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Comment by mothballed | Hacker News Reader

There is a phrase "Shoot, shovel, shutup" used in the US whenever anything is found on private property (usually endangered animals) that the government has an interest in protecting/restricting. The owners will destroy it immediately and before anyone finds out so that they don't lose their property rights. Thus you have the unintended consequences that these regulations accelerate rather than mitigate their destruction.

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Fun fact: back in 1600s the Swedish government wanted to make our old history grander than perhaps it had been. As part of that they instituted a law that if you find gold or ancient things on your grounds you would be paid more than the worth of it if you brought it in: https://www.icomos.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1666-Placat...

It lead to many treasures reaching museums etc instead of being melted down! It's still in effect, and still pays higher-than-melting prices: https://www.raa.se/kulturarv/arkeologi-fornlamningar-och-fyn...

There’s a reason Nordic countries do so well and are a real “first world”. They’re smart. In the good sense.

This is a weird comment.

I'd argue that this (your) comment is much weirder. Could you provide a reason or point us at least to what you find so particularly weird?

The commenter doesn't recognize that nordic countries have exceptionally high quality of life despite less sunlight (a common cause of depression) than whatever country in which they likely reside. They aren't curious about the world enough to learn about others.

“First world”?

First world is a political term meaning non-aligned with the West or Communist states during the Cold War.

Historically, Sweden was a non-aligned country. The very definition of a “third-world” country.

That's the original definition. I think now first, second, third are used to annotate which level of development a country is at. Especially that now, not all developing countries are equal.

It's more nuanced than that. First was the USA, the first nuclear state (and the west / allies). Then the Soviets. The Third World was the anticipated rise of the nations that would join us on the world stage, a hopeful and optimistic term[0]. Then we deliberately sabotaged them and kept them under our boot to extract resources.

Third World is now a slight for developing nations.

0. The Jakarta Method (Vincent Bevins) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jakarta_Method

> As part of that they instituted a law that if you find gold or ancient things on your grounds you would be paid more than the worth of it if you brought it in

> It's still in effect, and still pays higher-than-melting prices

But the melting price of an ancient bronze sword is nothing. Most ancient artifacts have no material value.

Then it's a very good thing you're offered more than the melting value!

Surprised that didn’t inspire people to purchase gold/artifacts and bury them on their property…

More than the melting (raw material) price doesn’t mean more than the artifact’s value.

The solution is for the government to pay the actual cost of the regulations instead of making the property owner eat most of it.

The reality is either you (the policymaker) find it important enough to bear the cost or it's not important enough for anyone to do it. The Swedish solution in the sibling comment demonstrates the right mindset.

Well that's not going to work on bigger animals (e.g. buffalo) as you can only carry back 100 lbs at per hunt.

The plan also fails miserably with elephants, giraffes, and rhinos.

And whales, don't forget whales.

That's why all civilizations need to proactively obliterate any durable structures and artifacts they create on a regular basis. Destroy everything in that sweet spot where it's old junk that no one cares about' nothing should survive long enough to become valuable due to its antiquity.

If you don't leave anything behind, future generations can just build without caution, because the past will forever be shrouded in mystery. Let's not repeat ancient civilizations' mistakes.

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