Discussion
It's hard to talk about the theft. It is hard to even describe the crime because nothing quite like it has ever been done in human history. At least not in a time of relative peace.
Hear the sound of the fire. The roar of hot air escaping from between the rafters, the rustle of pages that will never be read again, the blackening twisting traceries of heat turning beautiful images the work of human imagination into uniform gray dust.
Markets are an amusing little game but some of ya'll don't know when to quit playing.
How do we recognize evil? How do we know it is wrong to take an ax to the oldest tree in the forest simply because the ax is new and shiny and sharp? Simply because we have hands and muscles and the power to cut it down? You can burn the libraries. You can cut down the tree. Does having this power mean that you must use it?
I think getting hung up on discussions about legal protections is missing the point.
Something beautiful existed and now it is gone. That is destruction.
@futurebird "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." A Sand County Almanac
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sand_County_Almanac
I think I need to check this out. In the fiction story I've been working on the ants have a similar set of values and these come up when they discuss if it would be moral to eradicate humans.
@futurebird When I first started reading I thought you might have been referring to this dreadful theft:
https://www.themoorlander.co.uk/news/thieves-steal-rare-ants-nest-from-devon-nature-reserve-9324192
The Moorlander