Comments | kazeno_taka: Allemansrätten

kazeno_taka

Allemansrätten

Jul 27, 2012 15:52

Allemansrätten - It's a Swedish word that means "The everyman's right', referring to the freedom to roam, or go where you wish without restriction. I didn't realize that such a term existed in any language, but it's a feeling I've long had. There's a sort of primal frustration I've had all my life of seeing woodland, or a stream or any other ( Read more... )

Comments 7

corvus_animus July 27 2012, 21:39:11 UTC

You would probably love the west. It's nothing like Europe, but there is a lot of BLM land which is simply public land. Moving out here I feel what you are describing...it felt so much more free in the west.

corvus_animus July 27 2012, 21:42:48 UTC

And I'm not thinking straight. I know you spent timeout west! But just likening it to what you are describing. The east feels so claustrophobic to me!!!!

kazeno_taka July 27 2012, 22:50:49 UTC

Montana is actually one of the examples I like to use - there's so much land, but so much of it is owned (particularly in the part I'd want to live, which is western Montana in the mountains).

charreed July 28 2012, 03:24:49 UTC

You know I never really thought about it before seeing this post, but you're describing probably the one thing I miss the most about living in Norway. Even in Oslo, you could walk around for hours (safely!) and explore new places, buildings and even bits of nature. And never feared "intruding" on anyone else's space. Leon in France was the same way. I wish I could go back to that so, so much.

I live out in the boonies now and I still am afraid of treading on someone else's property. Even driving home and circling the col-de-sac, I saw a guy on his porch just chilling out and all I could think at the time was, "Man, I hope I'm not bugging him by doing a U'y". It's ridiculous the mindset you find yourself in within this country! It's seeped in slowly, but geeze, now I really notice it. It's so depressing :(

foxfeather July 28 2012, 13:26:43 UTC

The private ownership here is more of a symptom than a cause - it's sort of like railing against crutches when you're mad at broken limbs ( ... )

kazeno_taka July 29 2012, 15:16:36 UTC

"Until society gets fixed and people as a whole have a basic level of respect for others and land - I sure don't want them wandering on 'my' property." This seems to be the overall sentiment I've found when discussing this with people (I had a similar comment thread on Facebook), and I'm starting to understand more why my viewpoint is a bit unrealistic. I suppose I'm a bit of an idealist when it comes to the world - I honestly don't understand why someone would trash land that's not theirs just because it's not theirs. Why do people find pleasure in destroying trees or buildings or vandalizing? I just don't get it ( ... )

cassander42 January 31 2013, 02:09:36 UTC

Very interesting read. Hadn't really thought about this before. I guess I'm just used to looking for areas of "green" (parks, wildlife refuges, etc) on maps and going to check them out, that I don't even think about the areas that aren't green. I've always thought the solution was to make more parks and to protect national forests from clear cutting. Never even thought about this idea.