The climax of the topic of Abstract Objects centers around one of the most important Abstract Objects in all human history, arguably the most important, and it is the concept of Ownership.
Just like explained in the last chapter, a nation state is just a construct of human thought and consensus, it is not an actual physical object that exists outside of humanity. That is an important understanding of Abstract Objects, they do not exist outside of human Thought (Design Objects can exist outside of human thought). Therefore we must view and analyze the world with and without humanity.
Just like a nation state, there are other things that are man made thoughts turned into Objects. A building for example, it is just the composition of different atoms, molecules, materials, and so on. When viewed without people it is just a structure, nothing more and nothing less. The same can be said for an empty house and empty car in a world without humans, they are just objects without meaning. The same with smaller objects, playing cards, pencils, cups, pots, pans, tables, paintings, and so on. Without humans they are just isolated individual objects.
However, at some point in human history, throughout all around the world regardless of its society or geographical location, a revolutionary Thought was created, a Thought (Object) that is so important and so powerful that it would dictate the development of human history for all time. It is something that we are all familiar with but isn’t academically taught or studied, and that is the invention of Ownership.
Ownership and its ideology Ownershipism (The ideology of ownership) created a paradigm shift of humanity’s relationship with Objects. Objects are no longer just random things in random location with no meaning, instead, Objects could be owned by individual people and belong to individual people. This concept and ideology naturally (without artificial influence) developed across the entire world, and is the backbone of our society today.
What is Ownership and what is Belonging? They are the same thing, a human Thought that an individual person has a Right to something, that right is to do whatever they want with the Object (though limitations to this were developed later on, such as government zoning laws). The idea that an Object can belong to someone is an Abstract Object, Ownership is an Object, Ownershipism is an Object, and it is important to understand it.
Now a boat, dagger, tent, article of clothing can belong to specific individuals and be limited not by physical forces but limited by Popular Consensus and Popular Agreement that a specific individual owns that object and therefore has the privilege to control it and other people who are not “Owners” do not have the privilege to control or use the object.
A building by itself is just a building, but with Ownershipism it is now restricted by people. Not an individual person, but all people. Ownershipism as an ideology does not work if non-owning parties do not consent to the idea of Ownership.
For example, something as simple as a hat, there is nothing physically stopping other people from taking a hat from someone else. The hat, without humanity, has no Ownership, it is just Truth by itself, and a person can grab it, nothing is stopping that person. The only thing that stops that person from grabbing it is a Vote of Confidence that someone else Owns that hat. If you believe another person owns the hat and you believe that it is wrong to take a hat that belongs to someone else, then you have created Ownershipism and the concept of Ownership. Ownership only works if the vast majority of society agrees and provides a Vote of Confidence to it. Any building anyone can walk into, nothing physically stops anyone (not including physical barriers) from going into those buildings, only the concept that they are not allowed to and the Vote of Confidence towards that concept.
The concept of Ownership is mostly associated with physical objects. I own a DVD, I own this backpack, I own this car, I own this computer, I own this house, I own this shovel, and so on. However Ownership exists for Abstract Objects as well not just plain simple Objects.
Abstract Ownership is an important concept to understand. Someone can own an email address, or a bank account, a software license. Licenses and Contracts are prevalent Objects in Ownership. Individual people can own copyright, trademark, right to use, right to license, as well as owning physical property or land. We often use this terminology in common language, the “Business Owner” is someone who owns the business. What does Owning a business actually mean? Think about it, the employees can do whatever they want, but they through their vote of confidence grant a business owner the Vote of Confidence to get to decide how the employee spends their time. A business owner only exists as far as individuals grant that person a Vote of Confidence. However, the employee also has Ownership that is less talked about. The employee Owns their position as the employee through contract and Confidence of the business owner and fellow coworkers and government. Someone else can just walk in and start sitting at your work desk, there isn’t a physical force stopping that person, only the mental force of the vote of confidence granted to you as an individual that you are the employee and that is your desk that you work at. The same is true for a professor at a school. Anyone can walk into the lecture hall and start talking, that doesn’t mean that people are going to listen or pay that person, a professor is elected that position through a vote of confidence by the owners of the school, people in positions of Power at the school (refer to Definitions for a definition of Power) and the students of the school. The students can ignore the professor and all walk out, not show up to lectures or do homework or show up for exams. The professor in that sense only exists as a professor through paycheck from the school, and through the vote of confidence of general society. However that vote of confidence is only as strong as the people upholding it.
Ownershipism is the ideology that creates all of these structures. People can own physical items, they can own locations, but they can also own labor and positions of power. A politician, governor, president are all elected and granted a Vote of Confidence by the people. The constitution of a country is only a piece of paper, its power lies within the Vote of Confidence granted amongst the citizens within that country’s border. A CEO Owns the job title and position of CEO because the board of executives granted the vote of confidence for that person to be CEO and all the individual employees accept it as well. Sure, the employees can reject it and the CEO is still the CEO because the company of the board of directors owning the company, but what is a Company if not an Abstract Object? and all Abstract Objects are only as real as the Vote of Confidence and Belief of the people and society. If all the employees walked out, then what is the company left with besides a board of directors and a CEO who rules over no one?
Understanding the importance and power of Ownership is a key element of Antelist Ideology. It isn’t enough to have a basic level understanding of it, it is important to understand its importance with great nuance and dynamics. Through Ownership society is run, and through a Vote of Confidence Ownership is made. Thus if you can affect the Vote of Confidence, you can affect Ownership and all society as a whole.