Late night thoughts on OWNERSHIP

If you’re interested in reading about my latest revelation from observations about my own and other people’s behaviour, read on : )

A sense of ownership is fundamental to caring for something, someone, a group, an idea, a belief etc.

Humans would care and watch out for something that they own, or have a stake in, more so than if they did not own it. Is this “I own, therefore I care” relationship considered selfish? Or is it like an axiom, an assumption of what humans are?

I am well aware that there are amongst us (the human race) those who are so altruistic or those for whom ownership knows no boundaries such that they feel they have a stake in all affairs of the world, that they would also care for the things that they do not actually own.

But would anyone argue that RELATIVE to those things that they do not own, people put in more effort in caring for those things which they have a tangible stake in? I think the answer is NO. Would you disagree?

Which reminds me of our country’s emphasis on “A stake for everyone”. We must be made to feel that each of us own a least a part of this nation, so that we will continue to care, watch out and take care of it. Ownership comes in the most tangible form of having a home. A house, no matter big or small, which u can rightly say “This is my home.” Think we’ve got it right, right from the start then : )

Observing my own behaviour… I find my ownership of things currently taking on a small scale. When ballooned up to a big scale, will my sense of ownership change? So like, we all draw different boundaries for ourselves; a house which we own can only be this big. How many people can claim that their boundaries are as wide as this universe is? So that they would care for the environment, fret about global warming and the extinction of plants, insects, animals?

Going back to talk about nations, the world is mapped out by squiggles, and these essentially create the boundaries. Because people of a nation are naturally influenced and indoctrinated by that country’s prevailing culture and beliefs, they have a sense of ownership to that culture and belief as opposed to something fundamentally different from that. That is why tension occurs between two nations whose people have ownership in conflicting ideas/beliefs.

I often heard during GP lessons and read about in articles about globalization, where boundaries become blurred, and people claim that “the world is my oyster”. When this happens, do we actually begin to understand and tolerate differences in ownership, or do we tighten our reins and assert the prestige of our own ownership over and above others’?

Hahahah… I don’t know why this topic became so serious sounding.. it all originated from a simple idea! : ) Guess it’s the old woman in me thinking too much again.

But… but… but… I don’t know if we can ever extrapolate a situation in a given time and place to something MUCH larger, at a different time. Is there a future where all cultures and religions can mingle and live harmoniously together, without any one over-powering the other? Rich and poor live together, contented and knowing their place in life, blacks and whites and yellows being familiar with each other and accommodating? It will be then that Utopia have arrived. Haha. I think that’s beyond me.

Aiyah. On a rather different topic, I used to believe in “And they lived happily ever after” for a long long time. Now I don’t anymore. It’s not disillusioned, it’s becoming more mature : ) That’s not to say that I don’t believe that “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” I do!