Agreement Quote by Charles Eisenstein
“Property is, after all, a social convention, an agreement about someone's exclusive right to use a thing in specified ways. However, we seem to have forgotten this. We seem to think that property belongs to us in some essential way, that it is of us. We seem to think that our property is part of ourselves, and that by owning it we therefore make ourselves more, larger, greater.”
About This Quote
Property is a socially constructed agreement about exclusive use, but we mistakenly see it as an essential part of ourselves, inflating our identity.
In simple terms: Property is a social agreement, not an essential part of self.
Key Takeaway
Question the identity tied to possessions.
Themes
identity
property
social constructs
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- home ownership
- intellectual property
- land rights
- digital assets
Key Concepts
philosophy
economics
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What would change if you saw property as a tool, not self?
- How does this view affect your relationship with belongings?
A Different Perspective
Legal frameworks can limit the flexibility of redefining property.
![“Maybe I'm not giving people in the audience enough credit for actually thinking about what they're singing, but it's awesome when a rock'n'roll groove and melody can transport something from Barometer Rising or whatever [ed: it's from 1958's The Watch That Ends the Night] into [Toronto's] Molson…” quote by Sarah Harmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/280/sarah-harmer-36335_audience_maybe-i-m-not-giving-people-in-the-audie_1416507.jpg)
