THE AUTONOMOUS AUTARKIC ASTEROIDS OF
ATEN, APOLLO & AMOR:
HOMELAND FOR MARGINALS IN OUTER SPACE:
NOTES FOR A MANIFESTO (1990)
A special communiqué of the Association
for Ontological Anarchy
1) The U.N. has declared ‘that in Space the
“Law of Conquest” must apply-- that is, no one may claim territory
without actually setting foot on it. This means that WE have as good a claim to
celestial bodies as any “territorial gangster” (i.e. government) on
Earth. All we need to do is get there before THEY do.
2) Therefore, two immediate priorities: first, the
founding of a Provisional Government for our chosen celestial body; &
second, the solicitation of funds to acquire or build a Spaceship.
3) Our research indicates that the
easiest of all objects in Space to reach from Earth are the asteroid families
called ATEN, APOLLO & AMOR. They are actually closer to us than the Moon.
The former have Egyptian deity names, the latter Greek names. As any SF reader
knows, the technology for living on (or in) an asteroid is no more complex
(& probably cheaper) than for the L5-O’Niell-City-In-Space. The tech
already exists -- it’s just a question of money. Moreover, asteroids are
assumed to contain a lot of valuable metals -- which means the possibility of serious investments &
profits.
4) The chief advantage of the asteroids is that each
citizen can be the ruler of his/her own planet -- somewhat like Le Petit
Prince. For this reason the form of “government” we propose is
an association of autonomous autarkies or self-rulerships. Hence our name: the
AUTONOMOUS AUTARKIC ASTEROIDS OF ATEN, APOLLO & AMOR, or “The 6A
Project” for short.
5) Presently we are in the R&D stage -- learning more about the asteroids,
& working on designs for stamps, deeds, titles, maps, habitat-concepts etc.
-- we intend to develop a
documentation kit for the 6A Project and sell it along with citizenship rights
& passports. With the proceeds we’ll start the Spaceship Fund &
begin soliciting major investments.
6) Timetable: five years for
moneyraising, five years for shipbuilding..... Leave Earth in 2000 AD!
7) Last year we sponsored an Astral
Convention in Antarctica; it was a great success, 1000’s of people
attended, and an Astral Autonomous Zone was founded at Cape Longing on the
Palmer Peninsula. Now we shift our gaze from the astral plane to the stars themselves.
Freedom of the Imagination is one thing -- “land & freedom” is
another. This is no party -- this is a non-violent War of Conquest!