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Moon Rocks (something I actually learned from this film)

posted 11 years ago by Promontorium
14 replies | jump to latest

I didn't know until this film that moon rocks were a controlled substance. What a complete farce our government is. Land of the free my ass. How the hell can the government claim ownership of rocks it has given away? It's just another brick in the wall of bullsh!t our government does. F-ing SWAT team response for having a rock. Come the f- on.

[–] genevaporter 11 years ago

Though the movie says 'controlled substance', a more accurate term would be artifact, because by and large moonrocks are preserved and protected, not consumed.
And while no one can "own" the moon, the moonrocks provide a lot of scientific value, so the scientific community tends to want to protect them from misuse by ordinary actions. Think of them like an old document, where even a careful touch with your bare hands might harm the object.

[–] Promontorium 11 years ago

But that's simply bullsh!t. Moon rocks aren't artifacts. There's billions of them. They aren't precious. They can be broken in two and still retain the same qualities. None of your crap excuses the authoritarian attitude surrounding the rocks. The government has no right claiming ownership of all moon rocks. And who says the moon can't be owned? By what standard? I guarandamntee you if the Moon had gold on it they'd have a shell corporation up there right now mining it and using it to fund our wars. Can't own it my ass. No human, and no government has any right by nature or assent to claim such a thing. If I built a rocket and made a space station up there, nobody can tell me it's not mine. And if I brought back moon rocks, nobody can tell me I can't own them. It's all authoritarian crap. Your excuses about science are absurd.

[–] Uvtha 11 years ago

Actually moon rocks ARE precious. They are worth a lot, which is all that precious means concerning stones. They aren't necessarily precious because of their composition (though they are unlike earth rocks), but because of their rarity, and the difficulty and cost involved in getting more uncontaminated samples.

And technically "ownership" is a term that only applies to objects under the auspice of certain specific man made laws. An individual can ONLY "own" something when a government or some other authoritative body with the capacity to enforce its decisions says one can. It's simply a legal term.

What you are thinking of and referring to in your personal rocket scenario is possession. You can posses anything simply by having your hands on it. But you only have a legal right to ownership when the laws permits it.

The value of the distinction of ownership certainly up for philosophical debate.

Eventually one imagines the moon will be parceled out for one purpose or another, and when that time comes you will be able to own bits of the Moon.

Also, there IS gold on the Moon. Silver too. Just not very much. The water is far more valuable. :P

[–] Promontorium 10 years ago

So your argument is that I'm wrong about ownership because authoritarian laws say so? That's exactly my argument. You're excusing authoritarianism with authoritarianism. You've effectively written 6 paragraphs to say nothing. The ideals of an arbitrary state are irrelevant as are its unjust laws.

[–] Uvtha 10 years ago

Just saying you misunderstand the term. I'm not ragging on you or anything, the confusion between ownership and possession is pretty common.

If you don't like the legal concept of ownership, that's fine. I'm just saying it IS a legal concept, and established by a established governing authority.

You cannot "own" something without laws regarding specific possession rights. You can possess, as I say, anyone can possess anything, but without a legal system you cannot "own" anything.

[–] vnse 11 years ago

Dude get a grip. It's moon rocks.

[–] jejozi 10 years ago

My, aren't you a little richard.

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Promontorium 9 years ago

No moron, you've nitpicked your way into oblivion.

Then don't be a hypocrite by saying that NASA and RKA they can't claim ownership of their own samples since they invested so much in getting them.

That is precisely why I complained to begin with. If the government brought them back, and then kept them all to themselves, they would rightfully continue to be just their own rocks. But that isn't what I am complaining about, you god damn moron, focusing so narrowly on my response to someone else and missing the point entirely.

The law declares all rocks inherently belong to the US government: No. Matter. What. Even if they gave one away to an astronaut, and he gave it to his son, the government declared they can rip it from his hands at any time. That's crap. That's not how ownership works. All your straw men bitching and leaped conclusions about what I was arguing show you at least understand the concept of ownership. Then you should be capable of understanding my point. The U.S. government doesn't own the f-ing moon, and the U.S. government doesn't have its own money, it has tax payer money. If anyone owns those rocks, it's the people, not the government, so for the government to declare they'll storm your house and rip from your hands any moon rocks, however obtained, is f-ing ridiculous and needlessly authoritarian.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] anvnjn 9 years ago

I thought this guy smelled like a sovereign citizen.

[–] sean-van-der-smythe 8 years ago

Have they actually confiscated any moon rocks?

[–] Slogutis 10 years ago

I'm with promontorium on this one. It is *beep*

[–] daytonaflyer 7 years ago

It's a good thing. It prevents corporations from mining the moon and destroying it like they have many parts of the Earth.