1247

Imagine denying other living and breathing lifeforms agency to thrive and change lol lol lol (mander.xyz)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

84 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Fun facts: the UK has crazy laws protecting trees and hedgerows. There's a national tree registry for old boys.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.de 123 points 6 months ago

The story of the Tree That Owns Itself is widely known and is almost always presented as fact. Only one person—the anonymous author of "Deeded to Itself"—has ever claimed to have seen Jackson's deed to the tree. Most writers acknowledge that the deed is lost or no longer exists—if in fact it ever did exist. Such a deed would have no legal effect. Under common law, the recipient of a piece of property must have the legal capacity to receive it, and the property must be delivered to—and accepted by—the recipient.[6] Both are impossible for a tree to do, as it isn't a legal person.

[...]

"However defective this title may be in law, the public recognized it."[11] In that spirit, it is the stated position of the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government that the tree, in spite of the law, does indeed own itself.[12] It is the policy of the city of Athens to maintain it as a public street tree.[13]

[...]

Although the story of the Tree That Owns Itself is more legend than history, the tree has become, along with the University Arch and the Double-Barreled Cannon, one of the most recognized and well-loved symbols of Athens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_That_Owns_Itself

In reality, the tree is not protected by law, but by the will of the people. Kind of symbolic if you ask me.

[-] match@pawb.social 104 points 6 months ago

Nothing is protected by law, everything protected is by the will of the people

[-] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago

What if the deed was the friends we made along the way?

[-] dynamicperson@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

A friend in need is a friend in deed...

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 months ago

Deeds are written on paper. The real deed was inside the tree all along.

[-] ImmortanStalin@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 6 months ago

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 34 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

We should really have representatives for non humans in government that are meant to function at an economic loss/investment as a way of giving back. Too often these departments get pushed to deliver ecosystem services. We need to learn to give back without it being transactional. Make gift culture great again. Elect a Lorax.

[-] Natanael@slrpnk.net 8 points 6 months ago

It's called environmental protection groups, animal rights groups, etc. Plenty don't want to listen, though

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 points 6 months ago

I mean literally representatives like senators not interest groups.

[-] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 months ago

Who is going to keep them accountable? Trees have a record high abstention rate, and if these representatives are elected by humans that's just proportional voting with veneer on top.

Democracy is about balancing levers, and that's why there is more than one branch of government. Special interest groups do have power, and so does the judiciary (who may sue the government for unlawful cutting down of trees) and the executive (who may have power to declare certain government-owned land to be Protected).

The real ecologist move would be to write a duty to protect the environment into the constitution, so that the judiciary can strike down any law that does anything to the contrary.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com -1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I believe at least one state—Wyoming, maybe—has a guarantee in its constitution that citizens will have a clean and healthy environment, or something along those lines. It effectively creates a duty to protect the environment.

Edit: it's Montana.

[-] Almrond@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

I was going to say, definitely not Wyoming. Too many oil and gas companies absolutely destroy the areas they are in. I lived in Edgerton for a bit, there is literally no potable water in town, you will make yourself incredibly sick drinking out of the tap because of the drilling in the area. That's just one of very many examples.

[-] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 6 months ago

I would argue most things in government should be ran in the black or red. There's just a certain type of person who wants to turn everything Into a for profit.

[-] flora_explora@beehaw.org 4 points 6 months ago

You may like Bruno Latour and his rather philosophical book Politics of Nature. I read it in a philosophy seminar and it seemed fascinating how the author tries to completely overthrow the view we have on "nature" and give it agency.