Questions about establishing a government

[bumab]

Sign me up for that goodness!

[Turtle]

____Absolutely Bumab! Perhaps we can launch our first module from Puget Sound! At some point we will have to work out how to build new modules at sea. We will have very unique qualities as a port & no doubt can derive revenue from that use while at the same time receiving materials for construction. Dock at Orby's Turtle Island for the layover of a lifetime! ;) ;) ;) ;)

[Queso]

such a magnificent idea.

[Fishteacher73]

We could have hookers and liquer and gambling.... We could be a floating den of iniquity. I'm sure it would be a hit with the comercial trafffic, perhaps even a specific vacation destination. If we don't like the weather, just move a bit to a sunnier local.

[pgrmdave]

Would we still be able to access hypography?

[Fishteacher73]

I have seen adds for high speed internet access through satelite (like dish or direct TV) I would assume it would be reasonably easy to get a line of sight on a satelite in the ocean.

[Turtle]

:Alien: ___Fish, you will be in charge of developing the first Tuna Beer & recruiting...ah... 'social workers". GETE

___I agree that with satellites we still would get Hypography as well as TV, radio & phone.

___The hardest part of it all may turn out to be the government that the thread questions. Not so much legal standing with the rest of the world, but rather governing ourselves. Even floating about free on a technical marvel, we still would come with our human natures intact.

___It is one thing to criticize an existing government (now or in past history) & quite another to come up with something better and implement it. Island or not, it is a question that continues to elude us.

___No reason not to try though, especially in a manner never carried out before, ie. on our artificial floating island. :)

[rockytriton]

I checked into this a while ago, it seems that all land has been claimed already. Including all of Antarctica :Alien: I wanted to be emperor.

[Fishteacher73]

I checked into this a while ago, it seems that all land has been claimed already. Including all of Antarctica :Alien: I wanted to be emperor.

 

That did not seem to impare the Europeans in the new world....

 

___The hardest part of it all may turn out to be the government that the thread questions. Not so much legal standing with the rest of the world, but rather governing ourselves. Even floating about free on a technical marvel, we still would come with our human natures intact.

___It is one thing to criticize an existing government (now or in past history) & quite another to come up with something better and implement it. Island or not, it is a question that continues to elude us.

 

I think it would be quite easy for a group of reasonably intelligent people to establish a basic autonomous collective. The only problem would be longevity. A generation or two will quite a different "personality" and a very different set of issues to deal with. What ever system that would be stable at the moment would be archaic and not address the current issues.

[Queso]

all the land may be claimed...but isn't there some uncharted water unclaimed? there has to be.

[bumab]

I don't think you can just claim water... you'd have to find an uncharted island, i think. then you get control of the surrounding waters (to the international water line, 20 miles or something like that).

[Turtle]

___Just the point I was about to point out. We have earlier in this thread established that we intend to build our own artificial islands & float them in International waters which no one has claim to. This brings into my mind that if we want to know about laws affecting our plan, we should be examing Maritime Law & not the Law of the Land.

___Fish you have swayed me back to a more confident view (this too will pass, GETE). You bring up a very good point about generations; something I hadn't even thought of. Children of the Sea, born & raised on the water, or more to the point, not familiar with land.

___Now here is the tough one; can we really do this? Or maybe better, can anyone really do this? How much would it cost to have a first turtle shell island afloat & how long would it take? Since we have to start somewhere, how big should a single module be?

We can do this!

:Alien:

[rockytriton]

I think it would be quite easy for a group of reasonably intelligent people to establish a basic autonomous collective.

 

Yes, you could take it in turns to sort of act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major...

 

ok, I'll be quiet.

 

Just remember that strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government.

[Fishteacher73]

If said some moistened tart had lobed a scimitar at me, they would lock me away.

[Buffy]

By international treaty, the oceans cannot be claimed beyond various limits beyond coast lines for rights to various resources. This has resulted in some not so amusing near wars about the Spratley Islands which are little rocks, some of which are only above water at low tide that are claimed by China, Japan, the Philipines and some others. War has nearly broken out among the parties and they occasionally try to invade these rocks (some are only a few feet wide), because the owning country would get mineral and fishing rights. Its amazing. On the other hand, there's no problem putting a boat out in the middle of the ocean: every one has a right to sit out in international waters if they want to... You'd still need some lawyers to argue that as far as UN agreements, that you were *not* citizens of signatories to various agreements, or those countries could come after you legally for violating UN treaties...unless of course you decided to join the UN, but they might not recognize people on a boat as a country..

 

I vaguely remember something like this being tried by a cruise line, where they were basically going to get rich folks to move permanently on to a luxury liner, but I have not heard what happened to it.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Turtle]

___Of course we have more ambition here than a cruise boat as we mean to build many square miles of surface area (at least I do). You do bring up a new point that is germain however, & that is whether other countries, laws or not, would allow us to do it. They might attack us even.

___Perhaps a good start would be buying a used aircraft carrier & then buiding the large platforms at sea. I hear someone wants to buy a used aircraft carrier & bring it upriver to dock in Portland, OR as a tourist draw.

[bumab]

Count me in on this new country! Who's going to be in charge of this two-bit bussiness? :Alien: