by Ray Newman, radio and television commentator, attorney, educator, author

Sunday, June 14, 2009

MY OH MY OH MY

A concept that has always intrigued and puzzled me is the concept of ownership, particularly as it is manifested by the word MY.

For example, what does it mean when I refer to MY real estate? Does that actually mean that I and I alone own a piece of the planet Earth? How far down from the surface do I own it, all the way to the molten center? And what does that mean? Can I do anything I want to do with it? Can I destroy it and leave a gaping 12,500 foot hole there? Can I give it as a gift to my pet dog, who now owns a piece of the Universe? Can the world really go to the dogs?

How did I get to own that property? I gave the prior owner some money for it? Where'd he get it? From a prior prior owner. How did the first owner get to own it? Who did he get it from? Or did he just declare "This MY property"? Is that enough to get to own property? If the Indians had said that, would they have owned all of America?

When I die, if I don't gift the property to someone it is owned by my estate...that is, a piece of the Earth is owned on behalf of someone who may be in Heaven!

And what about when I refer to MY face? Or MY arms, MY legs, MY heart, MY soul? Who is it that is speaking and claiming ownership to all those things? And who am I talking about when I use the word "I", as I just did? Or is the "I" the collection of all those things, and if so, why do I use the possessive word "MY" when referring to MY brain rather than the more accurate words
"I IS"...like in "I IS brain"?

And then there's the "MY wife" problem. She's not mine, I don't own her, do I? Shouldn't we more accurately say, "She IS the collection that has entered into a legal arrangement with the I collection"?

What about MY thoughts, MY feelings, MY beliefs? The I collection is not just tangible stuff, is it?

And a big one: MY God. In what conceivable or inconceivable way can it be said that the I collection owns an all powerful Supreme Being? And if it could, what would that make the collective?

My gosh!

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