03-08-2016, 10:59 PM
(03-08-2016, 06:36 PM)JoshoB Wrote: By destroying illegal antiquities as soon as you find them, no one profits.
What do you mean 'no one profits'? The looter profits. Once he has the money, he doesn't care what happens to the artefact. And it makes no difference to the purchaser if the item is confiscated or destroyed; he still loses. On the other hand, if the item is confiscated and passes to a museum or into the academic community, it still has some potential to tell us something we might not have known. If a would-be purchaser knows that the item will be confiscated and he may suffer some additional penalty, he will be less inclined to buy it. Then the trade might dry up and it would be less profitable to loot sites. I doubt whether the illegal trade will ever be eradicated but it could, at least, be diminished.
Michael King Macdona
And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
