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Who owns the stars?

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eliotn posted on Fri, Oct 3 2008 4:40 PM

I am serious.  Who has ownership over the stars?  Can anyone claim ownership?

 

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I have also been thinking about this. The answer is nobody.

Nature is unowned until it is homesteaded - after which it becomes property. As stars are giant balls of hot gas it's a bit difficult to "mix your labour with them".

Anyone who buys a "certificate of ownership" for a star has just bought a very expensive, but meaningless piece of paper.

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"The program of liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property" -Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism

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Verified by eliotn

I have also been thinking about this. The answer is nobody.

Nature is unowned until it is homesteaded - after which it becomes property. As stars are giant balls of hot gas it's a bit difficult to "mix your labour with them".

Anyone who buys a "certificate of ownership" for a star has just bought a very expensive, but meaningless piece of paper.

   Irish Liberty Forum 

"The program of liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property" -Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism

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I can sell you some if thats what your after. I have a lot of nice ones in stock.

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Juan replied on Fri, Oct 3 2008 5:13 PM
Aliens ?
February 17 - 1600 - Giordano Bruno is burnt alive by the catholic church.
Aquinas : "much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death."
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What are you using them for that interferes with someone else's use?

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If and when homesteading them becomes possible, then one may own them.

-Jon

The chill that you feel is the herald of your doom! Irenicus' Diaries.

 

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Paul replied on Fri, Oct 3 2008 8:35 PM

MatthewWilliam:

Nature is unowned until it is homesteaded - after which it becomes property. As stars are giant balls of hot gas it's a bit difficult to "mix your labour with them".

Dyson sphere!

μὴ παραχώρει τοῖς κακος ἀλλ' εὐτολμώτερον ἀντιβάδιζε.

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The more contentious question would be "who owns the moon?"

Does pinning an Amercian flag, taking a stroll and playing golf count as homesteading?

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So if aliens were about to destroy the sun we should accept it?

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You know, you might as well just read what Rothbard had to say about this in the Ethics of Liberty or a number of other books. Buying a certificate of ownership is useless if you haven't homesteaded the damn thing. Using the logic that justifies "claims = ownership," Columbus had a right to claim the entire Americas when he landed on Hispaniola. Does this make any sense?

From an ethical POV, considering that you agree with self-ownership, can you really claim a right to anything you haven't mixed your labor with?

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MatthewWilliam:

The more contentious question would be "who owns the moon?"

Does pinning an Amercian flag, taking a stroll and playing golf count as homesteading?

No more than me saying I own you makes it so.

"The relationship between libertarianism and conservatism is one of praxeological compatibility, sociological complementarity, and reciprocal reinforcement"

Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe

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I thought Disney owned the Stars.  Just look at the carrers of George Lopez and Tim Allen.

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MatthewWilliam:
The more contentious question would be "who owns the moon?"

Does pinning an Amercian flag, taking a stroll and playing golf count as homesteading?

Taking a stroll on the moon is not homesteading. Homesteading is, by definition, "mixing your labor with the land." A better question would be about the natures of contracts and property ownership. Take this as an example: say I homestead part of the moon and then sell it to someone on Earth. Later, I leave that plot of the moon to go back to Earth. Considering that nobody is on the moon and that the person who "owns" the plot doesn't actually work it, is it fair to say that that plot is actually owned or is it unowned since it is not worked?

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krazy kaju:

MatthewWilliam:
The more contentious question would be "who owns the moon?"

Does pinning an Amercian flag, taking a stroll and playing golf count as homesteading?

Taking a stroll on the moon is not homesteading. Homesteading is, by definition, "mixing your labor with the land." A better question would be about the natures of contracts and property ownership. Take this as an example: say I homestead part of the moon and then sell it to someone on Earth. Later, I leave that plot of the moon to go back to Earth. Considering that nobody is on the moon and that the person who "owns" the plot doesn't actually work it, is it fair to say that that plot is actually owned or is it unowned since it is not worked?

Why wouldn't it be owned?

"The relationship between libertarianism and conservatism is one of praxeological compatibility, sociological complementarity, and reciprocal reinforcement"

Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe

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//Nature is unowned until it is homesteaded - after which it becomes property. As stars are giant balls of hot gas it's a bit difficult to "mix your labour with them".// If I put my time and labour into spitting onto a field does this make it my property? What if i spit on something you claim to be your field?
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