This Land Is My Land

This Land Is My Land
© Surazeus
2018 11 07

Though we are wanderers across the land,
ever moving over dirt on two legs,
we will bind ourselves to parcel of space
and claim right to consume water and plants
provided by the matter of that place
to sustain our bodies till we fall dead.

Establishing perimeter around space
of dirt and water where plants flourish well,
we perform daily routine of commotion
to produce and gather food from the soil,
thus claiming right to dwell within that pale
inside encyclopedia of our actions.

We walk around the space we claim each day,
in cycle of our feet as we explore
to navigate landscape of paradise
where we organize plants in cosmic garden
that provides food which nourishes our bodies,
while declaring this land is ours alone.

Why is it strange that people, who can walk
anywhere they want around the whole globe,
will claim ownership of one enclosed space
that forms square in vast chess board of the world,
defending borders where their nation lives
to produce food in strict routine of hope?

How can one person claim to own some land
just because their ancestors claimed it first,
carving border of their space in the dirt
to prevent other people living there,
while they extract resources from its soil
which excludes other people from that land?

Nothing gives anyone right to own land
except they got there first and will attack
other people who invade private space,
by force of arms alone claiming their right
through precedent of time to claim that space,
while wanderers are forced to work for them.

Groups of people who claim land as their own
assemble in parliament to discuss
rights of ownership over squares of land,
then elect one person they all can trust
to reign as king who judges claims to land,
united to defend this right to own land.

From feudal system of land-owning earls,
organized by king over all their lands,
we transformed into larger nation states
where knights defending their rights to own land
transform into legal real estate agents
who help people buy and sell land for homes.

The capitalist owns the means of production,
and hires landless people to work the land
then pays them wages in return for labor,
acting as manager who oversees
roles each person plays in the company,
and keeps extra profits for his own wealth.

The communist dispels all ownership,
declaring no person can own the land,
but organizes hierarchy of power
that imitates structure of king and earls
who manage peasants to work on the land
while the upper class hordes productive wealth.

This land is my land, this land is your land,
for we all live here sea to shining sea,
enclosed within borders of nation states
ruled over by presidents who command
armies that fight over who owns the land,
while caravans of the landless wander lost.

How can we better design social system
that provides space for everyone to live
sharing rich resources of fertile land
which operates our food-production machine
where everyone gets everything they need
to eat and savor the pleasures of life?