Does it simply mean you spent money for it and now it's yours? What if you found it? Is it yours? What if someone comes in your house and takes it and you say, "that's mine." And they say, "I thought you said you found it. Well, I just found it, now it's mine." You'll be, "but it was in my house, in my possession. That makes it mine." Really?
What about a pet? Can you own it? What if you found it and didn't buy it? Is it yours? What does that mean to say it's yours? How about a person? "That's my girlfriend," we say. Mine. Of course, you didn't buy her, even if you've spent money on her. But other guys are supposed to understand that she's your girlfriend and therefore can't be theirs. But that's a social understanding that others may or may not go along with. When you buy something, owning it is a social-financial understanding that others usually go along with.
Are you responsible for what you "own?" Who holds you to that responsibility? If it's an object, you hold yourself responsible for it. If it's a pet, you and others do and sometimes the law does. Sometimes when someone comes to know something intimately, we say that they "own it." That driver "owns" that race track. Skills. Do you own your skills?
When we own something we appropriate it, we acquire it. Is this "appropriation" or "acquisitiveness" an instinct, something we are born with? Does it contribute to our sense of self? Does what is me fuse with what is mine? Does our self consist of what we own, in all its forms?
We gain a sense of security from what we own. If someone owns the same thing or something we want, we don't get that sense of security from knowing that or seeing it. So it's not the object itself. It's owning it. Even if it just sits there and we never use it. Objects can help connect us to the world and to memories. They can increase our sense of status or power. That luxury or sports car. They provide us with the potential to become something, thereby expanding our identity. Like a guitar or a piano. Get a piano and now you have the potential to become a pianist. That gives us a buzz, doesn't it?
Then there's collecting. How is that all tied in to owning? This is a complex subject that goes to the very heart of who we are. It's psychological and philosophical. I've just touched on it. Something for you to think about and share your thoughts.
And remember: I OWN YOU!
What about a pet? Can you own it? What if you found it and didn't buy it? Is it yours? What does that mean to say it's yours? How about a person? "That's my girlfriend," we say. Mine. Of course, you didn't buy her, even if you've spent money on her. But other guys are supposed to understand that she's your girlfriend and therefore can't be theirs. But that's a social understanding that others may or may not go along with. When you buy something, owning it is a social-financial understanding that others usually go along with.
Are you responsible for what you "own?" Who holds you to that responsibility? If it's an object, you hold yourself responsible for it. If it's a pet, you and others do and sometimes the law does. Sometimes when someone comes to know something intimately, we say that they "own it." That driver "owns" that race track. Skills. Do you own your skills?
When we own something we appropriate it, we acquire it. Is this "appropriation" or "acquisitiveness" an instinct, something we are born with? Does it contribute to our sense of self? Does what is me fuse with what is mine? Does our self consist of what we own, in all its forms?
We gain a sense of security from what we own. If someone owns the same thing or something we want, we don't get that sense of security from knowing that or seeing it. So it's not the object itself. It's owning it. Even if it just sits there and we never use it. Objects can help connect us to the world and to memories. They can increase our sense of status or power. That luxury or sports car. They provide us with the potential to become something, thereby expanding our identity. Like a guitar or a piano. Get a piano and now you have the potential to become a pianist. That gives us a buzz, doesn't it?
Then there's collecting. How is that all tied in to owning? This is a complex subject that goes to the very heart of who we are. It's psychological and philosophical. I've just touched on it. Something for you to think about and share your thoughts.
And remember: I OWN YOU!
