Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essay 'My Wood'

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."

The concept of property has long been one of the most crucial aspects for the U.S. citizens, as it is a major part of the Constitutional, and, therefore, human rights. Although the perception and understanding of “property” have been considerably changed, especially in terms of political and philosophical vision, it still has a particular meaning for the Americans. In general, the idea of property is the question of the political thought and conceptualized thinking common for the United States. In most cases, its transformations are connected to the introduction of capitalism and related governmental decision in politics. Therefore, as any other topic, the value of property has undergone harsh debates. In particular, such important figures as James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman have developed a fundamental scope of analyses with regard to the property rights in America.

(p. 105) The property owners are often of the upper class and have control of their life situation. In contrast those who own no property are primarily of the lower-middle classes and have little control over their life situation since they must follow certain societal rules put in place by the ruling class (those with the most property/greatest economic status).

When people decided to gather, communicate, and cooperate to make their livings around beasts, they also had to decide the ownerships of trophies. That was the time when the idea “property” was invented. Many wise men in the past, while thinking about a better format for people living together, argued meanings of property to people. British philosopher John Locke in his work Second Treatise of Government separates property as public goods shared by all humans and necessities for living created via labor. The value of property has changed over time, when later French philosopher Voltaire in his novel Candide, or Optimism expresses that property becomes for what people in a world where Candide lives keep fighting: land, gold, and even ownerships of women. Necessities and public goods becomes luxuries. Voltaire’s work shows this trend and it can explained by the worry about the risk of losing current living standard in the future when easily accessible things are no more available to everyone. In fact, Candide also reflects scarcity of property, a nature which Locke never mentioned. Thus Candide is a strong critique to Second Treatise of Government for the nature of property when Voltaire demonstrated scarcity in material and philosophical ways in Candide.

The relationship between our identities and possessions remains on going. In fact, Joan Kron elaborates on that matter in her essay The Semiotics of Home Décor and mentions how we barely know what is actually beyond our home décor and possessions (74). Kron argues that our possessions and home décor grants us with various aims that cater to our human needs “Our possessions give us a sense of security and stability. They make us feel in control…we use things to compete.” (75). Also, Kron talks about status and how its vitality is depicted through our possessions. Something as simple as the price tag, the originality and rareness of the object and its competence can say something about our status. With this in mind, Kron asserts that “Some objects

his profession as a pastor in search for vital truth and hope. But his father

“Dance to the beat of your own drummer:'; A piece of advice that I have been told my whole life, and have tried my hardest to follow. The words were taken from Thoreau’s quote, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.';

     Sure, cried the tenant men, but it's our land.  We measured it and broke it up.  We were born on it, and we got killed on it, died on it.  That's what makes it ours - being born on it, working it, dying on it.  That makes ownership, not a paper with numbers on it (p.45).

The writer emphasizes that owning property does not make life easier nor brings one any “joy and festivity” if one do not know how to use and share it wisely: “lost sleep”, “ill”, “miserable”, “stingy”. Capitalizing Avarice, the writer refer to Avarice as a dangerous goddess who traps fools in her maze of wealth, let them honor her as “their sovereign lady and wet nurse”, but betrays them, leaves them “drunk” and “intoxicated” and “driven to disgrace themselves”. While hating those fools, the writer is seriously concerned and cry :”O greedy people, alas! alas!”. He repeatedly refer to the “locked away” wealth as “disgrace”, “shame”, and even a dirty substance: “dung”. Comparing unused wealth and dung, he further devalues property: “at least dung enriches the soils”, while greedy men “abuse this earthy life” and “enclosed their courts with shame forever”. Dung is often referred to as dirty and worthless, yet it has a function that benefits the planet, while wealth, often related to luxuriousness and enjoyment, neither brings comfort to its owner nor influence the world positively at all.

What does it mean to own something? An individual may own something that has more significance to the item than meets the eye. This subject has encouraged prominent thinkers to learn more about the idea. This has entered a very fascinating way of thinking that has even perplexed the astounding minds of Plato, Aristotle, and Jean-Paul Sartre. This is why owning something has more significance than may be thought, tangible goods are detrimental to a person's character, ownership of tangible goods helps to develop moral character, and ownership extends beyond objects to include intangible things as well.

“We make ourselves rich by making our wants very few.” Benjamin Franklin, a man of many trades, wrote a letter in 1779, sharing a previous mistake he had rashly made with the intent to inform others of this mistake. He tells a story of an unfortunate childhood story in an excerpted letter, where he overpaid for a toy whistle. Later in his life, he writes his Thirteen Virtues, one of which is frugality, “make no expense but to do good to others or yourself,” rooting from his childhood mishap. Within this letter of misfortune, he develops an observation of people bringing hardship upon themselves by overvaluing inessential items. To convey this reflection of his childhood and the following analysis’, he uses the rhetorical modes of anecdotes and analogies to primarily create his argument of overvaluing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson							I am writing this essay on the beliefs and thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the subjects of individuality, society, government, technology, and spirituality.

Do possessions have an affect on the people who own them? In reference to King Solomon, “when [he] reflected on all the works that [his] own hands had done and on all the hard work that [he] had toiled to accomplish, [he] saw that everything was futile”. King Solomon believed that he could never fully be satisfied by his possessions. Because he worked so long and hard to acquire his meaningless possessions, he was tied down by his property. King Solomon also claimed that he acquired “more [possessions] than any of [his] predecessors” and “surpassed anyone prior to him in Jerusalem”. Society and other people were his driving force to get more possessions. Solomon says that property does affect people and that these effects include dissatisfaction,

In today’s technology riddled world, society has changed its acceptable moral behavior. We tend to value material possessions a lot more than we do people or life in general. We allow this type of gluttonous behavior in our society because we enjoy the tangible things that we can manipulate. We enjoy the mental stimulation it provides us, and we can get enough of it which turns us to be greedier than we used to. We put so much value in material wealth that we are willing to obtain it even when it requires taking people’s livelihood, their lives, and even other creature's lives. We have ingrained it into our minds that bigger is better and we have in established it into the future generation's minds that this type of behavior is acceptable and it is what you need to do to show everyone that you are successful. This mainly happens in first world countries and some third world countries. The main reason for this is that people can’t make meaningful relationships as they used to and this can be attributed to the heavy use of technology. The visual stimulation that technology provides makes us addicted to your screens causing us to disregard the need for any social contact in the real world. Along with that for people to establish a meaningful relationship they must go through hardship together and take risks together, and that is greatly nullified with social media and heavy use of technology altogether. Along with that, the author F. Scotts Fitzgerald portrayed material wealth

E. M. Forster expresses his personal struggles with owning property in his essay titled “My Wood”. Through the fame and fortune presented to him after his most prominent novel, A Passage of India was published, he had the opportunity to expand his horizons and purchase land. Often times, countless individuals believe owning land and experiencing economic growth in a personal matter may make someone feel enlightened or perhaps powerful. However, for Forster, the experience only brought upon feelings of misery and self-condemnation. E.M. Forster’s presents his central question in the first paragraph when he asks, “What is the effect of property on the character?” (246). Forster refers to the contradictory nature one feels with owning