Posted by seahunt on April 03, 2000 at 09:01:39:
In Reply to: Re: It belongs to the people posted by Jusfer on April 01, 2000 at 10:28:49:
They clearly gave nothing to the American government that they didn't think absolutely necessary. It belongs to the people!
*****
I may be guilty of not being clear enough. I mentioned many rights and my usage of 'It' was meant to refer to 'rights', but it did follow a mention of hunting. There was never a question of the government owning the game. Still, even the way I used it, I think that my reference seemed more to refer to the right to hunt, rather than the game hunted. I never mentioned game, I only mentioned rights. Actually though, you bring up an interesting point and one that kelphead distantly made reference to. I really like hunting, but I am aware that sometimes certain hunting practices seem to get carried away a bit. That is why I call it a neolithic behavior with no off switch. It actually seems that neolithic hunting behavior relates to this ownership issue, because it extends beyond game. It is like any natural crop or resource. Nobody owns it. It sort of magically becomes yours when you pick it up, whether it is a gold nugget, a tree or a lobster. It's very odd and as I say, it relates to very old behaviors. It all seems weird when looked at... Well, concepts of ownership are discussed on 'the other side'. I'm still trying to come up with a meaningful model of land ownership. If I can riddle that out, I can figure out the rest. I guess it's really just part of an economic system we use. Just a tool. I'm still looking for new tools we can use.
I have a different thought though. At the rigs, the issue is really about scallops. The fish don't stand a chance, but what would you think if hunting of scallops was restricted to free divers. It works on the north coast. I think that there would be an enforcemnent problem, but I am curious as to your thoughts.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt