Q: What
are you talking about?
A: Everything
belongs to me. It's that simple.
Q: Well
hmph, what makes you so special?
A: The
fact that everything belongs to me, for one.
Q: How
can things that other people own belong to you?
A: Most
people think that they actually own stuff. They are deluded. "Owning
stuff" is just a state of mind.
Q: Then
how can you pretend it all belongs to you?
A: After
my realization that property is just an abstract concept, I flirted with
the idea that I didn't own anything. That notion didn't last long once
I realized that it too is a delusion, so I might as well own everything.
Now all of the universe's stuff belongs to me. And I'm not pretending.
Q: You're
nuts. How does it feel, knowing you own everything?
A: It's
a great feeling. It's probably the same feeling you would get if you played
the lottery and won millions of my dollars.
Q: You
own all the money in the world, too?
A: Yup.
Anything that is material is mine.
Q: So how
do you justify other people using your cars, TVs, computers, etc.?
A: It's
OK. I have plenty (everything, really) to go around, so I don't mind that
other people use it. It's actually better this way, because other people
take care of my things. I'd hate to have the job of repairing, cleaning,
and troubleshooting all of my, say, automobiles, for instance. Luckily
other people do that for me.
Q: It doesn't
make you angry that some jerk is driving around in your Lamborghini right
now, thinking it's his?
A: You
mean one of my many Lamborghinis. No, I don't mind that, or the
fact that many people live in my numerous beautiful mansions or take long
vacations on my lovely resort islands. I'm quite willing to let people
delude themselves; I mean, after all, I've got lots of stuff.
Q: Yeah,
but you're not using much of it...
A: I'm
using enough for me. And that wasn't a question, was it?
Q: OK,
but what about when you have to buy things? Why don't you just take things
out of stores if they belong to you already?
A: Because
I'll get arrested for shoplifting my stuff, that's why. I don't mind exchanging
my money for my stuff; it's kind of humorous, really. And ever since I
realized that everything belongs to me, I find it less necessary to purchase
things. I'll often find myself looking into a shop window at one of my
items, saying, "wow, I didn't know I had one of those." Usually there's
no need to bring it home after that. After all, I own the store, too.
Q: Hmm,
is there anything you don't own?
A: Yes;
I don't own people. They own themselves. In fact, I don't own anything
that is living. But once you're dead, you're mine.
Q: How
come you drive a shitty car when you own so many nice cars?
A: You
sure are obsessed with my cars, aren't you? I get plenty of rides in my
nice cars, and I'm often chauffeured, as well. Your question is a somewhat
watered down version of the following question:
Q: Why
don't you live in an exotic mansion on a tropical planet orbiting a distant
star?
A: Because,
even with all that I own, it is difficult to actually get most of it within
my grasp. I am not a megalomaniac; I have no delusions of grandeur.
I am a human, living on one of my zillions of planets, unable at this point
in my life to leave aboard my (as yet unbuilt) starship. I have enough
trouble getting around in one of my millions of shitty cars.
Q: Since
you have so much stuff anyway, can you give some of it to me?
A: No.
Sorry, but you can use some of it. It is impossible for me to transfer
any of my vast property to someone else. One of the properties of all matter
is that it is my property. Get it? If I try to give something to you, it
only gets transferred into a location near you, and nothing I can do will
make it yours. Everything belongs to me.
Q: This
is kinda interesting. How about if I decide that I own everything?
Will that get in your way?
A: Hey,
go for it. Knock yourself out. It would hardly make a dent in the clod
of billions of delusions that the whole human population of this planet
has about my stuff. Won't change anything though. No matter what anyone
thinks, it's all mine. |