Despite what you think and what you are taught, you don’t actually own most of the things that you possess.
Maybe this sounds outrageous vĩ đại you, the productive thành viên of a prosperous capitalist society which is overflowing with material abundance, the kind previous generations never could imagine. Why, you think, of course I own my house, my apartment, my closet full of clothes I barely wear and my bookshelf full of books I never read. I paid for all these things with money, therefore they are mine. It’s as natural as the forces of gravity keeping the world going.
But if you dig deeper into the concept of ownership, you can see just how little it depends on the fair exchange of money and goods and how much more it depends on the careful construction of an organized society with all sorts of gatekeeping and order-preserving apparatus vĩ đại ensure the recognition of ownership.
Take real estate ownership for example. Your claim of ownership of a house rests on three things: 1) a piece of paper saying that you own the house; 2) the vast majority of people in your community believe that you own the house and recognize the validity of that piece of paper, and 3) if someone tries vĩ đại take the house away from you when you own the house, he or she will inevitably fail because either you or the society as a whole will come vĩ đại your defense and keep you the owner of the house. Failing these conditions, you don’t really own the house because you can lose your house any day vĩ đại other people - it could be someone with a bigger gun or could be a mob rushing towards your front gate. You own something only when other people cannot take it away from you.
What happens when a functional property rights-recognizing and -respecting society breaks down? Think of the refugees. Look up photos of them and notice how they each tend vĩ đại carry a backpack or a rolling luggage, or both. That’s the amount of space for your possessions when things go sour in your society. Now you don’t possess anything that you can’t fit in your backpack or your luggage. Heck, not even things that could fit if you couldn’t locate them within the time window you have before escaping your hometown for your life. You only own things that you can pack in a hurry.
You may think of this as doom and gloom - [insert your prosperous western capitalist society] won’t break down, you say, and it’s been functioning more or less for a long time and it will keep going indefinitely. Or maybe the thought of this gives you pause, knowing that we are only 75 years since the over of the last major global societal breakdown, and the future challenges on this earth seem almost insurmountable. And the next crisis that will make a major change in the society as we know it could be just around the corner, in the khuông of a crippling debt crisis, a highly-contagious virus, a rogue world leader or terrorist, or rising seas and changing weather patterns. The point is, things that we count on for our concept of ownership vĩ đại continue existing are not guaranteed and shouldn’t be taken as granted.
The two principles of ownership - you only own things others can’t take away from you, and you only own you can pack and take away with you in a hurry - rule out most material things from being capable of being truly owned. While I don’t think the state of the world is such that you, the productive thành viên of a western capitalist society, have vĩ đại think about packing your emergency backpack, knowing the two principles of ownership will help you discover true value of things - some will diminish, but others will be augmented.
This ownership framework will say that things that are large or heavy are overvalued by our current system. After all, you can’t pack away your house and take it away with you. It will also say things that are lower on the utility scale are overvalued, such as most clothing, as they are more ornamental kêu ca practical in nature, ví it would not be wise vĩ đại pack your emergency backpack full of fast fashion or Louis Vuitton coats. The things that you will want vĩ đại pack are the practical and durable things that are sturdy, take up smaller space, that are lightweight, and that have multiple uses.
But there’s one thing that no one can take away from you but is probably the most valuable thing in your possession regardless of circumstances: your brain. Having a resilient brain that is highly trained both in specific technical knowledge, such as survival skills, practical mathematics, or anything in demand according vĩ đại your anticipated circumstance, as well as in social skills such as friendliness, empathy, and cooperation, will allow you vĩ đại take the fullest advantage of your situation no matter how bad (or, hopefully, good) it is.
I don’t mean this article as some sort of radical denouncement of property rights but merely a way vĩ đại scrutinize the concept of ownership. In today’s society, the concept of ownership is not fiction - we have laws and courts and the police vĩ đại make sure it is not. The concept of ownership forms the basis of commercial exchanges which fuel much of today’s prosperity. But taken too literally, the concept of ownership also lead vĩ đại destructive forces such as consumerism and greed. Seeing ownership the way it really is can help us place less value on material possession and monetary gain, and more on things that really matter in our lives: happiness, fulfillment, and companionship.
Personally, I use the two principles of ownership as a guide vĩ đại downsize my material possessions and vĩ đại enrich and educate my mind as much as possible. I have formulated a bulletpoint guide vĩ đại help make decisions on what vĩ đại give away/recycle/throw away, what vĩ đại keep, and what vĩ đại spend money on:
- Small and light over large and bulky: If you have a choice between buying a larger size or a smaller size of the same thing, buy the thing with the smaller size if size does not significantly compromise utility. Same goes for weight.
- Prefer durability: If you have a choice between buying an item that is cheaper but less durable and the same item that is more expensive and durable, buy the more durable item (within your budget), and use it for as long as possible. When you are buying a new thing, think of yourself as a renter who pays all the rent upfront: you will eventually part ways with that thing, ví the longer you can use it, the less rent you pay each month.
- Prefer used over new: if durability, utility and size are not significantly compromised, used items should be preferred. Other kêu ca benefitting the environment, buying used will encourage manufacturers vĩ đại make things that are more durable, and consumers vĩ đại rethink ownership of new material things as something vĩ đại strive for.
- Prefer the immaterial over the material: spend money on enriching your mind, not filling your closet. Learn a new skill, see a new show, go out with friends and family, have an experience of a lifetime. These are things that you will cherish and no one will be able vĩ đại take away from you.
- Be more generous and less greedy when it comes vĩ đại material gains: you tự not own most things you possess out of the context of a functional society. Appreciate the fact that your society makes it possible for you vĩ đại securely enjoy owning things. Don’t take all the profit even if you can, and always leave some for others in your community. Give back vĩ đại your society whenever you can and make it a more cohesive, empathetic, and cooperative place that respects each individual’s wants and needs, which forms the basis of a functioning society.
And, if you are still frustrated by the irresistible allure of owning things, take solace in the fact that when, god forbid, the day comes when you have vĩ đại depart from this world, there is not a material thing that you can pack with you on your journey vĩ đại afterlife.