Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Feren’s idea was actually very simple. It was to use his network to find a group of interested investors, copy Lu Zhou’s Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund, and set up a similar fund.
The only difference was that he would set the target at a place other than the Tau Ceti, preferably closer to the solar system.
Also, the fund would be publicly offered.
However, this idea was too simple.
When he brought the documents to the largest commercial bank on Wall Street and was about to go through the procedures, he was surprised to see that there was already a long queue.
Judging from the clothing of the people, they obviously didn’t come here to withdraw money…
Just like Feren had predicted, the news of the establishment of the Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund shocked the world!
“This might open up a whole new business model!”
Paul Krugman, the well-known Nobel Prize winner in economics, spoke in an excited voice during an interview with the finance and economics column of ABC TV.
“In the past, most of our investment activities were carried out on an annual basis. Except for trust products, even investment products that were considered long-term rarely lasted longer than a hundred years.
“In the short term, compared to other projects with more investment value, it is not a wise choice to invest in the aerospace field. But if you focus on a century, or even several centuries, the aerospace industry will be highly related to our future. This funding will help our aerospace industry get on track at a faster speed.”
The host asked seriously, “So, this is actually a charity cause?”
“Not quite.” Paul Krugman shook his head. He said, “To be precise, it is a long-term investment with charitable attributes. All of mankind will benefit from his generosity.
“When more social resources are put on the development of external space resources, we will enter the interstellar era at a faster speed.
“At the same time, although this investment is unprofitable in the short term, it can bring him huge returns in the future; there is no doubt about this.”
Host: “But… How can anyone live that long?”
“This is indeed a problem.” Paul Krugman nodded and said, “But he can designate his descendants as beneficiaries.
“If hyperspace theory makes it possible to travel faster than light, we have every reason to believe that colonization of a new planet is possible in the future.
“I even have an idea. This idea actually is combined with frozen dormancy. After all, normal people might not live that long, but if you really want to devote yourself to the great cause of interstellar colonization…
“It may be a good choice for ordinary people to donate their assets to the aerospace industry in exchange for a spacecraft ticket, then freeze themselves.”
In fact, Paul Krugman wasn’t the only one who had this idea.
So did Feren, as well as those investors who were lining up in Wall Street banks.
The morning after the news was published, many commercial banks in the United States issued similar colonization funds.
The ideas behind these funds were almost the same. They would choose a beautiful star not too far away and use its potentially habitable planetary system as a promotion. They used people’s imagination and vision for the future to raise capital.
But what was interesting was that some companies really planned to launch a colonial ship in the future.
Considering that the competition was too strong, most of these funds decided not to choose Lu Zhou’s choice of Tau Ceti. They chose the relatively closer Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Eridani, or other K-type main-sequence stars.
The prices offered by various funds varied hugely.
For example, for the colonial fund on Proxima Centauri, the slogan was that someone only needed to pay 10 US dollars to obtain a resident card of Proxima Centauri and an “economy class ticket” to Proxima Centauri. For an extra 1,000 dollars, they could enjoy first-class seats and bring one more person on board.
The price of the ticket was increased with an annual growth rate of 5%. This meant that an economy class ticket would cost 10.5 dollars the next year, and it would cost 1315.01 dollars in a hundred years.
Of course, once the ticket was sold, there would be no refunds. However, it could be traded to other interested people through the second-hand market. It was similar to the companies that sold survival tickets in 2012.
Other funds used lands as assets. For example, in addition to the ticket to the new planet, for every additional $100, someone could get one square kilometer of land on the planet. People could build houses or grow plants on the land.
Obviously, no matter how tempting the conditions were, these were all things that could only be fulfilled after a hundred years. Also, there were still a series of risks such as “competitors taking the lead” or bad management and bankruptcy. This might turn the certificates in their hands into a useless piece of paper.
Therefore, no matter how serious and regulated the space colonization fund was, even if it was guaranteed by NASA or Space-X, it was difficult to make investors feel safe.
However, many issuers did not expect that these funds, which seemed unreliable, were attractive for many people.
Although it was almost impossible for most people to live to the interstellar age without the help of frozen dormancy, a beautifully crafted citizenship certificate for land on Proxima Centauri could be bought for $100.
Even though people didn’t expect themselves to live a hundred years, and have the opportunity to set foot on their own lands, it was still quite a bargain for those who couldn’t afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house.
There were also some more serious people who carefully studied and identified which funds were really about the extraterrestrial colonization plan and which funds were purely for entertainment purposes.
For example, an old Texas farmer named Joseph spent 1 million to buy 10,000 square kilometers of land on Proxima Centauri. He gave it as a birthday gift to his little grandson, who had just turned six.
This incident caused a huge sensation in the local community, and it even attracted reporters from the city nearby.
During an interview with the reporter, the old farmer was quite happy to be able to appear on the TV show. He spoke happily into the reporter’s microphone.
“This is a long-term investment. I plan to give this land to my grandson and pass it on as a family possession!”
Reporter: “Aren’t you worried that this money won’t see the light of day?”
“That is unlikely to happen. The fund issuing unit I chose is Citibank, and I have carefully studied their investment plans. Although their strength is not the strongest, in my opinion, they are the most promising one when it comes to succeeding in the end!”
Reporter: “What do you plan to do with the 10,000 square kilometers of land?”
“Of course for farming! This is 10,000 square kilometers! My descendants will become the richest farmers on Proxima Centauri. They will thank me!”
When the reporter saw the hearty smile on Mr. Joseph’s face, the reporter smiled awkwardly and asked, “But… How do you know that the soil and climate on Proxima Centauri are suitable for farming?”
“I don’t know, but my instinct tells me that it won’t be harder than going beyond the speed of light.”
Joseph shrugged his shoulders with a confident look on his face.
He looked at the camera and said, “New planet or not, people have to eat.
“I believe that as long as we have the technology to go so far, the scientists will find a way to solve these farming problems. We won’t only be able to grow corn and potatoes, we might even be able to grow exotic crops!”