As we have seen, the ultimate test of ownership is to ask these questions:

1. May I, without asking anyone's permission, rightfully and freely do as I please with the property?
2. May I freely make make ultimate decisions concerning the property, without consulting anyone?
3. May I, in fact, destroy the property (use it up) or dispose of it in any way that I please?

If the answers are in in the affirmative to all of these questions, you are in fact the owner of the property.

It has never really been fully accepted - especially in places where any form of government has been established - that an individual may rightfuly own land in a total condition of ownership.

Whether the land is improved or unimproved, we act as though the state (the community, the tribe, the government) has an automatic property interest in any land or real estate that we acquire.

For example, we are required to pay an annual "property tax" (land rent) in order to enjoy continued uninterferred "ownership" of the land.  If we really owned it totally, no such rent (tax) could be charged against us.

Further, even though there is no mortgage and no one other than ourselves has a financial interest or share in our land, we are prohibited from using or improving our property without consulting others, and obtaining a "permit".

This is a legal but not a moral condition.  We may not for example build on our own land even with our own money, without first consulting with a designated department or bureau of the local government.

Our plans must be reviewed and approved by others who have no financial role in the purchase or improvement of our property.  We are admonished that we must not even add a room, put in a fence, replace a window, or paint our property without obtaining prior legal "permission".

This is a legal intrusion, but it is not a moral one.   It is a manifestation of an earlier and far more primitive concept, that denies ultimate ownership (control) of a property by its rightful owner.  It asserts that an amorphous "society" has a de facto property interest or automatic over-riding claim to the property we are otherwise presumed to exclusively own.

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