Having vs. Owning | ps pirro

Sometimes people get confused about the difference between having something and owning it.

“I have an ipod” signals ownership. “I have a dog,” or a child, or a spouse, implies a relationship, a mutuality between sovereigns. Things get messed up for us, and for those with whom we are in relationship, when we confuse the one for the other.

Ownership denotes control. Relationship is wrapped up in reciprocity.

Ownership is unilateral. In relationship, something is always owed to the other. Always.

As a general rule, if a thing is alive — and for the animists among us, this includes pretty much everything — what you have is a relationship. Even if the law says otherwise.

[Having vs. Owning | ps pirro](http://pspirro.com/2013/01/20/having-vs-owning/).