Focus on Life™

Owning means that the owner of something has the right to
exclude others from using it and has a title to control the sub-
ject. How much can we really own and is ownership freedom?

Some time ago, I wrote about the concept of ownership.
Because of the current discussion in politics, it’s interesting to
consider the other aspects of ownership—the sense of control
and freedom.

Usually people want to own things in order to secure
something. They feel more secure when they own the house
rather than rent it. When you own something, you have
something “real.” Ownership is just a word like any other.
Nothing else. We could define it as well to mean a monopoly
or right of exclusion.

By calling owning a right of exclusion, we might realize
more of its nature. By owning, we exclude. We get something
and deny others access to something. Amusingly enough, this
is in many cases the physical reality as well. Wealthy nations
have tight border controls and rich people fence themselves
into their properties.

Currently, only a few people in the developed world pos-
sess most of the resources and wealth in the world. This
exclusion creates disharmony and restlessness. This is not just
the case between wealthy U.S. and Europe versus third world
countries, but also within nations. The United States could be
a case in point, but one could consider many other nations as
well. The bigger the contrast, the larger the resources required
to keep the situation in control. Security and military budgets
are growing every year and terrorist attacks are becoming part
of everyday life.Is it true that the more we own the more free-
dom we create?

It seems to be the opposite. The more we own, the more
we have to worry about. If our personal sense of control and
security is tied to the concept of owning, then the more we
own the more we have to lose. Our possessions become part
of our existence. They are part of our ego and ourself. Any
threat to our possessions not only means living without some-
thing but also poses a direct threat to our own existence (i.e.,
our sense of security and control; freedom).What might have
started as a pure means of getting a title to something easily
turns into a vehicle for gaining personal security and a sense
of freedom. And it’s no wonder that at this stage, things get
complicated. And usually nasty as well. Now it’s personal. My
possessions are part of my existence; they define who I am.
The more the better—without them I am nothing. Very
physical and very real. Very personal.

Seldom can we share the wealth with others and keep the
ownership in its right form. Owning is often power and influ-
ence, and these two usually corrupt our mind easily. Only a
few people can be poor when rich and rich when poor. Real
freedom cannot be purchased. Either you figure it out or you
don’t. The means of substituting the true freedom are many—
ownership is one of them.

It is easy to act outright. It takes more nerve and courage to question first and evaluate the motives of one’s actions. And it’s almost extreme to make up one’s main after all those steps and being able to act rationally against one’s first hunch…

Yesterday I had a good conversation about ownership. These days I’m going through a process whether to acquire a car or not. Barely there has been a moment in my adult life when I did not have my own vehicle (usually a fast one). Now I’m selling my bike but seriously thinking of not getting anything as a replacement.

Why do we need a car? In many cases if one lives in a big city it’s much cheaper to rent a car or use a taxi instead. This same analogy applies to a summer cottage / yacht and other stuff as well. Even though the financial calculations would indicate clearly that there is no point buying anything - still we do it.

Illusion of freedom is one of my favourites. At your own will you can go whenever and wherever you desire. Yeah, right. Thinking about my past years there haven’t been that many of those spontanious acts of freedom carried out. Living in the downtown is more hassle free without using a car no matter whether one has it or not.

Another good point was that one do not want to think about the costs all the time. It’s easier to hand out a thick pile of cash at once and then pretend that the capital costs are not real. When using taxi one has to think about money every time.
As a car owner one pretends to ignore the endless maintenance costs, insurances, taxes, and of course the petrol costs. And the biggest of all in more expensive vehicles is the huge depreciation of capital. Quite a lot of money to be burned just to have a nice option to use the vehicle if one would need it and being able to forget the money issue at least for every 400 kms or so.

How about the real motives? Above were the obvious ones. But the true ones have nothing to do with the transportation from A to B. Our mind is a master to hide the true motives under rational surface with convenience and practicality etc. Who can admit that owning one’s own vehicle has nothing to do with self-esteem, ego, showing off or ownership (i.e. feeling of security by owning)? If not why is the world full of exciting and exotic cars with more horsepowers and gadgets one would need to get from A to B even in the normal range of family cars. And most of all we have the taxis and public transportation anyhow where one can work at the same time while travelling. I am what I consume and possess might not be that far from the truth still today. Poor nature and environment. They have to bear the consequences of all our useless nonsense.

Something totally exceptional occured today: strangers were talking to each other and helping each other out to get their cars moving in the snow circus. Hard times make people come together. The same happened in 9/11 and in many other occasions.

I wonder when the times are “bad” enough for all of us to put our act together. If you cannot see any reason here’re a few reminders of our totally perfect world:
- every day some 24.000 people are starving to death
- hundreds if not thousands are killed every day for various causes (terrorism, anti-terrorism, death penalties, murders, wars, politics…)
- huge number of world’s population is living in poverty, fear and constant struggle of everyday life
- the environment is exhausted at ever increasing pace without caring about the global consequences:

- rain forest are teared down by the rate that cannot be replaced by any plantations (it takes time to grow!)
- seas are overfished by all the possible coastal nations
- agriculture is using more and more chemicals to boost the production
- animals are fed with antibiotics and other chemicals to grow faster and become better food products
- manufacturers are moving their production to the third countries where the environmental restrictions are lighter or non-existing
- our consumption is dumped to wastelands which are getting bigger and bigger every year
- wild life is destroyed and killed for living, for fun, and mainly by pure ignorance

I feel so proud to be part of the human nature. We live so naturally!

I know - you have heard this over and over again. This is not the point. My main concern is why we are allowing all this to happen. Why are we closing our eyes and pretending that none of this is happening? Actually we are resisting and fighting against everything and everyone who is telling purely the objective observations. Those are called the activists and scientists with wrong results (i.e. almost like terrorists)… Indeed they are. They are the main threats for our current irresponsible life style and profit making machine (governments included). In economics these effects are called as negative externalities. Those are the things that fall between the interest groups but concern everyone: clean air, sea with fish, secured daily bred and butter for everyone, peace…

Next thing you are going to say is that I know all of this but I’m powerless, I cannot do anything. Well, miracles happen. And usually they happen when enough people have had enough of the current state of affairs. You simply start from the square one and change your own behaviour. One has to do the difference, and be an example. Others will follow - one by one. The only thing that we have to change is our own thinking. We just thinking differently (see the world differently), and act accordingly. This can happen fast. Look Atkins Diet it’s starting to change even industry dynamics.

At least I’m shamed of our behaviour. We are creating the future everyday and just look the legacy of our children. It does not look that rosy. Lots of waste and troubles ahead. In addition we’re spending more than we are earning - next generations will also pick up the bill for the increased social and healthcare expenses as well as the pension costs for baby boomers

I wonder when has it come to this point that the truth is the evil, and the betrayal and self denial have turned to the greatest truth. We are living longer and having more possessions than ever. Still we are not enjoying ourselves - totally the opposite. Maybe the happiness does not come with owning more? Here’s an example of a potential paradigm change: Let’s get rid of the concept of ownership.

Wait - I’m not out of my mind. I’m still in the business and want to make money (actually lots of it). But I want to make it the right way. The way that I can say hello to the guy looking back to me in the mirror every morning. Ownership is only the means, not the objective. But the concept creates a lot of bad effects. Look back in the history and see the white man owning the black men as slaves. How about owning animals …wife and kids…etc. De facto we don’t own anything, it’s just an illusion. We just take care of things (like the Patek Phillippe ad says). A bank manages the depositors money, they don’t own them (at least morally that is). If one does not like the management company and its policy you withhold the rights and shift your business elsewhere. We don’t own the nature. We just take care of it. This is exactly what goverments should be doing. They should be the project managers and licensors for issues that concern our common good and mutual benefit (externalities). They set the rules and overall responsibilites. It’s always good that there is someone who’s monitoring one’s behaviour. That’s why the company structure consist of shareholders, board of directors and operational management. Currently this is not happening. Our perception of the concept ‘owning’ is twisted. It’s an illusion that will not last. Gradually we are destroying ourselves, everyday. And still we are the ones who can make the difference. Who’s behind the goverments, the companies, and the consumers? It’s us, individuals, together - as a group, aggregated.

BTW, who would be so crazy to eat artificial and synthetical chemicals, even poisons, day in and day out causing health problems in the long run which in turn will be cured by more artificial drugs? Our eating habits of agricultural products and live animals are exotic, even strange by some standards…