Who Officially Owns The Moon???, page 3

The Moon belonging to the human race I think is a B.S. idea, even if that sounds harsh. That kind of rhetoric is just a way in which poor countries can catch a free ride for things another country has discovered.

That's like if the United States risks its own people and spends its own money in making some big discovery out in the ocean, which then the world tries to claim it should be for the benefit of everyone. Baloney I say.

Same with the Moon. You spend all the money (billions), do all the research, risk your own people, and make a startling discovery, there should be NO obligation that it should be for the benefit of "all humankind." It should be for the benefit of whatever parties do the research and the finding.

If china goes to the Moon in 20 years (just making a random example) and makes some big discovery ("HEY, we found OIL on the Moon!!!!!"), then the world shouldn't say, "Well that belongs to the rest of the world, not China." It is very rightfully China's, as they spent the money and risked the people and found it). The other countries, like the United States, if oil on the Moon is a big deal, than just have to spend their own money and go to the Moon to find oil, UNLESS China is willing to share it. But I mean, no discovery made in space by a single country belongs to the whole world.

That is just writing made by the international organizations because they want to hitch a free ride on the discoveries made by other nations. If those nations that make the discoveries are willing to share their discovery with the other nations, great. If not, they shouldn't have to.

Now, after all that, I would NOT say the U.S. "owns" the Moon or anything, as the Moon wasn't "discovered," it was there. The United States went there in the name "of all Mankind." And it didn't find any big discoveries there or anything. And even if it HAD found big discoveries (some valuable mineral), I wouldn't say the MOON is the U.S.s, just that area of the Moon where they made the discovery they could lay claim too. Now I do think the U.S. would be upset about another country landing and claiming the spot where the U.S. landed. It would be highly disrespectful. But that is all debatable. If another country was making plans to head to said spot and claim it, I think the U.S. would ahve to step forward and say, "We claim that area as ours," which technically would be true, as the other country had yet to arrive and claim it.

That is my opinion.

It makes sense about the "no weapons" in space thing because countries like to protect themselves. If they fear some nation may put big weapons in space and then threaten them and they cannot do anything to prevent this militarily, you try it the other way----diplomatically.

Like how China is against the U.S. missile defense system. If every country had the money to put weapons or a missile defense system in space, every country would. Those that cannot, but feel threatened by the ones that possibly can, try to make politics that say not to do this.

Personally, my view is, if you go into space and you make a big discovery that is beneficial to all humanity, well, place it under YOUR ownership so that some other greedy country can't come in and try to take it away or anything, but share it if it is really beneficial. But share it because you want to, not because you feel you have to.

[edit on 30-4-2005 by Broadsword20068]