. As this is beginning to sound like a bad scheme to me.

Oct 16, 19 / Oph 09, 03 00:40 UTC

I agree that the fee should not be the same for everyone as it is quite high for someone of limited means eg. Pensioners. I myself might not be able to continue as a registered citizen once the grace period is up as I am on very low income. I could manage half the fee or even three quarters more easily. Some sort of means testing might be required. I can understand that.

Nov 12, 19 / Sag 08, 03 22:41 UTC

I think the fee is ok but maybe they could let residence pay monthly. Give the option of one payment yearly for the 100 euros or monthly say 10 euros. This might get more residents and Asgardian gets a constant stream of capital to invest. And the smaller amount is easier on people, as the world economy is struggling at the moment and putting pressure on house hold budgets.