Allen, I watched the show because of your original post below. I don't think what Dakota Fred is doing is "business," unless you understand business as sabotaging, back-stabbing, disingenuous, deceitful behavior. There is such a thing as business ethics, although some consider the phrase a non sequitur.
In my view, Dakota Fred jumped the claim, pure and simple.
He may have had a piece of paper, but his actions still weren't "right," again, in my view. The owner, in my opinion, is equally culpable. He appears to be a two-faced coward. If he had a problem with the way his claim was being worked, he should have dealt with the people working the claim, directly. The owner needed to have been the man who journeyed to Porcupine Hill and broke the news.
What's missing with the "its business" crowd, is that all business is fundamentally based on trust. Owner and lease-holder make a commitment to each other to "see it through" and to deal honorably with each other. In the Bible, they called it a covenant, and its is a solemn affair, with one's name and reputation at stake. The legal mumbo-jumbo is supposed to support the understanding between the parties and define each party's responsibilities. Yes, the team leader should have made the payment; but it doesn't say much for the owner's character that he would use the breach as a pretext for selling the property out from under the Hoffmans.
The owner is feckless, in my view.
I could not have controlled my temper as well as the team leader (I think his name was Todd), and I was certainly sympathetic to the guy who wanted to deck Dakota Fred, I wanted to deck him too, and it wasn't even my claim!
Well, I guess I'm hooked.
Its all your fault, Allen
