What is Reddit's opinion of Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

In a sense yes. That boils down to the definition of « property ». I recommend reading « Mine! » which is an eye opening book.

https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Hidden-Rules-Ownership-Control/dp/0385544723

We never really « own » anything. We just own rights on our property.

I guess my issue is how we reform those rights. But that might be out of scope for this sub. Yes the initial zoning laws were a major redefinition of what rights people had. And similarly to now they were fiercely fought over. But now that those rights come with your property, redefining them again is as violent. People bought the property assuming they had a say on their neighbors property. It was essentially part of their property rights.

My only argument is that the decision should have been more local. Someone pointed out to me that transit is regional. I’m happy with the idea that regions should have decided.

You should checkout the book "Mine!":

https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Hidden-Rules-Ownership-Control/dp/0385544723

It provides a great historical overview how ownership has changed throughout history.

A great example in the book was when airplanes would fly over property. Some landowners didn't like this, because current law dictated they owned land above and below (from the heavens to the depths of hell). The landowner wanted the pilots to pay to fly over his land, you can guess how that story ended.

Other great story in the book is about the introduction of barbed wire. Prior to barbed wire people were allowed to graze cattle across lands, it was just the norms for thousands of years. When barbed wire was invented suddenly you can very easily stack out your vast amounts of territory very cheaply.

It's likely we will see ownership rules change in our lifetime again.

It's definitely a book worth checking out, especially if you're curious how corporations use the blurred lines of ownership to sell you things of ownership that aren't legally defined.