It is in our best interest to invest in governance model innovation to reboot to a new society …sooner rather than later…
In this post, I explore some innovative governance of society projects worth looking into that are in experiment today, modeling new ways to govern societies. However, I would not do justice without initially referencing StarTrek Philosophy, which I grew up dreaming about. A stoic foundational view guided by the principle of Humanism, embracing diversity and social justice, which I write about in another post.
We are collectively ~7.7 Billion people (growing to est. 9.7 bil. by 2050), living under the authority of ~ 193 governments, with ~180 national currencies recognised as legal tender by UN member states, however, failed states are emerging at an average rate of one per year.
Innovative governance is needed, finance can be fair, governance can be trustworthy! We should focus on solving problems that threaten all of us i.e., climate change, pollution, disease, hunger, war, territorial disputes, and the like.
So what are the choices while we grapple with the status quo?
Create your own country ref: UN (1933) Montevideo Convention or look towards new emerging states already experimenting with innovations in governance & future society projects. It may be hard for large old governments to innovate and try new things but experimental and smaller nations can try new things, e.g., prosperous, peaceful and small island nations such as Malta, Bahamas, Luxembourg, and Barbados, self-proclaimed micronations such as Sealand, Atlantium, Liberland, Molossia and The Conch Republic. Here are some other innovations in governance particularly worth following…
The Venus Project is an NFP (est. 1995). It’s co-founders architect Roxanne Meadows worked with renowned futurist Jacque Fresco since 1975 with the goal of bringing humanity to the next stage of social evolution. The Earth and all its resources belong equally to all people, driven through a “resource-based economy” economic structure creating a representation of how society could be designed. We simply take the fallible human out of the equation, replace it with computers and sensors that will decide the best outcome for the greater good. Its basically central planning driven by data and computers minus the human bias.
It lays out a sustainable world civilization where technology and the methods of science are applied to redesigning our social system with the prime concern being to maximize the quality of life rather than profit. All aspects of society are scrutinized — from our values, education, and urban design to how we relate to nature and to one another.
From start-ups to start-up cities, Seasteading was just a sci-fi vision, now technologically within reach: cities floating in international waters — independent, self-sustaining nation-states at sea. “Seasteading is building floating societies with significant political autonomy. Nearly half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any nation-state, and many coastal nations can legislate seasteads in their territorial waters.”
Blue Frontiers brings variation in governance, freedom of mobility, transparency, inclusiveness, and choice through its sustainable floating islands with unique governing frameworks. Seastead: physical platform, Seazone: legal platform, Varyon: ecosystem value exchange, enabled by decentralised technologies.
The space nation of Asgardia (est. 2016), is a micronation formed by a group of people (Asgardians) who have launched a satellite “Asgardia-1” into Earth orbit. Asgardia is the first Space Nation in human history, and the first nation to have all of its territory in Space, a fully-fledged and independent nation, and a future member of the United Nations — with all the attributes this status entails. The three core principles of Asgardia are Peace, Access, and Protection. i.e., preservation of peace in Space for the benefit of all humankind, providing equal access to space to all and protection of planet Earth from space threats.
Micronation Examples
The Principality of Sealand: (UK) A World War II military facility consisting of a man-made structure located off the English coast that was occupied and declared to be an independent state
Atlantium: (Australia) Advocates for global governance: specifically, no borders and freedom of movement.
Liberland: (Serbia) Claims an uninhabited parcel of disputed land on the western bank of the Danube, between Croatia and Serbia. It was created by Czech politician and activist Vít Jedlička.
The Coral Sea Islands: (Australia) Established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists, the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands was a micronation based in southeast Queensland, Australia. The Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017 after Australia legalized same-sex marriage
Republic of Molossia: (US) A micronation founded by Kevin Baugh, occupying his semi-rural residential acreage in Nevada. It is run humorously as a dictatorial banana republic.
The Conch Republic: (US) Founded by then Mayor of Key West, Florida, Dennis Wardlow, it claims tongue-in-cheek independence from the United States in protest at a checkpoint established by the US Border Patrol.
Whangamonoma: A tongue-in-cheek micronation created as a tourism booster, and based in the rural New Zealand town of the same name. Past elected presidents have included a goat.
FURTHER READING
How to start your own country
If you have had enough of politics and governments, there is an alternative option to start your own country. To get started, begin with the basics.. the name of the country you wish to establish, it's capital, state/province names, language(s), national flag, song(s), anthem(s), symbol(s).
According to the Montevideo Convention on Statehood (1933), there are several criteria requirements for statehood:
- a permanent population, (invite friends, families, refugees who will help build out a nation)
- a defined territory, (either conquering or buying an existing country/island, find a loophole, procure unproductive regions from an existing country, or think beyond land e.g., sea or space)
- form a government and/or constitution
- establish a legal system
- the capacity to entire into relations with other states and be recognised by the world community
- establish an economy and financial system
- declare independence
Identifying a Failed State
A failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly or lose its legitimacy, losing the capacity to regulate and control themselves. Such that the central government is so weak or ineffective to even raise taxes or gain support, nor practical control over much of its territory and unable to provide public services such as health and education. Escalating to widespread flourishing corruption and crime, leaders prey on its constituents, with state/non-state actors/foreign military intervention, the emergence of involuntary movement of populations/refugees, and sharp economic decline. The Fund for Peace characterises a failed state as having the following characteristics:
- Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein
- Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
- Inability to provide public services
- Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community
It is also worth acknowledging that many attempts to run projects by governments and even public/private enterprises have ended up as case studies to illustrate a tragedy of the commons.
🕳🐇 Follow the rabbit hole, and read about decentralized technologies to enable the governance models in a fair, transparent manner ..
📚 Recommended book list
References:
- https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
- https://www.un.org/en/member-states/
- https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/how-many-countries-are-there-world-2019
- https://fragilestatesindex.org/
- https://www.iban.com/currency-codes
- https://treaties.un.org/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_micronations
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