[meteorite-list] Re: who does what for what cause?

From: MexicoDoug_at_aol.com <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 17 23:37:54 2005
Message-ID: <9b.61bfd276.2fe4f109_at_aol.com>

Darren G. wrote:
>Give the finder a fair finder's fee, yes, but don't let him sell it to any
ass with a wad
of cash.

Hey Darren, I am sympathetic to your intentions and the importance of good
science being done by qualified individuals to increase the sphere of human
knowledge. But the solution you offer to the problem you have framed here
doesn't seem to add value. Please bear with me, as I too want it studied to the
hilt.

There are a few assumptions behind the scenes: The first assumption is that
someone has done something wrong in rescuing the fossil from its resting
place. Is Kansas a state with a law that says "It is prohibited that private
citizens rescue dinosaur eggs for profit?" "The state has the right to
expropriate below market anything you find that is later determined to be of value?"
 

I checked and couldn't confirm this, but I did learn that in the progressive
town of Wichita, it is illegal to carry a bean snapper concealed in your
pocket, or sue for divorce on the grounds of mistreatment of one's
mother-in-law. So it sounds like they have covered all the important bases.

A socialist or communist or dictatorial system might agree with you, but it
is a hard problem for a free market. As for the "ass with the wad of cash",
we don't know any of those, do we? Value is a tricky thing. I feel that the
increased value the market gives these items helps insure more than anything
they are protected, and I may add in better conditions than most museums I
have seen typically hurting for funds even for air conditioning. And then big
guys eventually donate to museums to preserve their names, anyway. What
"ass with enough sense to get a wad of cash" would not know how to protect his
investment?

What we don't know is what was expended in the process of the the
recuperation of the egg, assuming it is authentic - and I believe it is. I am 100% for
preservation, but if the guy that recovered it was an expert enough to
recognize it, instead of a typical person running around with a hammer smashing
all the rocks to see what's in 'em, and will cooperate with studies (we don't
know), that guy has done a whole lot more for science than an academic who
dedicates his life to preying on well-intentioned, legal hunters who have
potentially performed a rescue operation when in its place there would only be
crushed gravel or sandstone and beaurocracy.

It seems to me a pity that the hypothetical situation could exist where
someone dedicates their life to recovering a fossil, legally, and then that the
fossil would be taken away from him. Then on the other hand we have someone
who harvests a quarry destroying so many priceless specimens and could care
less, but in the process becoms a millionaire in the construction supply
business.

Since we don't know any of these details, I find yours a somewhat antiquated
view which is as dangerous as it could be helpful to science. The basic
problem here I would say is that museums are run as charities, and nobody wants
to patronize them enough to pay hard-working finders fair market value. If
the fossil hunter has invested a good part of his life in preparation ... and
you only want to offer him paultry sum (yes, give me a break with this "fair
finders fee - we all know what that means) while another has a a job that
hypothetically destroys (construction materials, building over formations,
highways, making reservoirs, driving, agriculture that turns fields into errosion
sinks and destroys remains, and all those who support them, living in homes,
building things, eating, dynamiting wells for oil exploration, minerals, salt
water intrusion, etc.).

So here this guy is being painted as a devil? I think the best strategy for
us, is to be nice to the guys that find the stuff and build an understanding
all around the table of the reality we live in, and make them feel good
about donating. Not another Boston Tea Party, please - remember where the .the
goods ended up. And if you want to condemn anyone, do it to the politicians
and all of us -you and me- equally for not supporting the arts and sciences
with our tithe. But don't ream the one guy who actually made the recovery. And
if it is a legal sale, let Michael promote it. Having Michael involved may
not seem of much value to you, but I think he is an ethical person and it is
good all around therefore that he is participating. Michael would not be
stupid enough to ship it with a big campo in the same box, for example, and he
will be sure it is authenticated, too. It is not like fossils fall out of the
sky in flames announcing themselves.

I hope you and Michael make up, because there was no need for the energetic
personal attacks in public when private could suffice. Those are pass? on
such a distinguished list.
Saludos, Doug
Received on Fri 17 Jun 2005 11:37:45 PM PDT