The Kingdon of Tycho

What is the difference between being an eccentric and a crackpot?
About 1 Billion dollars!

One of the reasons I have been reluctant to publicise TKoT is for fear of being regarded as a crackpot. Not so much for myself, but because there is little to substantiate TKoT at the moment and, as one never gets a second chance to make a first impression, I would not like a large number of people to think that TKoT was a worthless scheme.

At the moment TKoT is basically a “one man band”. And I, and TKoT through me, am going be considered at best an eccentric and at worst a complete crackpot.

However sometimes poor people, if they are true to themselves and strong enough, become eccentrics(Emperor Norton I). And sometimes “crackpots” become rich(Erich von Däniken).

One of the great advantages of The Kingdom of Tycho(TKoT) over other space settlement projects is that TKoT is real and it exists now.

It is not some scheme that will persuade the government to fund space settlement, or a private venture that in the future will build a moon base, or a non-profit organization that will terraform Mars.

It is a real country that really exists in the here and now and you can join with us and help build mankind’s future in space now.

Is The Kingdom of Tycho a real country?
The short answer is: Yes. The Kingdom of Tycho is a real country.

Of course the real question is what do we mean by “real country”?
If we mean a legal international recognised state such as France, or the USA, then there are two theories that define what a state is: the declarative theory of statehood and the constitutive theory of statehood.

The declarative theory of statehood basically says that as long as you meet certain structural criteria then you are a country.

In international law, the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States sets down the criteria for statehood. In summary a state must possess the following attributions:

• A permanent population
• A defined territory
• A government
• The capacity to enter into relations with other states

The Kingdom of Tycho fulfills all the requirements of the Montevideo Convention:

• A permanent population
  The Sovereign and his immediate family permanently reside within the territory of The Kingdom of Tycho.
• A defined territory
  Article 1 of the constitution defines the territory of The Kingdom.
• A government
  All judicial, legislative and administration powers and duties rest with the Sovereign.
• The capacity to enter into relations with other states
  The Sovereign is able and willing to talk with anyone.

However most micronations also claim to satisfy the criteria of the Montevideo Convention and as they have all discovered every macro-nation (already existing “real countries”) works on the basis of the constitutive theory of statehood; which says that a country exists only if it is recognized as sovereign by other states.
In western democracies most people who declare new countries(micronations) are just ignored by existing states. As long as you pay your taxes and don’t use your new country to commit fraud they don’t care what you want to call yourself.
This is the position that The Kingdom of Tycho finds itself in. We have been ignored by existing countries until now. However this works both ways, as we have also ignored existing countries. We have made no effort to establish diplomatic relations with any country.

So from the point of view of the authorities in your country your dealings with The Kingdom of Tycho will most probably be legal defined as dealings with the natural person of Declan Stanley.

It is not every day that one discovers that they are famous. Or at least famous enough to be mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide to Micro Nations (1/2 Page entry on p.151).

I am always conscious of the fact that while there are many reasons people found new nations(micronations) the main public perception of the founders of micronations is of someone who “can’t cut it” in the real world and wants to escape to a fantasy world where they are king.

How many times have you thought or heard someone say something along the lines of “if I were King” or “if I ruled the world” then I would do things differently. Even if it is “to have everyone who cuts me off in traffic lined up and shot”.

While there are many micronations, and web sites of micronations, where there is just one person who has started a new nation and given himself a grand title, most of these don’t last very long, or go beyond a simple web site(that has not been updated in quite a while).

The world of micronations covers a board spectrum, with many micronations founded for many different reasons and The Kingdom of Tycho is way towards the serious end of the scale. We really do own our land, we really are going to go and live there and we do not believe that any government on earth has any right to stop us, nor any right to govern us once we get there.

I have also self published my novel Alexandra and I aware that there is a similar stigma to people who publish their own books. I decided to self-published not because I want to inflate my own ego by having a book “published”, or call myself a “Published Author”, but because I thought my book was good enough to be published and I could not find a publisher who was willing to take a risk on it. You may read my work and think I am wrong and the publishers who rejected me were right, and that is fine with me. We can both go into any bookshop and find published books we do not think are worth publishing.

So The kingdom of Tycho is proud to call itself a micronation and to join the ranks of other micronations such as The Vatican and The Principality of Monaco.

And remember the saying “From little acorns do great oak trees grow”.