What makes you think that?
Just watch out for the weird giant penguins and the shoggoths.
Seems like you could set up a colony, possibly even with some grant money, to examine the logistics and practical application of numerous solutions to establishing colonies in harsh temperature environments. Just in case we identify a similar target planet and the means to get there. So what if the research project becomes your life’s work and includes a significant number of resident ‘scientists’? As long as you’re producing results, and there’s no reason to assume you wouldn’t if your colony didn’t die out, you continue to legitemize your presence there. And when you’ve burrowed deeply enough and have established defensible and self-sustaining habitats you start charging for your data, ultimately declaring your independence.
Presumably you could overcome this by becoming stateless first, but that might cause its own set of problems.
Build your Villia in some remote place, and then when you are discovered claim you are the last living being of an indigenous local tribe that has lived there since Pangea went walk-about. You can keep your claim tied up in the courts for decades.
But good luck getting much business in your casino.
Oh - and despite their claims of a love for the sport and the excitement of the competition, anybody who goes to a penquin race really just goes there hoping to see a penquin crash.
Even if you’re stateless you’ve still got to get to the continent somehow. Unless you plan on swimming there with all your supplies you’ll probably be taking a ship registered with a sovereign state, against which diplomatic protests will undoubtedly be lodged for abetting your settlement. In the interest of maintaining friendly international relations that government may well then decide to consider itself responsible for your forcible removal.
I want to homestead in Antarctica. Will I face any legal issues?
It’ll be hard for you to convince a medic to come along.
Anyway, you’ll be barred. The US government will stop you for safety reasons.
Hrmmm… I think the OP is referring to if his homeland would prevent him. I would have to say, yes, in the general interest of any treaties. However, if he were to go self-funded, and, have the resources to pull this off, and he went to Marie Byrd Land… maybe not?
I am reminded of Sealand where a guy took over a old gun mount and made his own “country” and all. He is and was a citizen of the UK.
The real issue here is that a claim is a claim. Unless the country that has the claim enforces it, the claim means nothing. Would your country allow you to do it? No.
If you were to sell the farm and just go for it… I dunno what any country would do. they could ignore it the way the UK did with Sealand or they could send in a force and wipe you out. I think they’d just ignore you like Sealand and wait for you and your heirs to die. As in all reality, what can you do other than make a claim?
Nothing
Sealand isn’t a potentially internationally contentious location, though, it’s much more just a UK problem. Rockall would be a better analogy.
If you actually wanted to do this you’d jump through the hoops required to become a citizen of a country that doesn’t yet have an Antarctic base. Since you’re an eccentric multi-billionaire is just a matter of investing the right amount of money and maybe waiting five years. Then you fund the “Republic of Cavendish Antarctic Research Institute” and name yourself the director. Get official government backing, Hire a couple of legit scientists to come with you and go set up a homestead / / / / “research base”.
No one could stop you, and you wouldn’t even have to use Marie Byrd Land. Take a look at a map, lots of countries have bases in other countries claims.
Officially, the U.S. recognizes no Antarctica claims. In fact, all Antarctica treaty participants have officially put their claims on hold. They can do nothing to exploit their claims, and they can’t prevent any nation from setting up a science station on their claims. They reserve the right to their claims, but can do nothing to express sovereignty over the land.
However, if you’re going to do this, I suggest you try to do it in the area claimed by Britain, Chile, and Argentina. This way, if one nation, say Britain claims you have no right to be there, you can tell them that you talked to Chile and they said it was okay. You could probably live there for quite a long time before those three countries get together and figure out exactly what’s going on.
Then again, your best best is to move to a place of true terra nulls. I hear that the Bir Tawil is very beautiful this time of year. Maybe a tetch warm for penguins races, though.
The other angle is that, all you have to do to be a legit research station is have a weather box recording meteorological data. With that a a governments backing, could anyone actually stop you?
Tonga, Kiribati and Nauru are known to be particularly good at giving passports to investors very easily. “Antarctic Research Institute of Kiribati” has a nice ring to it, and when you get sick of your penguin races you can fly off to a beach villa for some down time.
From this graphic, it appears that the Aussies have the French surrounded. Surrender is imminent.
:eek:
Did you forget the part where that Sealand was attacked by German mercenaries who took the king’s son prisoner? The German lawyer who hired them still claims to be the Rebel Sealand Government even after UK military friends of Roy Bates retook the area. What makes you think the same thing wouldn’t happen to an independent Antarctic outpost?
Take another look at that map. Lots of those countries don’t ship their supplies directly from their bases. They all use the same supply networks. Unless it’s headed to the Antarctica Peninsula, supplies come through McMurdo - the biggest base on the ice. Antarctica has the most extreme weather on the planet, worse than the Arctic, which makes redundancy a life-saver. There’s always a fire, mechanical breakdown, plane crash, or trucks swallowed by crevasses which is also why other bases help each out. They wouldn’t need to use force if they can just jam your communications and wait for you to starve because your planes can’t find their place to land.
Read something like http://www.bigdeadplace.com to see how the society down on the ice is strangely different from more temperate climes.
It will take more than just a few scientists. If the power ever goes out, you’ll likely freeze to death overnight.
Why would any government bother to support you? Money? Yeah, right. Ever read how heated the fights get over who gets the support contract for Antarctic bases? Even if you could find a politician to turn a blind eye, every corporation that is currently running support operations would see an independent billionaire as competition looking to take their budgets away. Raytheon Corp is already that eccentric billionaire and “there can only be one” in true Highlander style.
The locals would figure that out very quickly. Living on the ice is like living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business because everyone is confined there running out of things to talk about. Radio folk are a especially talkative bunch. Especially if some new group refused to attend their parties that were offered to them.
Why would any generalissimo bother with what is a huge money sink with nothing flashy to show when that money could be better spent on building another presidential palace or new toys for their army?
No, the idea is to pay him off so you can settle under the name of his country. Then he takes the heat. Or takes yur money and leaves you flapping in the blizzard.
They may be politicians, but they’re not that stupid. Anything that looks like a permanent settlement will draw howls from other countries’ governments; they will all collaborate to ensure it disappears ASAP.