Picture Marlon Brando as the Godfather, Don Vito Corleone. He’s in your backyard threatening you with that calm voice of his. He’s making you an offer you can’t refuse. He’s making you dig your own grave, literally, with a shovel.
Suddenly, you come upon a rare archaeological find as you’re digging. It’s huge. It must be worth a fortune. Well, now you can sell it, pay back your debt to the Godfather, and you’re fine, right?
No, because Vito sees the find and says to you in that same calm voice, “Hey, that’s mine. Now pay me money to dig it out of the ground.”
Now you’re even more in debt and deader than before.
That’s exactly what the State does to people trying to build a house. If they happen to be building on top of an archaeological find, then by law they have to pay for it to be excavated and handed over to the Israel Antiquities Authority. Or Marlon Brando. What’s the difference?
From The Jewish Libertarian, here.