It seems pretty silly to conflate the two when ownership implies that it is no longer an opportunity cost to acquire “your” possession, as the cost has already been paid. If you have a million dollars, you potentially own any of all the million dollar possessions on the market, but only one of them at most. Owning all of them would be very different.
Subjectively, though, I for one get that feeling. It’s like “within my reach” and “owned by me” were equivalent to my brain on some level. And, when, once I’ve made my purchase, I find my money diminished by that same amount, I find that I feel cheated, somehow. Like accumulated money should work like an access clearance threshold, rather than a reservoir of resources across space and time. Which is economically absurd...
It seems pretty silly to conflate the two when ownership implies that it is no longer an opportunity cost to acquire “your” possession, as the cost has already been paid. If you have a million dollars, you potentially own any of all the million dollar possessions on the market, but only one of them at most. Owning all of them would be very different.
Subjectively, though, I for one get that feeling. It’s like “within my reach” and “owned by me” were equivalent to my brain on some level. And, when, once I’ve made my purchase, I find my money diminished by that same amount, I find that I feel cheated, somehow. Like accumulated money should work like an access clearance threshold, rather than a reservoir of resources across space and time. Which is economically absurd...