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Everyone is planning to return to the moon. At least 10 missions by half a dozen nations are scheduled before the end of 2021, and that's only the beginning.
Even though there are international treaties governing outer space, ambiguity remains about how individuals, nations and corporations can use lunar resources.
In all of this, the moon is seen as an inert object with no value in its own right.
But should we treat this celestial object, which has been part of the culture of every hominin for millions of years, as just another resource?
[...] As a thought experiment in how we might regulate lunar exploitation, some have asked whether the moon should be granted legal personhood, which would give it the right to enter into contracts, own property, and sue other persons.
Legal personhood is already extended to many non-human entities: certain rivers, deities in some parts of India, and corporations worldwide. Environmental features can't speak for themselves, so trustees are appointed to act on their behalf, as is the case for the Whanganui River in New Zealand. One proposal is to apply the New Zealand model to the moon.
[...] Can we support the legal concept of personhood for the moon with actual features of personhood?
Journal Reference:
Eytan Tepper, Christopher Whitehead. Moon, Inc.: The New Zealand Model of Granting Legal Personality to Natural Resources Applied to Space, New Space (DOI: 10.1089/space.2018.0025)
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:09PM (9 children)
Well, homo sap hasn't been around for millions of years, I haven't seen much evidence that our precursors gave cultural significance to the moon, sounds to me like the perps behind this idea are simply looney.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @05:32PM (5 children)
Are you really that ignorant? Really? I knew that you were quite adept at talking out of your ass, but damn! I'm in awe.
No. There's ample evidence that the moon has had significant cultural influence going back (documented) thousands of years, with evidence that strongly suggests that significance goes back tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years:
https://blog.shoplc.com/moon-symbolism/ [shoplc.com]
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190326-the-moon-one-of-the-earliest-human-symbols [bbc.com]
https://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/for-all-mankind-a-brief-cultural-history-of-the-moon/ [thewhitereview.org]
https://www.space.com/7338-changing-view-moon.html [space.com]
https://viet.net/anson/ebud/whatbudbeliev/217.htm [viet.net]
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/planetary_news/2019/07/15/fascination-moon-visualizations-throughout-history-and-apollo-11-landing-in-real-time/ [usra.edu]
https://www.history.com/news/7-unusual-myths-and-theories-about-the-moon [history.com]
(Score: 1, Redundant) by OrugTor on Wednesday September 02 2020, @05:56PM (2 children)
Hundreds of thousands of years covers Sapiens. The issues is precursors going back millions of years. Please understand the post fully and then restrain yourself from making a crass ad hominem attack.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @06:41PM
Don't fucking tell me what to do!
Fuck off, you mentally deficient, shallow-end-of-the-gene-pool piece of shit.
Is that better?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 03 2020, @02:11PM
The moon has been part of the culture of every ad hominem for trillions of years.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday September 02 2020, @11:20PM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:05AM
What's that about your mom?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday September 02 2020, @06:34PM (1 child)
I was quoting TFA which says:
Mr. Spock: Vulcan has no moon.
Lt. Uhura: I'm not a bit surprised.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday September 02 2020, @11:17PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday September 05 2020, @09:02PM
They said hominim, and hominids have been around for 15-20 million years, with the homo genus starting about 8 million years ago.
Meanwhile, even most animals put great "cultural" significance on the moon, with full moons being by far the most active time of the month for most animals that are active at or near night time.