There’s an old cartoon showing two cave men huddling by a campfire, and one says to the other, “I’ve got a great idea, let’s divide the whole world into little pieces and sell them to people”. Like much humor, this is an exaggeration and oversimplification of a very complex issue, but nevertheless, it does point out a fundamental definition which is rarely made clear.

A recent thread on Space got me to thinking. Who owns the land? Were talking about two separate concepts of ownership, here; personal (“This here’s ma prop’ty. Now git, or I’ll blow your dam’ head off.”) and communal (“I hereby claim all lands and territories drained by this river in the name of the King of France!). Both concepts are justified and institutionalized by social contract and agreement, law and official documentation, but what lies at the root of ownership of a resource that either is uninhabited, or occupied by aboriginal inhabitants or squatters? In some societies, no one owns the land, although communities and individuals have valid claim to the resources on it. “You’re welcome to pass through, stranger, but you’d better not help yourself to fruit from my orchard.” So by “ownership”, let us further restrict the definition to right of exploitation and occupancy, but not of passage.

There are several concepts that could apply here, such as the owner is he who has developed the land and made it productive or acquired it through free trade from someone who did have some justifiable right to call it his own. But this begs the question, if you follow the chain of ownership back far enough it always gets back to someone who found it empty, or took it from the original inhabitants by force. Even “free trade” can be interpreted in lots of ways, the taking over of Indian and Spanish domains through purchase by North Americans was not always as a result of transactions free from coercion of some sort.

In earlier times, all sorts of justifications were used: the original inhabitants failed to make it productive (they did not farm it intensively, just hunted on it occasionally) , or they were ignorant savages who did not deserve it (we are bringing them the benefits of civilization), or it was claimed as a legitimate spoil of war (whatever that means), or it was occupied by people who were allegedly religiously or racially inferior to the new owners. For millennia, claim to ownership was upheld by the statement “It’s our land because the bones of my ancestors are buried here”. But invariably, someone else shows up who believes the bones of his descendants should be buried there instead. And most often, all the usual justifications of ownership are trumped by the only one that really matters, “I have my troops all over it”.

In general, stable, civilized societies have relatively agreed-upon conventions to establish ownership, justified by long established custom and community acceptance. This usually keeps the wheels of commerce turning in a peaceful and equitable fashion accepted by most of the citizenry. But the problem of who first had valid claim to what is essentially a communal resource, like the air or the sea, is usually brushed back to antiquity.

Our own country is fiercely territorial and proudly capitalistic, but both historically and in contemporary terms, ownership and exploitation and the claims of the community and the individual are constantly under societal review, it’s one of the main reasons we have courts and laws. In the past, the rights of different communities disputing over a tract of land was also an issue, a much bigger one than exists today. But rather than reaching into history to find our examples, let’s use instead a science fiction scenario to explore these issues.

One day, out of the void, a fleet of alien spaceships from a distant star suddenly arrive in our Solar System. The visitors are peaceful, but it is also clear that they intend to stay and won’t take no for an answer. It is also obvious that their technology and weaponry makes our acquiescence to their presence inevitable. The aliens announce that they are claiming those parts of our system we have never physically occupied (everything except Earth and Moon) for conversion to productive use. Not being a race of thieves, they are willing to pay us for this right, and they make us an offer we cannot refuse (they provide us with detailed instructions on how to make fusion reactors, interplanetary spacecraft, water desalinization plants, general advanced technology, and other such items which we find very attractive. Not having much in the way of alternatives, seduced by the bonanza of goods, and knowing they could simply take what they wanted, we accept their offer and sign a treaty giving them exploitation rights. We negotiate a clause in the contract that forbids them to undertake any activity which might threaten or alter the ecology Earth-moon environment in any way. They accept, and both sides live up to the terms of the agreement.

For a while, things work out fine. The aliens build a thousand massive orbital stations in the asteroid belt, and begin mining minerals, as well as enormous mounts of water, methane, ammonia and fusionable hydrogen and helium isotopes from our gas giants and the Oort Cloud. They start terraforming Mars. More of their ships arrive every day. They grow in numbers and power. Earth gets rich by selling them raw materials and complex organics which they cannot afford to make or import, and they pay in return with technology not covered by the original trade agreement. Millions of Terrans accept profitable industrial jobs both on Earth and in space connected to the alien trade. We become prosperous partners of the aliens, using our new ships to foray to nearby stars on missions of trade and exploration, and we meet other races and start becoming integrated into the galactic community.

But not all is well, in spite of the advantages, critics point out that our Solar system is being plundered, and will soon be devoid of useful materials (although no one can say exactly when). Poverty still exists on earth, in some populations it is even growing, and many of our own science and industry stagnates because of the cheap alien products and services now available. Some of our trade and political contacts with other species are strongly discouraged (some say sabotaged) because of hostile relations our alien neighbors have with them; relations we do not understand and which they never explain to us. Due to reasons we cannot fully understand, the prices the aliens are willing to pay for our products, and which they charge for theirs, are always being adjusted to optimize their economic conditions, not ours. When our trade conflicts with theirs, they pressure us (usually successfully) to modify or stop it. When the Terran colonies on Luna and Earth orbit revolt because they are suspicious of the aliens, alien military aid and training helps the Earth authorities crush the rebels.

The aliens announce that another species has declared war on them, and the entire Solar system is now a potential military target. The aliens erect a system of battle stations around earth to protect it from invaders, and they expand their military assistance program and start equipping a Terran Navy , for mutual defense. They sign the appropriate treaties with our government, they are always sticklers for legalities. Earth politics soon starts to split into pro- and anti-alien factions, and alien financial assistance and dirty tricks for and against Terran political parties is discovered during an important referendum, causing great scandal. Voices everywhere start calling for change, and they range from a renegotiation of the original treaties, to an intransigent, “Aliens out of Solar Space Now! And the aliens become involved further in our politics, using threats of economic embargoes, deportation of earth workers from the asteroid belt, and boycotts of Earth goods to influence Earth governments.

Meanwhile, the alien enemies start infiltrating Earth politics through surrogates and beaming in propaganda, aggressively trading with Terra in an attempt to drive a wedge between the Earth and our newcomers. Our aliens respond by hiring the best Earth public relations firms to counteract their enemies with a massive propaganda campaign, and mobilize their fleet to erect an economic blockade on all trade between Earth and their enemies’ (and allies’) worlds. Human economies are disrupted, but our aliens move in economic aid to mitigate the disruption and persuade their opponents on earth to back off support of their rivals, or face aid cutoffs.

An enemy attack on the alien industrial facilities is beaten off, but heavy damage is inflicted, and Earth’s economy, now completely dependent on trade with the newcomers, suffers as a result. Terran ships participated in the fighting, and took heavy casualties, and the newcomers initiate a massive program of defense construction on Earth, which they can only partially fund. It is a consequence of our mutual defense pact.

I could go on, but this must already sound familiar. …any comments?