Questions About Property

Here are some questions we have about property, which we hope to address in ROX #91:

• What is property? Where does the word come from, and what does it mean?
• The word property is often used to refer specifically to real estate. Why so? What's so special about owning land?
• What is intellectual property? Is speech property? Ideas? Is ROX property?
• What is the relationship between money, property, capital? What is money, anyway?
• Is the destruction of property a form of violence?
• What is the public domain, and who owns it?
• Who was Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and why did he say that "property is theft"? What did he mean?
• People were once considered property in many parts of the world. Now we consider slavery to be evil. Could our attitudes about other forms of property undergo a similarly profound transformation in the future?

This list is being expanded as production continues:

• What is the connection between owning property and the right to vote?
• Is the urge to acquire and/or defend property encoded in our genes?
• What is the connection between property (or ownership) and possession?
• Is the idea of porperty universal to all cultures?
• Why is ownership of a piece of land referred to as a "title"?

Angela: genetic tendencies toward “ownership” as in possession tends toward protection and self protection

the illusion of control runs deep
but is moot

possession vs possessions vs self possession

do we lose our right to human rights, in owning ourselves, our thoughts and concepts, in not standing up and asserting them?

did someone take control or did we just lose it
or didn't we know what we could control
because our concepts of ownership and free information access have been controlled

In a lot of ways, i think “property” is an assertion of the effort in trying to take control... [More...]

Angela: Is speech property? Ideas? Is ROX property?
rox started as a community property on open community access.
i would say it is communal property managed by our editor who owns the title.

People were once considered property in many parts of the world. Now we consider slavery to be evil. Could our attitudes about other forms of property undergo a similarly profound transformation in the future?

people are still property as indentured servants, wage slaves--
but who put the chains on?

* What is the connection between owning property and the right to vote?
it's to make sure people... [More...]

Angela: haven't you also become titled and entitled to each others property/debts/dna/etc?