Ownership
If you own something, you may do anything you want with it. You may destroy it, use it in any way you like, give it away, give it as inheritance to anyone else - without any other limit than that you may not harm others or their property. And you never need to pay to use what you own. (If, to use your property, you need to pay for fuel, electricity or something similar, it is not that you pay for using it. The fuel or the electricity is the property of someone else until you have bought it - it is not a part of the object that eventually needs it to work. Just as you must buy food for yourself.) You can let others pay you for using it, however - on terms & conditions you, as the owner, set.
Moreover, if you OWN something, it is your property - and as long as you do not harm others, you answer to nobody for your way to use what you own, and you do not need to report it to anyone; you need nobody's permission.
All this might be fulfilled, if we are talking about your pencil, a book, your everyday clothes, or some other small personal belonging. But in Socialist societies, even among the most rabid Communists, you may usually own such stuff.
But consider, for instance land, buildings, companies or money (incomes, capital, bank accounts, investments). Can you own it? Maybe you believe so, but consider the criteria above.
In reality this sort of "ownership" is heavily regulated by the State. (Almost every state on earth. There might be some very small exceptions, but we can neglect them for this discussion.) It, the State, sets the terms & conditions, and it can change them at any time, without your consent. As long as you are managing these things according to the wishes of the State, you may use them and keep them; but you also have all the responsibility for maintenance. If you neglect that, the State can simply take "your" property away from you.
The most revealing detail: You have to pay the State to be allowed the privilege to keep and use "your" own property!
That is called tax, and more than anything else it shows the true nature of your relationship to the State. You are a slave.
In a genuine Socialist society, the state owns and runs more or less everything; companies, land, buildings, and in general most of the economy - and it is not very successful in that. So why not create a legal illusion of private ownership, retain all control, but let people themselves do the work and take the responsibility? This is much smarter. Socialism in force, but deceptively hidden behind legal fictions of ownership and free market.
Discrimination
These days discrimination is often on the headlines. It is fought fanatically in certain circles. What few people realise is that an act of discrimination takes place each time you make a choice. When you choose something, or someone, there are always things or persons you do not choose, they are discriminated. It is your indisputable right to make choices, and thus discriminating on any ground you wish, as long as it has to do with your private life, or with any other private matter (including private property).
The reasonable thought would be that the State itself, or any other public body, may not discriminate against people. (Every State does, one way or another, but that's another question.) But it is not acceptable to prohibit discrimination in matters of private property. If you own a restaurant, it is your right to choose to admit or refuse certain guests, on any ground. The same if you own a hotel, if someone wants to rent an apartment in your house, or get employment in your company, etc. If you really OWNED these things, you would be free to choose with whom to deal, choose and thus discriminate as well.
In an increasing amount of countries this freedom is limited or removed.
This is another evidence of the fictive nature of legal ownership, and the blurring of the borderline between private and public.
Related articles:
Either Health Freedom or Slavery - A Little of Each is not Possible
Private & Public – Is it Justified With a Free Press When Privacy is Outlawed?
Nation & State, Art & Culture; How confusion serves a purpose
(This article is based on material previously published in TMA/Meriondho Leo.)
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