How Space Colonization Will Challenge the Relationship Between Nation, Citizen, and Corporation

In Outer Space, there are no borders. At least not yet. And Earth, with its national boundaries, will be very far away. We will be going into a social vacuum not seen since people walked out of Africa. People colonizing Space will have to deal with real organizing challenges. If you think you can rely on Earthly hierarchies of rules to keep things safe and fair, think again. In this article, we’ll look at why corporations will have tremendous influence in Outer Space and, before you sign up for Moon Base Billionaire, you better read the contract.   

To understand why Space will challenge the relationships between nations, citizens, and corporations, one needs to appreciate the history of the relationships on Earth today. Have you ever heard of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648? Probably not. In a nutshell, the Peace of Westphalia ended a war and planted the notion of national sovereignty in our consciousness. It’s not that there weren’t different countries with different rulers before that, but it solidified the notion that, when you look at a map and see all the countries’ boundaries, somehow a line representing a border in the middle of the North African desert means more than diddly squat. In other words, a purely Westphalian view admits absurdities about border tangibility. So much so, that some people who grew up in the early era of Space exploration have a hard time imaging anything other than a U.S. space base, a Russian base, a Chinese base, an International Base, etc. What about an Amazon-owned base that rents to residents who pledge fiscal loyalty to either Facebook or Twitter, but not Snap?    

Contrast the Westphalian view with an Open Borders approach. A meme often invoked by Open Border advocates is that from Outer Space you can’t see Earth’s borders—therefore we all live in one community on one world. However, the Open Borders approach is not a panacea for poverty and a route to utopian equality. Open Borders means just that, you can go where you want to. It does not say that when you get there, there won’t be rules. In fact, it’s perfectly silent on who makes those rules. The Open Borders view admits absurdities about community rule making. Community rules are influenced by local custom and economics. In Space, we’ll bring our own local customs and the economics promise to be highly influential. You must look no further than the British East India Company to find a private company which used economics to wield government-like power for 250 years. Today, multi-national corporations exert power arguably greater than the citizen, but somewhat less than the nation. They have both Westphalian and Open Border characteristics which are balanced for an Earth-bound population with 21st century technology. In Space, the forces that determine that balance will change. 

In fact, the internet has started to challenge this balance since it is a new place with largely open borders. If your physical neighbor isn’t in your social media network, do they really neighbor you? Consider how the internet’s “open border” affects economics and hence people, corporations, and governments. U.S. company Google has a 92% market share of search in Europe and U.S. company Apple sold 35 million iPhones in Europe in 2016. However, the European Union just fined Google $2.7 billion for anti-trust violations and they also want $15 billion from Apple for back taxes. The root of these cases is Westphalian laws colliding with an Open Borders internet. What’s legal and normal in the U.S. isn’t the same in the European Union, yet the demand for Apple and Google is such that they don’t just get thrown out of Europe like chlorinated chicken and genetically modified beef. In sum, you could be considered more neighborly to a European in your Hulu Facebook group who has an iPhone and uses Google than your physical neighbor who still uses a flip phone and watches network TV. 

Governments have balanced transnational demand that makes for technology-enabled neighbors with local customs. Companies lobby, modify their products when necessary, and pay their fines. This is mainly because Earth governments can seize their money from the banks if they behave badly enough. Sometimes corporations push back against governments however. When Spain taxed Google News for aggregating stories, Google shut down the service in Spain. So, how far could you push back if your wealth wasn’t in a bank within a country’s borders? What if your wealth was your capability to mine an Asteroid or data? What if you made the rockets that allowed nations to access Space? What if a “Space-based Apple” just kept its $15 billion and pulled out of the European market? What if a “Space-based Google” just erased Europe from its map? At some point, if governments can’t seize your assets, they likely can’t protect them either. If the business case is solid to continue developing those assets, you’re going to protect that line of work yourself. Then, when you become the provider for air, water, food, and ammunition, you have a lot of influence over people’s lives and the balance between nation, corporation, and citizen changes. 

Jeff Bezos recently suggested we could colonize the solar system and have a trillion people living there. You don’t need calculus to figure out that would make Earth a small market. Without impugning Mr. Bezos motives (and jeopardizing my Amazon Prime account), there have been a lot of nefarious corporations in the future: Weyland-Yutani (Alien), Cyberdyne Systems (Terminator), Tyrell Corporation (Blade Runner), Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile (The Expanse), Spiga Biotech (Incorporated), Enron (Bankrupt), and more. People have been thinking about what can go wrong with corporations in the future based on earth-bound experience. Today, we rely on Westphalian government to level the playing field between citizens and corporations. With influence rebalanced for Space, we should be careful of the fine print before we head out into the abyss. 

To be fair, in early Outer Space colonization, corporations will be doing a lot of the work, taking risks, and returning rewards. Colonies may need to rely on nearest neighbors regardless of their Earth origin, corporate organization, or political philosophy. Emigration to Space will start as some mixture of organizing approaches: U.S. corporations operating under U.S. law, Chinese government bases, international outposts under treaties, the three guys and two girls who shoot at anyone who comes near their outpost, etc. However, the time and distance to Earth will, as a practical matter, weaken Earth authority. For example, does your contract specify that if you die mining on Io your company can distribute your possessions to others without the need for a probate judge? Were you robbed of your rights? Or would you not have it any other way for the mates you left behind who will be risking their necks down the shaft the very next day?

Certainly, Earth civilization will make every effort to catch up to the colonists and adventurers. One day we may have The Federation, or at least a good choice of probate lawyers on Io. On the other hand, colonies are notoriously hard to hang on to. So much of the outcome depends on how fast technology advances, Earth and Space politics, and nature. There are no bold and certain predictions to be made on the year 2500. Merely a friendly warning for the first folks venturing out to think about what part of society they want to bring with them and what they want to leave behind. Then, read the contract!