Collective Action Problems and Free-riding in Asgardia
Collective Action Problems and Freeriding in Asgardia
Since I have been in Asgardia, which is over 3 years now, I have been very active with the activities of Asgardia and their politics. Currently, I am the Chairman of the Trade and Commerce Committee for the Asgardia Parliament. From the first time that I joined and until now I realized that this dream of our HON Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli was and still is a worthwhile endeavor. Some would question my loyalty as they believe that this endeavor is either a scam, poorly managed, or moving in the wrong direction. To these people I would say that I can certainly say it has not been a scam since Asgardia has put more money into me then I have to them, scammers don’t put any money into the people they are scamming, they let you do all the spending and make you think they contributed to your efforts. I once was scammed from a very good source that had a very convincing scam. They managed to scam over 20k from me before I realized they were a scam. Armed with that experience I am much more careful who I put my trust in, and with Asgardia that trust has never been violated or broken. As far as management, yes, we have had a few issues in that area, but nothing out of the ordinary considering how much of a logistical undertaken Asgardia is. Most people only see things from their limited perspective, however, Asgardia has chosen to manage the perspectives of thousands of people from countries all over the world with many diverse backgrounds. That in itself sounds impossible, not even the United Nations has been able to manage such a task with the members of their organization with absolute clarity and stability. So, if we have a few minor problems here and there that can certainly be expected. We have managed effectively and continue to do so. Each year our management gets better than the year before as we fine-tune our objectives, goals, and interactions. It will be only a matter of expected time when we have a fully functioning management team that allows us extraordinary success in our management endeavors. Then there is the direction of Asgardia. This direction has always remained the same, which is to do research in the scientific and aerospace communities towards long term space habitation, formulate action plans towards the goal of long term space habitation, participate in the global political structure towards international law concerning space and the occupation of space, and put support structures in place to allow us to reach our goals and objectives. Now this may not be the direction of some outside of Asgardia, but it is the direction of its founder and those who are the most dedicated to Asgardia. This direction won’t change, it may have to adapt from time to time but in the journey to its end result, which would be a Nation in space will remain the same.
One of the biggest problems I have seen in Asgardia is the lack of collective action and the exercise of freeriding within Asgardia. Over a thousand of Asgardians have totally dedicated themselves to Asgardia, that thousand is not nearly enough. However, we have had over a million that say they want to see the success of Asgardia, but they fail to contribute to that success. They troll through the websites of Asgardia, the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, they make derogatory comments towards anyone trying to achieve success, they tell us how things should be done, they put themselves above the system as if they are the all-seeing eye of knowledge, but yet, they do little to nothing to actually support Asgardia. If you put nothing into something than all you will get back is nothing. Surely in their wisdom, they must know this. I listen to people say that the HON should invest in a corporate style strategy and run Asgardia like a business. Which sounds ok put Asgardia won’t be a business or nothing like it, it will be a nation in space. Currently, there are no models to explore on nations in space, because there has never been one, so we are building this model ourselves from scratch. To build something you need builders who are willing to build. Since Asgardia is a Nation for all, and all for a Nation, our builders are those citizens and residents who are dedicated to seeing its success. You don’t build something with good or even bad intentions, no you have to have action and in Asgardia that action would be a positive collective action. This PCA involves your time, your money, and your resources. Any all-volunteer an organization out there requires its members to put their faith, their money, their time, and their dedication into that organization in order for it to be successful. Asgardia is no different.
Let me tell you a story about the house I am currently living in. I have lived here for over 20 years, and when I first entered this house 20 years ago. I knew I was going to own it. I had a vision or a dream of how I would own it and how beautiful the house would be. So, I went around my local area and started visiting financial institutions to acquire a loan to buy the house. The owner was asking for 75k and every financial institution I went to said my credit was to bad to purchase a house for that amount and it would be impossible for me to get the loan, my friends told me the house was ugly and broke down and that I would never be able to get it to look good, or that it simply was not worth my time and money. Despite all the critics I wanted that house and I was determined I was going to get it. Finally, after searching all surrounding townships near my home, some fifty miles away, I found a financial institution that would lend me the money. But then another problem came up, in order to get the money, I had to have an appraisal done on the house, I needed the appraisal to be for at least 75k. When the inspector came out, he appraised the house at 0 dollars and condemned it. He said it was a complete piece of junk and I should just move on and look for another house. However, I saw what the house could be or was going to be, not what it was currently, so I asked him how I could get a favorable appraisal. He gave me the list of everything that had to be either replaced or repaired and said fix this stuff and I will give you a favorable appraisal. Now I was not a man who had a lot of money at the time, in fact, my finances were in terrible shape. Knowing I could not pay for new materials for repairs I went around junkyards, construction sites. And anywhere they were throwing out stuff I could use and collected it. For 2 years I worked on this house building it into something new using junk, my time, and my money. I also did this knowing I did not actually own the home, I might not get the financing, and the appraiser might not approve the home. The owner could also easily back out of the deal and keep the home, but I kept working on it because I had faith it was going to work, and I would own the home. So, after two years the house was finished, and the inspector came back to inspect. He appraised the home at 95k, and I got my loan to buy the home. Today my house is worth over 150k and is an awesome 19th century home, that everyone says is the most beautiful they have seen, but if 20 years ago I had listened to all those people who told me it was not worth it, or that I would not succeed, it would be a piece of junk sitting in a field, and I would be living in a home I would not appreciate as much as this one. But I did not listen, instead, against all odds, I put my faith, time, money, and dedication into it, because I knew it would be a success, I had envisioned it. The same way I envisioned Asgardia being a success. That home also started out with no value, but it gained value only by the efforts of one very determined person who believed in its success.
Lastly let’s talk about freeriding. Freeriding is where someone benefits from something in some sort of way, without actually contributing something to it. Like a radio station that is on the air from donations only, even though only 30% of its listeners actually contribute, millions might actually benefit from the radio show. In Asgardia we need less “Free riders” and more “Action riders”. My dad used to coin the phrase “Put your money where your mouth is” which means show how you support something by engaging in action of contributing to its financial needs. As I said before every organization out there like red cross, green peace, and even the Facebook community started out very small, then those who believe in it, contributed to it and were totally dedicated to the cause, turned it into something grand beyond their wildest dreams.
So, it’s time to take action! It’s time to show our faith in Asgardia and it’s time to contribute our time, money. And resources into a worthwhile cause. Worthwhile because humanity needs Asgardia more than most people realize, one only has to take a serious look around the planet to see how bad things are getting now, and we have done little to take humans beyond Earth. Asgardia may not hold all the answers but it is a vision of hope to those who want space to be more than just a topic that will get discussed at the dinner table. So those of you who would like to take action and contribute here are five ways to make that happen.
1. Become a Resident - Being an Asgardia resident is a voluntary way you can contribute to the efforts of Asgardia monetarily, and gain access to all the benefits of being an Asgardian. The membership fee is only 100 Euros and that is about 8 US dollars a month. A person could take and put a few bucks in a jar a month and at the end of the year, they would have all they needed to pay the fee. That money is used to run the administrative actions of Asgardia and to advance its objectives. As Asgardia builds on its funding more initiatives will come out for all residents and thus creating more value to Asgardia and allowing it continued success.
2. Become a Mayor – Becoming a Mayor and organizing community events will certainly help Asgardia reach its goals. It is simple really, you organize meetings with your friends, family and acquaintances. Then you discuss current issues in Asgardia, write petitions, and suggestions to the laws, or processes, engage in the political structures of Asgardia, invite Parliament members and Ministers to your meetings for a one on one questions and answers, hold a fund raiser, and makeup flyers, pamphlets, and business cards and get the word out.
3. Shop Online at Asgardia StarShop.Space – Star Shop is the only official website that sells Asgardia products. There are all kinds of things to choose from at an affordable price. Being a customer of Star Shop I can say the service was great, the packaging was professional, and the products were of good quality. Much of the merchandise is designed by Asgardians themselves, and if you want to design something and have it featured on the website, your allowed to do that as well. Officially 20% of all sales go toward Asgardia’s economy, but unofficially much more than that has been given back to Asgardia. It’s a great way to buy Asgardia products and help Asgardia at the same time.
4. Contribute and get involved in organized events – Asgardia continues to have organized events, our last event was the Asgardia Art Competition where Asgardians from around the world entered some of the most awesome pieces of Art until there were 10 finalists. I personally viewed and voted on the winner of the competition and can say I was certainly proud of all the entries presented. I am an art lover and thought this was some of the finest art I have seen, and it was an honor to pick the winner. Currently, we have another event coming up called Asgardia Fair Booth and Float. It is being organized by parliament member Bridget Kielas-Fecyk and has the potential to increase Asgardia residency and increase recognition for Asgardia. Fairs and Floats are a very big deal in America, thousands of people come to these events and participate in them, the event that has been chosen for this fair is one of the largest in the region. But to make it happen we need people to contribute, there is a go-fund-me page set up, and just follow the link in this article. Your contributions no matter how large or small all will aid in its success. 5, 10, 50, or 100 dollars, the amounts don’t matter as much as the quantity does, every little bit helps, and everyone can afford to contribute a few bucks. Keep in tune with Asgardia’s website and follow the news for more events you can be a part of. Another great place to go is the Trade and Commerce of Asgardia BDAR (Business Development Activity Registry) This is a place where you can enter your business ideas and let Asgardia help you in developing those ideas if the idea turns out to be something that will help us reach our goals it may be selected for further approvals and lead to a partnership with Asgardia.
5. Buy Asgardia Solar’s – The Solar will be the official trading currency of Asgardia. By making a purchase of the solar you are adding value to the currency and aiding in it getting recognized by the world stock exchanges. Plus, you can use the solar to make transactions between Asgardians and more ways are coming as those get passed into law. Many financial experts believe the Asgardia solar will become one of the most stable markets and have enormous value, now is the time to get in on the ground floor and invest in a very good stock. The exchange rate is set at one solar for one Euro, and as you purchase its value increases. Hopefully, soon we will be able to start purchasing the solar on the main website.
I will continue to invest in Asgardia because I believe it is a worthwhile cause that will yield many advances in science and technology, become a model for all of humanity, and be valued at a price beyond belief. It is that hope that keeps the dream alive and keeps those who wish to kill the dream away. Humanity needs a way out if our planet becomes inhabitable, Asgardia is that way out. Humanity needs to expand its horizons beyond earth and into the stars, Asgardia is that expansion and the bright star of humanity that will allow many hopes and dreams to come true. Now, let’s take action and make it so.
Author: John Fine Asgardia Parliament TCC Chair
An opinion article, with related facts, wrote for publication to all Asgardians.