This land is (not) your land, this land is (not) my land

I have been trying to toast this post for better than a month now. I really wanted it to be well done but you are getting is medium well as I want to get back to my regular blogging, like the birthday party, who won the scrabble game and who is the meanest Sorry player. You know, the important stuff.

The last two posts worked together with this one in my head. They are all really about planning for the future. Your perception of time changes as you age. Your ability to plan ahead and what is truely important to you changes as you get older, too.

I am skipping over where did we come from, the holy versions, evolution, archeology and intelligent design because they don't really matter. The recent past does count but you can only go forward from where you are now.

So for my next question....Who owns the world?

Bear with me through the definitions...I hate to have people confused by semantics.

OWNER - he who has dominion of a thing real or personal, corporeal or incorporeal, which he has a right to enjoy and to do with as he pleases, even to spoil or destroy it, as far as the law permits, unless he be prevented by some agreement or covenant which restrains his right.

OWNERSHIP - is the socially supported power to exclusively control and use for one's own purposes, that which is owned.

POSSESSION: the act of having and controlling property.

DOMINION: 1. Sovereign or supreme authority; 2. the power of governing and controlling; independent right of possession, use, and control; .3. That which is governed;

USE: To put into service or apply for a purpose; The permission, privilege, or benefit of using something: "We have the use of this planet."

USER: - a person who uses something

STEWARD: One who manages another's property, finances, or other affairs.

STEWARDSHIP: Planning for and taking the necessary actions over the long term to successfully preserve and protect and increase the value of a resource belonging to another.

HUSAND- 1) a married man, 2) archaic - a manager or steward, as of a household, 3) a prudent and thrifty manager, 4) to manage economically.

HUSBANDRY 1) the cultivation of crops and the breeding and raising of livestock- agriculture 2) the careful manager of resources.

GUARDIAN 1) one legally responsible for the care and management of a person or property. 2) one whom regulates and protects

TRUSTEE: An individual who holds or manages assets for the benefit of another.

CONSERVATOR : One that conserves real property or preserves a human from injury, violation, or infraction; a protector

SENTINEL: A person or special body of persons assigned to provide protection or keep watch over other people or their belongings.

GOVERNMENT: a ruling body to unify, preserver, protect and advance a population and collectively seek the means to meet the common goals and needs of the populace.

Now, back to the question "Who owns the world?" That is a pretty big question. Let's make it a little more personal; Do I own my home? Do American's own the United States? Can I even own the computer I type on?

Ownership is a term defined by the society we live in. It is not real. It is only an idea, belief or a concept. I believe it is a false concept.

I live in a house, inside a village, inside a township, inside a county, contained by a penninsula that is a state in a nation, on a continent with another country and another nation comprised of provinces, with many other people. I am a "home owner" and the land I "own" has legal "limits and boundaries" established by a certified survey, but do I really own it?

I say, "No!"

Why not? you ask. Because the one criteria no human can meet is: having dominion..."even to spoil or destroy it". Both dominion and possion imply control and the ability to protect what you have. I can not protect my property or my loved ones from "nature" (God). I cannot keep "nature" from wiping me and "my" house and family right off the map. There is not one human created item, building or business that we truely "have control over". Ultimately our illusion of ownership is shattered by the planet's forces.

The other reason I can't own anything is because I am going to die. Once I die I can't maintain "exclusively control and use for one's own purposes" over anything. If it isn't mine forever, it's not really mine. And we are all going to die someday. While I may "have the use of "the yard now, in thirty years or so someone else will say they "own" it. But they will be wrong. Because we all die. The dead cannot "own, possess, control or have dominion over" anything.

If I don't own anything then what is my relationship to "my" land and possessions? I believe I am it's current user. I have the use of it for now and how I use it is up to me.

By viewing our "belongings and property" through the warped glass of ownership we make decisions based on our short term needs and not on the needs of those coming after us. The long view might take more time or resources than we want to invest, but planning only for the short term can lessen their value or actually let them erode away leaving the future users with nothing of value.

If I take the long view, I am it's Steward. If am a good steward, I will be planning for and taking the necessary actions over the long term to successfully preserve and protect and increase the value of this home that will belong to another. When I am gone someone in the future will have a nice house and lovely yard for them and their children to enjoy. If I am a lousy steward I will just use the place into the ground and someone else has to clean up the mess, dispose of it and build again.

If our ultimate purpose is to protect and expand the race of humans we need to take off the blinders of ownership and pull up the binoculars of stewardship to plan for all humans in the next gens to have a planet they can still use. All humans everywhere on this planet under the age of ten are our future, the future of humanity. It is our responsibility to act as guardians and trustees for the next generation and to help plan for at least the next seven generations.

American's are using "America" now, Russians are using "Russia" and so on around the world through the blinders of ownership. I feel that if more people were aware that we can own nothing and the species only survive through cooperation throughout the world, leaders working together for the future good of the race might make faster progress in using all of the planet's many resources to improve life around the globe, for all the children.

The rain will fall, flowers grow, grains ripen at harvest time, the wind will still stir white caps on the waves and the sun and moon still decorate the skies if we all shared what each area has the most of and treated it like the priceless resource for everyone that it is. Not Communisim, not Democracy, or any other political animal. A universal accounting and trade system that prices bamboo shoots and rice and wheat in the same measurement with oil, gold and pinapple so each area can recieve credit for it's resources and trade for what it does not have fairly.

In an organizational context, stewardship refers to management's responsibility to properly utilize and develop the talents of the members. Stewardship is operationalized as time, talent and transport of what others need, not just the produce or product itself. In this way many of us can be of use organizing and expiditing the proper disbursment of the world's many resources and earn our way also.

Environmental quality is the shared responsibility of all those whose actions affect the environment. Individuals, companies, communities, and government organizations must all work toward better environmental performance so that the planet will sustain the future generations. This is a staggering privilege and responsibility. Many of us could stay busy for eons in that effort.

What matters is not how much we possess, but how we use what we are entrusted with. Entrusted with, not what we own.

So I use my laptop and when I die I hope I have taken good enough care of it that the next user enjoys it as much as I did. And when I order a new window I get one with a good guaruntee that will last a long time. When I put in a new flower bed or tree I plan for how much it will grow in 50 years. Will it be in the way of the swing set area? Will it block too much sun from the garden?

I have too much stuff. I have been thinning it out over a year now and it is still too much. I will keep passing it on to those who burn out and those who flooded out till I have just what I need and no more. I have enjoyed using many of "my things" but it's time for someone else to enjoy them. And everything I get rid of is one less thing to dust, store away, fix when I break it or take care of so my live gets simpler.

All that I have that is mine is me - my actions here, my influence with my family for their betterment and education - their memories of me when I am gone and my pride or shame in myself when I go to the next level. That is mine. My stories, my songs, those are mine. And I share them with others, too.

This may have one more post yet. We will have to see how I feel when I re read it. Thanks for bearing with me while I work these things out in my head.