Lunarian Declaration of Independence

April 1,  2060

Occasionally in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds that have connected them, and to assume among the governments of Earth and Space, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that the causes that impel them to this separation be declared.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all life is sacred, and that human beings in particular are endowed by nature with certain unalienable Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities. To secure these, governments are instituted among humanity, deriving their just powers from the consent of the citizens, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that individuals are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to risk all that they value by challenging the forms to which they are accustomed. But when the political decisions invariably reveals a design to subject them to absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the Luna Colonies; and such is now the necessity that constrains them to alter their former systems of government and throw off the shackles that they would extend across the vastness of space.

When the first Luna Colonies were established, many different governments and private corporations provided people and treasure towards the effort. As such, each claimed dominion over that which they created. But in the years since, no single governing body has sustained support from all of the various interests, rather the individuals rights and freedoms have been subjugated to the whims of corporate and bureaucratic decisions, much of which cannot be construed in any way to maintaining the security, safety and happiness of Luna’s citizens. The right to own property is trampled daily by the arrogant belief asserting ‘all that exists within belongs to the company’, in effect enslaving the men and women who live, work and call it home. We consider this a way of packaging slavery and will not participate any longer. The refusal to allow the formation of Laws with a Legislature to write them and a Justice system to uphold them has caused great hardship among the people of Luna. Justice carried out across the miles by individuals having never set foot on Luna produces more harm than good, even when performed in good faith. Lunarians live in an atmosphere of abuse and neglect, with no immediate representative government to attend to their grievances and guard against infringements of their liberty. We find, in all good conscious, we cannot tolerate this any longer.

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our petitions have been answered only by injury. Collectively, the world’s governments and corporations, many marked by acts that define tyranny, are unfit to govern a free people. They have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.

We, therefore, as lawful representatives of the Luna Colonies, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to Earth’s governments, and that all political connection between them and the Colonies, is totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent, the Colonies have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may do. And for the support of this Declaration we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Background:

 Superconductors are materials that offer zero resistance to the flow of electricity. In other words, a superconductor will not get hot as more and more electricity passes through it, thus, eliminating energy loss over distance. The phenomenon was first observed in 1911 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes after he had cooled mercury to 4° Kelvin (-452°F, -269°C), the temperature of liquid helium. To induce superconductivity in pure mercury, it was necessary for Onnes to come within 4 degrees of Absolute Zero, the coldest temperature that is theoretically attainable. By experimentation, he discovered other materials would also exhibit superconductivity, each at its own point known as the transition temperature, or T_c. His research won him a Nobel Prize in 1913.

Type 3 Superconductors:

In late summer 2014, the first Type 3 superconductor compound was discovered by accident at a weapons research facility in Livermore California. While looking for the next generation of high explosives, the research team at Sandia National Laboratories knew they were onto something when several micrograms of the material detonated prematurely. The explosion severely injured one person while destroying the high-pressure oven they were using to cure the sample. They quickly learned that the material must be isolated from the atmosphere. A few weeks later a junior scientist among them was fleshing out the property tables on the new explosive when she tried to obtain the resistivity of the material. At first, she thought her equipment was malfunctioning until she realized she was measuring superconductivity. Zero resistance. Before the day was out, she had determined this new material had a transition temperature of a remarkable 307°K or 92°F. They had stumbled upon one of sciences holy grails, a true high temperature superconductor. I know this story is true because that junior scientist was my grandmother.

Conquest of Space:

Even without considering its titillating future, a strong case can be made supporting Calconn as the most influential material of the 21^st century. The change in technology was so dramatic, so complete, that historians use the notation preCal to separate everything that predated the use of Calconn. Many have started to present the current era as the Calconn Age. This fact may be best known by the technical people who keep the electricity flowing and industries humming, but as of this writing virtually every citizen on Earth and Luna knows what Calconn is. It touches everyone every day in ways they may not even be aware. Calconn based electromagnetism and magnetic field generators retooled human technology, just as steam and copper-based electricity did in their time. Everything electric became smaller yet faster, stronger, more efficient, when using Calconn in place of copper, aluminum, or gold conductors, from the largest power cables all the way down to the micro circuitry found inside a computer chip. Practically from the start, every major industry clamored for Calconn based electronics and machinery. After that first decade, the demand far exceeded the supply and has for half a century, spawning an endless number of industries aimed at scratching that itch.