4/9/96

I don't believe in ownership. I really don't understand the concept. How 
can one thing own another thing? I suppose I don't subscribe to ideas of 
superiority/inferiority, which seem to be a necessary requirement for 
ownership to exist. 

The Native Americans had no understanding of ownership before the 
European Invasion of the two American continents. They had no idea what 
they were doing when they signed treaties and contracts granting 
ownership to the Europeans. Most of the time, the Europeans didn't even 
ask for the land they took. What seems such a natural part of our way of 
thinking is very obviously a man-made creation.

Some interesting questions arise concerning the ownership of land. Say 
one person claims that a plot of land is theirs and no one else's. How 
deep under the soil level does that person own? If I dig a tunnel 
underneath it, am I trespassing? Does that person own the air over the 
plot of land? If so, how high? If I hover two inches above the ground, am 
I trespassing? How about two miles? Does that person own all the living 
plants and animals that reside in that plot of land? Does the person have 
the right to kill any vegetation or animal life indiscriminately? If some 
vegetation grows on that land, or some animal comes onto that land, does 
that person now own the new life? What about if I come onto that land, do 
I become the property of that person? There might be some laws that 
address each of these problems, but where does it stop?

I'm not going to deny that I have certain objects that I consider my own. 
However, there is no idea of me owning them. They just happen to be near 
me, and I utilize them. I don't think I'd be too upset if somebody used or 
stole any of my "personal belongings." I just don't place that much 
importance on them. I certainly don't strive to gain belongings. I buy 
things that I need to use, but that's about the extent of the importance 
I place on them. I don't know. I don't think I'll every really understand 
it.