"We are the only species who pay to live on this planet. Why?"

[Zorra]

7. This is a very recent development in the scope of the overall history of

humankind.

For most of human existence, this was not the case.

The Lenni Lenape, Iroquois, Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow, Cree, Dineh, Apache, etc. peoples of this continent were certainly not paying any rent for their hogan, mandan, or tipi spots at the State Park, trailer park, or gated community.

The "Other species pay with their lives which seems a greater price to pay than a few bucks"concept expressed earlier in this thread totally cracks me up. No offense intended.

Are the mule deer, the carp, and the ravens paying with their lives, instead of paying rent? LOL!

Has grandmother box turtle, recently encountered in Pennsylvania with a human's initials carved into her shell, carved there by a foolish child several decades ago, been paying the price of her life for her existence?

No. Of course not. She has lived a free life, and paid no land payments or rent, as any sensible upstanding turtle would.

Turtle With Boy’s Initials Turns Up Alive 47 Years Later

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/05/04/turtle-with-boys-initials-turns-up-47-years-later-alive/

The wise person who is the originator of some of the white man's religions, understood this very well:

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Well, in reality, we're probably not worth any more than our avian sisters and brothers, but we are at least equal to them, I suppose.

All my relations.

...Instead of fixing or overthrowing the current system, OWS seeks an organic replacement. At some point, the movement will simply be the nation and perhaps more than that. After all, we will eventually have to admit that humanity has outgrown its collection of nation states.

During the French revolution, representatives of the third estate declared that they were the nation. That was a preindustrial society before mass communication, so they were being figurative. In our case it is close to literally true. The representatives of the third estate sitting as a committee simply became the national legislature. This is why distinctions between public and private resources or the idea of observing local property regulations is rather silly. OWS is no more trespassing on public land than Washington’s army was trespassing at Valley Forge. If we no longer recognize the authority of the Mayor or government of New York City, for example, then we do not recognize its ability to regular where, when, or how we assemble. It is absurd for us to decry the immorality of laws that allow banks to commit highway robbery while still fretting over camping regulations. It is not so much that the Constitution grants or protects the right to protest. Rather, OWS as the embodiment of the nation need not look to any authority above or outside itself. The fact that OWS is present on Wall Street or some other meeting place is its own justification.

If it seems like people who would ordinarily support the Democrats are skeptical or are unenthusiastic, it is because we know that the political contest is a sideshow. The reason it is “Occupy Wall Street” and not “Occupy the Capitol” is because we know that Washington is a puppet theater and that gambling on change by playing party politics is a sucker’s game. Again, the idea is not simply to replace leaders or to enact specific reforms. OWS seeks to replace the entire political, social, and economic culture with a wider sense of human community. It already conducts itself in that manner. Rather than leaders with the prerogative to make decisions for the group, OWS operates on consensus. It is clear from the past ten or twelve years that there is no political, institutional solution for what ails us. Fortunately, we do not need one.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002579714 [

/i]