private property
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Did you ever want nicer clothes? To have a better car? To live in a bigger house? In order to have and enjoy those things, you have to own them. They have to be yours, and no one else’s. And that’s called your private property. This is the foundation of capitalism – the capacity to own something that others can not.
There is also communism. Communism tries to make everybody equal by getting rid of private property. Instead of private property, there is only public property, which everybody owns and has an equal share to.
The theory behind communism is that if everybody had the same amount of wealth, everybody would be better off. Poverty would not exist, so there would be fewer social conflicts and more stability. Economic oppression would not exist, because there would be no people with more money exploiting those with less or no money. Nobody would be able to have nicer clothes, a better car, or a bigger house because everybody would have the same clothes, car, or house. Everyone would be equal.
But perhaps it is impossible for everyone to be equal. Because maybe money, along with the clothes, cars, and houses that it can buy, is not the only, or even the most important way we compare ourselves with other people.
Most people do want to be richer in money. But haven’t you ever also wanted to be better looking? More famous? Smarter? Happier? There will always be someone who is richer in different ways than you. And these gifts, maybe they are things that money just can’t buy. Perhaps it is someone who is more attractive than you – that is a gift. Or someone who is smarter or funnier. Someone more charming or popular. Someone more talented or wiser. Someone with better grades, a better job, a better relationship, a better family. Or someone who is just happier. And that is truly private property – those are other people’s gifts that you can never own or buy.
Maybe that’s why people often say, “Life’s not fair.” And apparently, if we compare ourselves to other people in all these different ways, it definitely isn’t fair at all. Everybody seems to have more or better gifts than you. But perhaps that’s what they think about you - because even though life isn’t fair, everyone is unique, and I believe that within our uniqueness, there lies a gift or two or three. Yet we don’t see or know the value of the gifts that we have – and so we feel poor.
Instead of focusing on what others have and trying to acquire those things, perhaps we should look inwards to discover our own wealth. And if we do not like what we see, then we may want to develop or create our gifts. And then we will feel rich – because then we will know the true value of our private property. And as we cultivate our gifts, we realize that it is we who have the power to transform what was once not a gift, into a gift. We begin to understand that it is we who are the gifts.
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