I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and judgments than one independent nation has the right to command another.

Thomas Jefferson
About This Quote

In our society, we are taught that we must inherit land from our ancestors. We are told that it is our duty to carry on the family name and that this land is rightfully ours. In a way, this is a good thing. It instills a sense of responsibility and a sense of duty for those who come after us.

But it also leads people to believe that they have a sacred right to the land. A sacred right to say what they want to do on the land, even if it goes against the wishes of those who lived there before them. Many people today think that the government has no right or authority over their land as long as they haven’t been there in over 50 years.

They feel as though they have the right to say whether or not coal mining will be allowed on their land. The fact of the matter is, we don’t own this ground and we never will and we can’t change this fact simply because we want to or feel we should.

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