Preview

Conception Of Ownership

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1056 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Conception Of Ownership
Ownership is defined as the act, state, or right of possessing something, although, in our minds the idea of ownership varies with the person (Ownership). Throughout history, the perception of ownership has been viewed differently depending on circumstances including time. For example, during the beginning of exploration times there were issues with claiming land--white men thinking they were superior they believed they had right to other’s land. Psychologically, the human mind has developed a sense of entitlement. Ownership over time has been perceived as land settlement, material object possession, and the control of a person over another. Over the course of history, humans have claimed land as their own. In 1491, European exploration …show more content…
Today materialistic objects have become even more of a priority in our culture. Material possessions influence people’s lives. People are often judges for what they have or don’t have. This has become a major issue in society as we know it because everyone wants to have the "it" object or item. The human mind has developed an attachment to ownership now referred to as material possession. "Material possession attachment is a multi-faceted property of the relationship between an individual or group of individuals and a specific material object that has been psychologically appropriated, decommodified, and singularized through person-object interaction," (Klein and Baker 5). stating that psychological studies show humans to be attached to certain objects. Many of us probably think we don’t have this issue; however, think about phones, everyone would be completely lost without phones and we can’t even go a day without them. Most humans love the idea of an object being theirs and entitlement. For example, most people would much rather own a house than rent because ownership offers a sense of power. This is how the human mind works. Humans love control over objects and with this comes the desire to possess it. This seems like a close-minded view, but ownership provides a sense of security. Overall, materialistic items make the world what it is because humans love the idea of …show more content…
Although, the truth of that was defied by Europeans because they felt they were superior over all races. This thinking justified owning African American slaves and treating them as property in their minds. Over the years, starting with the ownership of slaves, people have been mistreated and felt impotent against the superior race by not receiving rights and being forced into manual labor. The act of believing you own another person has continued you over the years with many other examples such as, in the Middle East many husbands “own” their wives. The women in Middle East live under command of their husband doing the household chores, not having land, and living off their husband--meaning they can’t survive without them (Elizabeth). Another modern example would be the dictatorship in North Korea and how the citizens have absolutely no rights and the government controls everything. The possession of human is the dehumanizing and is still an issue today which needs to be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Cronon Worksheet

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. How did the Native Americans occupy the land? What did they do to take possession and mark ownership?…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    What does it mean to own something and how can it impact our sense of self? Many philosophers have has opposing views about this. However, Jean-Paul Sartre has the most accurate representation about the meaning of owning something. Ownership expands beyond physical objects, which means that it includes intangible things. This includes learning a skill or knowing a subject extremely well. Also, ownership doesn’t always impact character negatively, the same way it doesn’t impact it positively all the time. You can see examples of this all throughout everyday life, literature, and movies.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea and horrendous act of one human owning another is a plague etched in history from the colonization of the New World to its abolishment during the Civil War. The exemplification being referenced is slavery. Slavery placed man-kind in a position of power where the depravity of personal liberties and rights were not only apparent but generally accepted. There was an ideology that slaves were less than human; their species classified as property and could be treated as such. Slaves were bred as selectively as animals, tamed, disciplined, transported, and exploited in the same manner. There are two individual perspectives of slavery from varying timelines, races, and backgrounds where the atrocities of slavery are parallel. They are the observations and writings of Bartolomé De Las Casas and Olaudah Equiano. Although their perceptions are from different points in time, the themes of injustice, brutality, and heinous treatment of slaves are not only realized but became a defining moment in their lives where their agenda developed into one of change, culminating into a fight for protection from inhumane treatment, equality and abolishment of this cancerous tort.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It wasn’t until the fifteenth century when Natives of the America’s started to begin to unite to create a League of Peace. But many tribes and groups all had their own unique and different political system and also shared common religious characteristics such as ceremonies. Most tribes were controlled by a leader who controlled what families could use certain lands to make a living for themselves and their tribe, but they did not believe in ownership of land as god has gave to them to use and not to own for one self for forever. They had no real authority, they shared their power with their people and believed in showing extremely kind hospitality towards one another and sharing the best of what they had with the tribe. Now, the first to settle…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anna Quindlen, a novelist, social critic, and journalist wrote an intriguing essay “Stuff is Not Salvation” about the addiction of Americans, who splurge on materialistic items that have no real meaning. The ability to obtain credit is one of the main reasons to blame for society’s consumption epidemic. However, Quindlen feels the economic decline due to credit card debt is insignificant compared to the underlying issues of American’s binging problems. Quindlen’s essay gives excellent points regarding the differences in America’s typical shopping habits. Additionally, she mentions how people acquire all this “stuff” but seem to never realize, “why did I get this?”(501). Quindlen makes her audience visualize a world where we acquire our needs versus our meaningless desires. Yet, she fails to mention people who could live a life of happiness through the possessions they acquire.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    own; till you are just an empty shell waiting to be herded around like cattle. In the 21st century…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Euro-American Colonialism

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The nature of colonizers to occupy land during the development of the new world was extensive. In more ways the one, Euro-American explorers bound themselves to claim previously habituated lands. As the thirst for seizing lands grew, greed became a conditioned factor that often neglected moral principles and religious beliefs. By comparing accounts of North America in two books, A Land so Strange and Jacksonland, we can see that Euro-American colonizers often claimed indigenous lands and disregarded morality and their religious beliefs for greed, this is important being indigenous people can no longer sovereign over their own lands. Both A Land So Strange and Jacksonland reflect the arbitrary course of action taken by Euro-Americans to strip…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Western Expansion Dbq

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Immigrants came to discover new lands for many reasons including freedoms, expanding wealth, and starting new lives. When the United States was established as a country, it started to expand. This prominent new land offered many immigrants a fresh start in life. Soon problems arose and the isolated area was in brink of overpopulation. This is when the US started to expand. Life is about survival of the fittest and America is a perfect example of this. Americans saw the opportunity to expand and took it. The Natives were believed to not use the land for its full potential, which is another reason to take and use the land.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since the founding of Jamestown in 1607 the relationship between the English colonist and the Native Americans was delicate. The greatest troubles between the two groups was land, the colonists didn’t understand the English view of land ownership. The English believed that they owned the land and it didn’t belong to anyone else, land…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine if you had a new car. You feel excited, ecstatic even. Perhaps you might even think more highly of yourself. Do you feel like you improved your public image by owning a fancy entity? People feel like they gain control when they possess materialistic items like this, however, too much power can corrupt a person. Ownership plays a significant role in shaping your character, and your sense of self, letting others know what type of person you are.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Discrimination in Canada

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wilson J. C. August 10th 2012. (The globe and mail) “ownership of land” date retrieved January 24, 2013 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/columnists/first-nations-want-property-rights-but-on-our-own-terms/article4472569/…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Band Ownership Essay

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How have you demonstrated “ownership” in some aspect of your life? Ownership in this case means you took responsibility for identifying some problem or constraint, worked with others to develop solutions, and then contributed to the implementation of those solutions.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby Ownership

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For centuries, historians have discussed the relationship between ownership of tangible items and sense of self. Aristotle claims that ownership of tangible goods helps to develop moral character. However, even though the relationship, as outlined by Aristotle, allows people to establish their moral character, it teeters on the fine line between self-confidence and self-deprecation. For some people the ownership of objects allows them to accentuate their personality, express their interests, and become more in touch with their emotions. When individuals represent their nature accurately through these means they gradually start to gain self-confidence. These objects…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Indeed, there is a powerful relationship between humans and objects in today’s society. An object is a tangible something that one can take hold off with their senses. Some objects have the power to create social relations between humans, for example there is the trident and the wand that changes the image of a person who utilizes the object. Indeed, such are objects that allow the power of symbolism to give meaning to human activity.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dehumanizing Slaves

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Every human being should be given the right to an education, love and the pursuit of happiness. A slave is a human. Therefore, the pilfering of a human’s right through the force of human cruelty is an act of dehumanization for the purpose of ownership and free labor. The act of dehumanizing a slave is a slave master’s desire. A slave master needs control over the mind of the enslaved in order to gain free employment. Slavery is a dehumanizing institution. Slaves are captured, beaten, tortured and traumatize for the purpose of free labor. The intention of dehumanizing a slave is to control, manipulate, and force the intelligence of a person into bondage.…

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays