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Okay I have an important question about mineral rights. If something is in space, who do the mineral rights belong to? Whoever nabbed it? Or is that just unc
by sova 10y ago
Okay I have an important question about mineral rights. If something is in space, who do the mineral rights belong to? Whoever nabbed it? Or is that just uncharted and untested?
- sulam 10y agoWe certainly haven't tested it. Right now all extraterrestrial bodies and even empty space are international commons by the terms of th UN outer space treaty, which has been ratified by all space-going powers. However a nation can withdraw from the treaty with 1-yr notice, so this is of questionable value in predicting what will happen when we can make economic use of these resources.
- mkempe 10y agoJohn Locke answered that question centuries ago, his answer remains valid.
- sova 10y agoCould you remind me what his conclusion was?
- mkempe 10y agoI have property in my own person, hence the labor of my body and the work of my hands are my property. What I remove from a state of nature and mix my labor with, becomes my property. That's how asteroids and planets ought to and will become property. See Chapter V of Locke's Second Treatise of Government, Of Property.