Is selfishness and private property a cause for some

[dogindia]

of our worldwide cultural/political problems. I know it is more complicated than that but this consumerism and corporate greed seem to be driving the republican power folks. There is also much selfishness within families as well...like a kind of power tripping one another.

Maybe that is just my perspective.

[movonne]

1. I like you prespective...

[blurp]

2. What do you think our dumb public would do if property were all public?

I look at private property as the only defense against the ignorant masses. (Just look who they made president).

Make everything public and you can bet they'll all eat it up like locusts.

[whistle]

5. You mean like it was when there were no white settlers in America

...and some 30 million natives roamed and wandered the regions of the continent respecting that all of the grounds and bounty and animal life as public and hallowed. They generally shared with whoever had need and treated the land and all that it yielded with respect and sacredness. Hard to imagine, but before the Europeon explorers began their rape and carnage and theft of the land declairing ownership of all that was stolen, the social and political structure was based on sharing living life in love with nature.

<link> http://www.thewildwest.org/native_american/society/

[wli]

6. check pre-Columbian Central American tribes

They very certainly did have concepts of private property and land ownership.

[K-W]

9. Why are you on Democratic Underground

if you think the public is too ignorant to govern itself?

[flvegan]

3. Selfishness (or acts done in selfishness) IS the cause

of our worldwide cultural and political problems. It really isn't more complicated than that.

[youspeakmylanguage]

4. Selfishness I can agree with, eliminating private property I can't...

The two don't necessarily go together. Private property rights enable freedom. What you're opposed to is corporatism - you just don't know it.

Communism doesn't work. Limited socialism, governmental oversight, justice for all and personal freedom do. Private property rights tie directly into personal freedom.

[K-W]

10. Private property can also be an enemy to freedom.

All property is public, none of us has any absolute right to any particular piece of property. What we need is a legal concept of property that preserves the ability of people to control thier lives whilest not allowing people to accumulate unreasonable portions of the limited resources we all need to live happy healthy lives.

But you are absolutely right that the issue should be freedom. THe problem is that our current concept of property is limiting the freedom of those who dont have property and granting those who do massive amounts of freedom.

[Rainbowreflect]

7. Imagine no possessions.

I wonder if we can.
Sorry John.

[earth mom]

8. GREED and JEALOUSY.

Far too many people WANT IT ALL and are insanely JEALOUS of those who have more than the do and will go to any lengths to get what they want.

It's evil and it's sick and it's the undoing of this country and humanity on this planet.