I'll just accecpt that as 'I know you are, but what am I'..

In response to the OP. I can certainly see where you are coming from, yaaarrrgg.

There is one primal element you may be leaving out however. That is 'fear'. Fear drives much of what we do and don't do. In this case, ownership may be based on the fear of being irrelevant, or better yet, 'impotent'. Power is expressed in a civil society by what and how much we own.

Take the two year old children. What drives some children to want what others have? In my christian day's, I was taught it was selfishness on the part of the child because he/she was born seperated from God's true spirit, thus being a sign of a sinful nature. Some may see this as simply a 'want everything' phase in a child. Personally, I see it more as you do. What it really is, in my view, in extension, is an oportunity to teach the child a basic lesson in our personal myth. That myth may be the idea of; 1)fight for what you want 2)don't want what is not yours, as well as some others. The point is that those lessons early on set us on our path to ownership, and the driving force is of course approval in the eyes of those we depend on for our survival.

As we grow older these lessons are only reinforced day by day through consistency by parents and a society at large.

'I own, therefore I am' becomes the silent mantra.

I think your focus is more political. However, I am not able to seperate the two because personal myth is at the root of all people as I se it. So, I hope you will excuse my slight detour.