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Wednesday 18 July 2012

Memories In Future Tense

A few things have happened in the last 24 hours that have taught me a lesson about trying to be too clever.

I wrote a post about water, and specifically whether it is capable of being owned, and I scheduled it for a few days time.  My instincts say, even now, to leave it to post as scheduled.

Meanwhile, Puddleglum has gone a step further and identified what lies behind the current discussion about water.  I'll not steal his thunder, it's a hell of a good post and you should read it.  Even Bryce Edwards thinks so.

And in the end I got back to where Every Tiny Straw started - back in June last year when wildcrafty said:

wildcrafty said...
Wish you had a blog AC.

"I reckon the whole "the land belongs to me" concept is a failure. I much prefer the idea that "I belong to the land". As such, I am its property and thereby I am responsible for looking after it."

There's a conversation I'd like to see NZ having more of.
June 14, 2011 11:38 PM
over at Cr Guyton's blog.  Gosh, that feels a bit weird, quoting someone who was quoting me.  However, that's kind of where it all started - a seminal moment, if you will.  If you read this blog, wildcrafty, thanks.

So, and acknowledging that this pre-empts a post that is already written and scheduled for publication, but is as yet unpublished.  I've fallen back to a principle I explained a year ago:

I reckon the whole "I hold water rights" concept is a failure.  I much prefer the idea that "I belong to the water, and the land".  As such, I am its property and thereby I am responsible for looking after it.

The concept of ownership, as we understand it in our culture, may be too simplistic to allow us to manage water properly.

The Church - Of Skins and Hearts, 1981

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