I must give George W. Bush some credit, his use of the phrase “Ownership Society” was as prescient as it was accurate. While he meant it in a different manner than it will mean in the future it’s a great description of America. America is the land where it can be owned; a house, a TV, a car, land, mineral rights, even problems and conditions, or responsibility. Athletes and coaches often speak of “owning it” parents and teachers use the phrase “owning up to it”. Yes, in America, almost anything can be owned, often to exclusion. When the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi bought Rockefeller Center in New York (where they have the public ice skating and the giant x-mas tree every year) it was a huge swipe at the national pride because it was no longer American Owned. Mind you, it stayed in New York its not like the Japanese moved it to Sapporo.

Here lies the crux, the breakthrough, the germ of thought from where the new perspective is born. From the way things were seen before to how they are viewed now. Take a moment to think about Rockefeller Center, does it matter who owns it? The building is still there, you can still visit it, they still put up a giant Christmas Tree every Holiday Season, still have the giant skating pond… In other words, the building is still being used as it always has and the invisible transfers of ownership over the years have changed little.

However, it would be silly not to acknowledge that there is the potential that any new owner could radically alter how something is used or viewed. Again to use Rockefeller Center, the Japanese could have closed the building to the public and use it store Japanese kimonos or shredded junk bonds. Perhaps this fear or alternation was at the root of the uproar, because owners can change that which they own because ownership means power…Right?

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 2:59 pm and is filed under cobalisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.