Theory of Indivisibility: Transitioning Away from Ownership
This post corresponds with Episode 14 of my podcast Theory of Indivisibility, where I talk about the evolution of ownership. Be sure to check it out on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or Stitcher!
In the previous transcript, we explored the current complexities of the concept of ownership in human societies. Now we are going to shift our focus towards the ways people are rethinking, challenging, and rejecting the ownership scripts that we’ve inherited, which are rooted in power-over and control and cause environmental and human suffering. We’ll explore how folks are choosing to live in ways that are liberating and sustainable for all people and the environment.
Before we dive in to the topic of transitioning away from ownership, let’s review my Theory of Indivisibility:
I truly believe that we as humans have the capacity to live in harmony with nature and one another. I truly believe that we have the capacity to live Indivisibly. The true leverage point for living indivisibly is in the recognition that our current social, political, and economic systems are intrinsically designed to produce the perpetual dysfunction that we continue to experience because they are rooted in power-over ideals, beliefs, and norms. It is also in the recognition that there is no one to blame.
Power-over systems have been designed and integrated into society over the last ten thousand years based on the communication methods, problem-solving skills, and governance tools humans developed as they evolved. Just like they had no way to drive cars back then because the skill & know-how had not evolved yet, they also had no better way to manage population growth and perceived resource scarcity because the skill and know-how had not evolved yet. That is no longer the case. We currently live in an era where many people possess the necessary skills to live indivisibly and there is an abundance of resources available to help more people obtain them. However, by no fault of their own, most people are still mentally trapped within the indoctrination of power-over systems paradigms.
In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge states that,
‘Structures of which we are unaware hold us prisoner. Once we can see them and name them, they no longer have the same hold on us.’ (Senge)
I created this publication to help more people learn to see and name the inherent oppressions within social systems rooted in power-over and control as well as recognize and deconstruct the ways that we all perpetuate them. I believe that as more people learn these things, they will begin to intentionally make changes in their lives in an effort to organize and live in ways that inherently produce equity, sustainability, liberation & unconditional love for themselves, the environment, and other human beings.”
— Theory of Indivisibility, Dr. Sundiata-Soonjhata
Let’s start by discussing the concept of owning land, how we can evolve towards a more just relationship with it, and how indigenous people have always been on the frontlines of advocating for this.
The following insights are from from an article entitled “The Western Idea of Ownership is Flawed. Indigenous People Have it Right”, by Julian Brave Noisecat:
“We live in a world dominated by the principle of private property. Once indigenous people were dispossessed of their lands, the land was surveyed, subdivided and sold to the highest bidder. Our capitalist property regime and economic system have succeeded at producing remarkable surplus. But the benefits of this system too often flow to a small fraction of the population, while land, water, air and people pay the long-term price.
While property has transformed the world, its flaws have never been more apparent. Homeownership no longer provides the economic security it once did, and appears out of reach for younger generations. The richest 1% holds more wealth than the rest of the world combined. At the same time, environmental degradation and climate change proceed at a terrifying pace.
Prior generations responded to similar crises by turning to communism. Another, more cutting-edge possibility is to heed the diverse indigenous voices displaced and drowned out by imperialism. Their approach entails returning lands and resources to indigenous control and rethinking our relationship to the environment by recognizing and protecting indigenous values and the rights of nature through the law.
For indigenous people, land and water are regarded as sacred, living relatives, ancestors, places of origin or any combination of the above. One promising precedent on this path to a post-imperial future has emerged in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where the Whanganui Maori iwi just won a 140-year legal battle to recognize that their ancestral Whanganui river has legal rights equal to a human being. Less than a week after the legislation went into effect, India’s Uttarakhand high court cited the Whanganui decision when it ruled that the Ganges and Yamuna rivers have the legal status of a person.
While the implications and effects of these legal experiments are yet to be seen, these are potentially revolutionary precedents that offer a path forward to redefine relationships between governments, indigenous peoples and the land in the 21st century.
At their core, these decisions recognize what indigenous people have believed all along: that land and water are sacred, living relatives and ancestors whose well-being humanity depends upon for our continued health and existence upon this earth.” (Noisecat)
So, what are alternatives to the idea of owning private and public property?
One idea is to shift from ownership of land to stewardship of land.
The Land Stewardship Centre defines stewardships as follows:
In its broadest sense, stewardship is the recognition of our collective responsibility to retain the quality and abundance of our land, air, water and biodiversity, and to manage this natural capital in a way that conserves all of its values, be they environmental, economic, social or cultural.
The LSC goes on to state that they understand stewardship is a journey, and the commitment that comes with being good stewards takes time and effort. Their center and website provides resources to help people on that journey.
Being or becoming a good steward means:
- Understanding the value of ecological goods and services
- Recognizing important stewardship priorities
- Applying key stewardship principles in all our land and resource use decisions
- Learning from those who provide good stewardship examples.
Another way to reject the idea of land ownership is to live in an intentional community.
“Intentional Community” is an inclusive term for eco-villages, co-housing, residential land trusts, communes, student co-ops, urban housing cooperatives and other related projects.
An example of an intentional community is the Amata Community right here in Atlanta, GA where I live. Founded in 1988, their mission is: “to provide an educational model for holistic living in an urban environment.” It’s an eco-village organized around ecology, sustainability, and co-housing, which provides individual homes within a group property.
There are additional elements connected to land ownership that will also need to be deconstructed, which I described in the last transcript, “Current Complexities of Ownership”. These include patriarchy, marriage, and gentrification. Let’s take a look at these again and explore some of the ways that people are creating new systems and new paradigms.
Patriarchy: Only recently (in the 20th century) did women gain the right to own land. We live in a time when women can own property, but that was not always the case. You can read more about patriarchy in this transcript.
Marriage was a form of legal ownership: before 1870, any money made by a woman either through a wage, from investment, by gift, or through inheritance automatically became the property of her husband once she was married. The concept of the husband as the head of household was not just a religious concept, it was the law of the land. Many married couples today live as partners, and do not want to call each other “husband” or “wife” as a way of rejecting the oppressive history of ownership by marriage.
Gentrification: The displacement of underprivileged, poor, or low-income people from a residential area that is affordable to them by wealthier people moving into the neighborhood and raising the property values so that over time, the homes are no longer affordable to the original inhabitants.
One solution to the problem of gentrification is community land trusts…
“Community land trusts are nonprofit, community-based organizations designed to ensure community stewardship of land. Community land trusts are primarily used to ensure long-term housing affordability. To do so, the trust acquires land and maintains ownership of it permanently. With prospective homeowners, it enters into a long-term, renewable lease instead of a traditional sale. When the homeowner sells, the family earns only a portion of the increased property value. The remainder is kept by the trust, preserving the affordability for future low- to moderate-income families.
The length of the lease (most frequently, 99 years) and the percentage earned by the homeowner vary. Ultimately, by separating the ownership of land and housing, this innovative approach prevents market factors from causing prices to rise significantly, and hence guarantees that housing will remain affordable for future generations. Today, there are over 225 community land trusts across the United States.” (Excerpt from Community-wealth.org)
We live during a really unique era…we all know the saying that hindsight is 20/20…well, we live in an era where both hindsight and foresight are clearer than ever before. Technology and science have evolved to a point where we can look back at history and prehistory with extreme clarity while also having enough data combined with the tech and science to allows us to see and predict future patterns based on what we have learned from the past.
With that said, we now know that the social construct of ownership that evolved into human societies over the past ten thousand years is not sustainable. While it has provided abundance for many people it has hurt even more people by increasing individualism and further distancing the majority of us from our indigenous roots and values of collectivism, stewardship, and egalitarianism. Ownership has also contributed greatly to the overconsumption of our natural resources, which has led to global warming and climate change.
It is difficult to understand and discuss ownership without also talking about capitalism, which will be the topic of my next post.
Until next time,
I love yall, Peace!
Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta
2022. Podcast brought into written form by Ray Lightheart
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Websites:
Foundation For Intentional Community
Articles:
The Western Idea of Private Property is Flawed. Indigenous People Have it Right.
