OWNERSHIP is worth WHAAAAT???

Have you seen the game show with Cedric Entertainer called "Its Worth What?"   Well, if you have seen it and you're still reading after the hyperlink......the human concepts of "relative value" and "price"are highlighted in this show where people must guess both in order to win money.

While observing the human condition during this current stint, I have given a lot of focus to these illusions of relative value, price and the concept of "OWNERSHIP".  Today, on the heels of the S&P's unprecedented downgrade of US credit I realize that the concept seems to be overrated and misunderstood by most.  

My observations have witnessed some seemingly powerful people in terms of their ownership statistics being completely stripped of whatever they supposedly owned (including their consciousness) when their choices led to physical death.   So while I've enjoyed the human sport of Acquisition, I have learned not to take the trophies of competitive acquisition (titles, deeds, account balances, etc) too seriously.    What always seems to mean more than ownership is what I have access to that feels good to me in any given moment.

This was proven by a rather affluent mentor of mine who I had asked for an opinion about a boat purchase I was considering.    While I thought his ego would enjoy being seen as the expert on such the subject since he owned a similar vessel, he was rather dismissive of the idea.   He simply said, "that's the last thing you should purchase if you know someone like me that already has one you like."  After that statement followed a very enlightening conversation about the maintenance and upkeep of a boat.    But many questions have been reverberating about the concept of ownership and tend to swirl around most of my acquisitions since that day:

• How much does the "prestige" of ownership matter in considering relative value?   
• And how much of anything's value is derived from the illusion that it is owned by someone or groups of people? 
• And how much value in anything is based on the perceived value of its owner?   Is a celebrity's dirty laundry really worth more than that of someone who is virtually unknown in society?  
• How valuable is something to you if it is owned by someone else but brings you countless hours or days of joy?   
• Is something more valuable to you when you own it yourself but it causes you immeasurable stress and takes years off the back-end of your life?  
• Do you really even own anything if it can be taken from you at certain times such as your consciousness in death?
• Is chasing the concept of ownership ever worth losing your consciousness? 

Hmm??