We should really have representatives for non humans in government.
Comment on Imagine denying other living and breathing lifeforms agency to thrive amd change lol lol lol
napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.de 5 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.
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.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Natanael@slrpnk.net 5 months ago
It’s called environmental protection groups, animal rights groups, etc. Plenty don’t want to listen, though
fossilesque@mander.xyz 5 months ago
I mean literally representatives like senators not interest groups.
azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 5 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.
Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 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 5 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.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Yes thank you. This is more helpful than you realise.
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 5 months ago
Can I just get Danny DeVito?
match@pawb.social 5 months ago
Nothing is protected by law, everything protected is by the will of the people
Daft_ish@lemmy.world 5 months ago
What if the deed was the friends we made along the way?
dynamicperson@lemmy.world 5 months ago
A friend in need is a friend in deed…
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
Deeds are written on paper. The real deed was inside the tree all along.
ImmortanStalin@lemmygrad.ml 5 months ago
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.