Quote:This is what I was trying say to somebody who supported the massive federal ownership in the West.  So many tend to assume that the government is benign and has no selfish motives.

 

Yes, they are protecting the land and its resources from being extracted... right now.  Until 100 years or however long from now, the government needs oil or other natural resources... at which point guess what happens?

 

Yes, but isn't the government supposed to be us?   So if the government owns the land outside some ranch in the west, you and I own that land.  Not just the local rancher.  He has no more rights to it than some guy living in New York City.   Why would I cede my rights to that land to him just because he lives next to it?   Put another way, why would the taxpayers give away land to private interests such as those local ranchers? 

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