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In Collective Property, the author examines the essential human need for participation in collective property, highlighting it as an emotional connection rather than a mere legal arrangement. This sense of ownership, rooted in civic life, allows individuals to feel personally invested in public goods such as monuments, gardens, and ceremonies. Through this shared connection, even the poorest members of society can experience the dignity and splendor often associated with luxury.
The text critiques modern systems that waste the potential of collective ownership, using large industrial factories as a prime example. In such settings, neither workers, managers, board members, nor shareholders derive any meaningful satisfaction from the property. This disconnect stems from a flawed economic system that equates ownership with monetary wealth, concentrating all value on financial gain while neglecting the deeper, communal needs of the soul.
The author calls for a radical transformation of property laws and economic practices to align them with the true purpose of ownership: satisfying both private and collective needs. Property, they argue, should not be measured by monetary value but by its capacity to fulfill humanity’s innate longing for connection and stewardship. Any form of possession that fails to meet this standard is essentially void and requires reimagining—not through state control, but by fostering genuine ownership that serves the common good.
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