EP 029 The Ownership Illusion: Historical Patterns of Corporate Control and the Subscription Economy Conspiracy

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Beneath the headlines.

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Behind the timelines, there is a
story no one wants you to find.

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Welcome to some unapproved thinking, where
forgotten truths, buried patterns, and

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invisible systems rise to the surface.

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You weren't crazy, you were just early.

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Let's begin.

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Imagine waking up one day and realizing
you don't actually own anything.

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Not your house, not your
car, not your phone.

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Not even the photos you take
or the music you listen to.

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Everything around you is
licensed, borrowed, or leased.

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You're living in a rented world built by
design, and the worst part, you chose it.

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I remember when this reality hit me.

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I was sitting in my home office
surrounded by devices and

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products that I thought I owned.

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Then out of nowhere, my Kindle
account started deleting books.

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I had quote unquote purchased.

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Poof.

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Just gone vanished because somewhere in
the fine print, I'd never read, Amazon

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had decided I was only renting access to
those books, not actually buying them.

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That's when I understood this
isn't a dystopian future.

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It's right now they call it the sharing
economy, but what it really means

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is you own nothing and they own you.

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The World Economic Forum
didn't predict this future.

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They engineered it.

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Tonight we ask.

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When ownership becomes access and citizens
become tenants who holds the keys to your

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life, this is some unapproved thinking.

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Now back to the show.

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Okay, so we can all agree on one thing.

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Today we live in an age where convenience
has become the currency we trade for

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ownership, where your access to something
has totally replaced your possession of

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that same thing where the subscription
economy has turned every single aspect of

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your life into an ongoing monthly payment.

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One where they say you can cancel
at any time, but can you really?

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I spent decades inside the corporate
systems where I could see from the

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inside just how easily people will
surrender, control for comfort.

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Then bam, 2020 in the post pandemic
world, accelerated this transformation

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tenfold in one fell swoop.

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We jumped across the ownership divide into
digital first everything, pair all that

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with contactless payments and subscription
services for food, for entertainment, for

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transportation, even for relationships.

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Yeah.

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You know what I'm talking about, right?

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What once seemed like temporary shifts and
adaptations quickly became the permanent

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and even the preferred infrastructure,
but this shift from ownership to access

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wasn't simple organic market evolution.

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Nope.

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It was systematic social engineering
that, in my eyes, is designed

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to create permanent dependency.

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I remember sitting in marketing meetings
where we would discuss customer lifetime

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value and recurring revenue streams.

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We weren't just selling products, we were
designing dependency on those products.

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The goal was never to just have
satisfied customers, but more so

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to ensure they would never be so
satisfied that they would stop paying.

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I mean, it costs more
to get a new customer.

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Then to keep a current customer after all
the World Economic Forum's, prediction

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that you'll own nothing and be happy
wasn't a forecast, it was a business plan.

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When ownership becomes access,
then citizens become mere tenants.

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When possession becomes permission
based, then freedom becomes conditional

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by design when everything you need is
rented from someone else, your autonomy

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depends on their approval and approval
I've learned can be revoked at any time

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for any reason without warning or appeal.

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So let me walk you through how ownership
quietly transformed into access

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without most of you even noticing.

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Because this didn't happen overnight.

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It happened gradually, step by step,
convenience by convenience, until that

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dependency began to feel like freedom.

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Decades ago, ownership
meant something real.

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A house meant stability.

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A car meant independence.

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Owning your tools meant
control over your life.

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But somewhere along the way that changed.

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Convenience replaced autonomy,
access, replaced ownership.

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We traded independence for
efficiency, freedom for ease,

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and choice for algorithms.

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I watched this transformation from
the inside of corporate meeting rooms.

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The language shift was
subtle but methodical.

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We stopped talking about selling
products and started talking

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about providing services.

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We stopped measuring customer satisfaction
and started measuring customer retention.

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The goal wasn't to give
people what they wanted.

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It shifted more to making sure they could
never stop wanting it, whatever it was.

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I think the transformation
started with music, and I remember

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originally thinking it was brilliant.

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Those dusty old records became
small, easy to carry CDs.

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The CDs became quick and easy.

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Digital downloads.

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Those digital downloads then
shifted to streaming subscriptions.

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Over a very short period of time.

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You went from owning physical albums
forever to renting access that

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disappears when you stop paying
or when they decide they don't

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want you to have access anymore.

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The music industry somehow convinced you
this was progress, unlimited access to

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everything instead of limited ownership
of the few things you actually wanted.

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But streaming music
was just the beginning.

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Now that the strategy was proven to
be a good one, they moved on to the

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next entertainment category, movies.

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Movies went from being stocked on
shelves to more streaming platforms.

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Yep.

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Say goodbye to Blockbuster.

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Then they moved on to software.

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Software shifted from physical discs and
were turned into monthly subscriptions.

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Another goodbye to Egghead Comp
USA BAS software, et cetera.

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Electronic boutique, and other names.

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I can no longer remember now.

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Even your car could stop
working if you miss payments.

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Why?

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Because its features are locked behind.

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Digital access codes.

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Codes that even you as the quote
unquote owner do not have access to.

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Effectively.

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You have not bought your tools.

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You have simply borrowed them.

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The beauty of this system, from a
corporate perspective at least, is that

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it feels like abundance to all of us
while really it's creating scarcity.

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Netflix offers thousands of movies.

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Yes, but you can't watch a single
one of them without paying monthly.

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Spotify.

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Sure they have millions of songs,
but the silence quickly returns.

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The moment you cancel the payments.

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All that abundance is just an illusion.

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But the dependency, yep,
that is very, very real.

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Your Kindle books can be deleted remotely
without your knowledge or permission.

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Your apps can vanish overnight.

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Your social media accounts can
disappear with zero appeal processes.

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So let's be honest, just
in case we're not aware.

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You do not own your digital life.

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You are merely renting it from
companies that can revoke access

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at any time for any reason.

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Now, I've seen some of the
internal discussions about this.

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They call it platform risk management,
but what they really mean is how

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do we maintain control over users
who think they are our customers?

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This subscription economy has
turned every aspect of our existence

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into a recurring revenue stream.

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Your car, your home security,
your fitness tracking, your news.

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Your entertainment, your productivity
tools, hell for some, even their meals,

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all monthly payments that never end.

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You're not buying products anymore,
you're renting permission to use them.

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But here's what's most disturbing
about this whole operation.

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The rental reality extends far
beyond just digital services.

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Physical ownership is being
systematically eliminated through

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economic pressure and regulatory capture.

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Home ownership becomes impossible through
inflated prices and restricted supply.

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Whether that restricted supply is real or
manufactured, the results are the same.

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Car ownership becomes impractical
through urban planning that

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favors ride sharing over parking.

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The sharing economy has promised
efficiency and sustainability.

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But what it has delivered was
a world where you own nothing

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and depend on everything.

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Hell, dependent is the better word.

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Uber has replaced car ownership.

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Airbnb has replaced hotel ownership.

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WeWork has replaced office ownership.

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Every sharing platform has eliminated
ownership while creating new forms

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of dependency, creating a whole
new definition of the word slavery.

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Then compound that with the COVID
response that accelerated all

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this transformation dramatically.

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Contactless payments, reduced cash usage.

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Digital health passes, normalized
conditional access to services.

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Remote work, made physical
ownership seem unnecessary.

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Emergency powers became permanent
infrastructure for controlling

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access to basic services.

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The most insidious aspect is how
the system makes you grateful

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for your own dispossession.

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You're told that ownership is
burdensome, wasteful, outdated.

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Renting is presented to you as freedom
from responsibility, giving you

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easier access to variety and enabling
participation in the modern economy.

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This golden cage is effectively sold
as liberation, but when you rent

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everything, you control nothing.

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When your access depends on approval,
your freedom becomes conditional.

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When ownership is replaced by permission,
you become a tenant in your own life.

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Tenants, my friends can be evicted.

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Now let's talk about the echoes from the
past, because this pattern of replacing

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ownership with dependency isn't new.

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Throughout history, those who
understood that control comes through

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ownership, have used various rental
systems to manage populations.

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Many have traced this pattern through
centuries of social control, and the

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playbook is remarkably consistent.

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Old school feudalism was
the OG rental economy.

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Peasants worked land that they
could never owned, lived in houses

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that they couldn't buy, used tools
they were not allowed to keep.

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Everything was rented from
the Lord who owned everything.

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The system created complete dependency
while being disguised as mutual

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obligation back here in the USA.

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Company towns in our industrial era
honed and perfected this rental model.

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I've read the corporate documents
from some of these operations, and

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to be honest, many of them are bone
chilling in their clarity workers rented

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company housing, shopped at company
stores and used company currency.

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They never owned anything, nothing.

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Zip zero nada, which meant
they could never leave.

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The company controlled every aspect
of their existence through the

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ownership of everything they needed.

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Now, let's pause a moment.

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Remind ourselves of the word that should
be used for someone that works or is

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forced to work in a situation like this.

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Then there was the sharecropping
systems that kept farmers perpetually

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indebted to landowners who provided
the seeds, the tools, and the

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housing in exchange for the crops.

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The farmers work constantly, but
never, ever gained any ownership,

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never built any wealth, and certainly
never achieved any independence.

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The rental relationship insured
permanent dependency back across

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the ocean in the Soviet Union.

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Their system literally eliminated
private property entirely to control

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populations because when the state
owns everything citizens own, yeah,

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nothing access to housing, access to
transportation, access to food, and

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even access to employment, depended
on social and political compliance.

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Ownership was 100% removed from the
equation to make resistance impossible.

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There are studies showing colonial
systems that used rental relationships

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to extract wealth from the populace
while preventing its independence.

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Native populations were forced
to literally rent back their own

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land, pay taxes on resources they
had previously owned and work

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for wages to buy necessities they
had once provided for themselves.

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How fucking crazy is that?

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After all, debt slavery has always been
far more effective than physical chains.

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When people owe more than they
can repay, they become permanently

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dependent on the creditors who control
their access to life's necessities.

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The debt relationship creates a
completely voluntary compliance with an

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overwhelmingly involuntary servitude.

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Think about for a moment, even
today's modern credit systems

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follow the exact same pattern.

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Mortgages, car loans, student
debt, and even credit cards

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create these rental relationships
that are disguised as ownership.

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You think you own your house, but go
ahead and miss a few of those payments.

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Then you will discover who
really controls your home.

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I mean, the bank owns everything.

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You just rent the illusion of
ownership with their permission.

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Of course.

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This pattern really begins to reveal
itself far more clearly in how

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crises are used to accelerate the
transition from ownership to rental.

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Economic collapses force people
to sell assets to survive.

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Think 2008 with the bursting
of the real estate bubble.

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Then on top of that.

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Natural disasters can come along and
destroy owned property that then gets

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replaced with rented alternatives.

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Think Katrina.

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00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,520
Oh, and of course, let's not forget how
wars can completely eliminate private

242
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,020
ownership in favor of state control.

243
00:13:22,380 --> 00:13:25,260
Each and every crisis leaves
behind new and improved rental

244
00:13:25,260 --> 00:13:28,860
relationships that quickly are sown
into a more permanent infrastructure.

245
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,590
Emergency housing becomes
permanent public housing.

246
00:13:31,830 --> 00:13:35,495
Temporary business closures become
permanent platform dependencies.

247
00:13:36,135 --> 00:13:40,275
Crisis responses become normal operations
that eliminate ownership while expanding

248
00:13:40,275 --> 00:13:42,405
those once temporary rental systems.

249
00:13:42,795 --> 00:13:45,645
The historical precedent shows
that rental economies aren't about

250
00:13:45,645 --> 00:13:46,964
efficiency or sustainability.

251
00:13:47,415 --> 00:13:47,805
Nope.

252
00:13:48,104 --> 00:13:49,425
Sorry to tell you this, my friends.

253
00:13:49,724 --> 00:13:50,834
They are about control.

254
00:13:51,165 --> 00:13:55,635
You see, when you own nothing,
then you depend on everything.

255
00:13:56,055 --> 00:13:59,535
When you depend on everything,
you can be so easily controlled

256
00:13:59,535 --> 00:14:02,209
by anyone who controls the
access to what it is you need.

257
00:14:02,835 --> 00:14:05,955
Here, let me take a minute to
show you the mechanics of how

258
00:14:05,955 --> 00:14:09,045
ownership gets systematically
replaced with rental dependency.

259
00:14:09,255 --> 00:14:12,675
Because once you see this pattern,
you'll recognize it everywhere.

260
00:14:13,065 --> 00:14:13,395
Okay?

261
00:14:13,815 --> 00:14:17,145
Like so many others, the pattern
always begins with convenience

262
00:14:17,145 --> 00:14:20,685
narratives that mask the construction
of the dependency systems that

263
00:14:20,685 --> 00:14:22,305
are being built behind the scenes.

264
00:14:22,665 --> 00:14:23,835
Yeah, the usual.

265
00:14:24,135 --> 00:14:28,785
Nothing to see here narrative,
because real convenience always

266
00:14:28,785 --> 00:14:30,255
serves the end user's interests.

267
00:14:30,645 --> 00:14:34,545
Meanwhile, that shady ass manufactured
convenience ultimately serves the

268
00:14:34,545 --> 00:14:39,675
system's interests while only appearing
to benefit the end user Like you, I've

269
00:14:39,675 --> 00:14:44,265
watched this play out in boardrooms and
conference rooms, streaming services,

270
00:14:44,444 --> 00:14:47,055
ride sharing services, and subscription.

271
00:14:47,084 --> 00:14:50,895
Everything are always marketed
as the ultimate convenience, but

272
00:14:51,375 --> 00:14:56,265
they then create unprecedented
dependency on said convenience.

273
00:14:56,775 --> 00:14:58,665
Now, don't get me wrong here.

274
00:14:58,995 --> 00:15:00,585
The convenience is real.

275
00:15:01,005 --> 00:15:04,920
It's the cost that is being hidden
behind the curtain, like the Wizard in

276
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,314
Oz. The Freer trial phase establishes
your dependency long before the system

277
00:15:09,314 --> 00:15:11,145
goes about revealing the true costs.

278
00:15:11,355 --> 00:15:13,005
Platforms offer free trials.

279
00:15:13,335 --> 00:15:14,835
They offer free basic services.

280
00:15:15,225 --> 00:15:18,255
They offer free access to build
their user bases, and at the same

281
00:15:18,255 --> 00:15:20,175
time, to eliminate the alternatives.

282
00:15:20,505 --> 00:15:24,285
Once dependencies established and
competitors are eliminated, the free phase

283
00:15:24,285 --> 00:15:27,525
ends and bam ta-da rental payments begin.

284
00:15:27,885 --> 00:15:31,935
I can remember when Gmail was completely
revolutionary because it was free.

285
00:15:32,325 --> 00:15:37,545
Now Google controls your email, your
documents, your photos, your calendar.

286
00:15:37,815 --> 00:15:40,815
Hell, if you think about it,
they are neck deep in your entire

287
00:15:40,815 --> 00:15:42,735
digital life, that free phase.

288
00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:46,335
They did totally worked
exactly as it was designed to.

289
00:15:46,695 --> 00:15:47,265
Over time.

290
00:15:47,565 --> 00:15:50,715
Economic pressure makes rentals
seem like the only viable option.

291
00:15:51,465 --> 00:15:53,235
Home prices have been
inflated beyond reach.

292
00:15:53,505 --> 00:15:56,220
Car ownership has been made more and
more impractical through urban planning.

293
00:15:56,834 --> 00:15:59,564
Physical media has been eliminated
shifting us into a forced

294
00:15:59,564 --> 00:16:01,005
set of digital subscriptions.

295
00:16:01,275 --> 00:16:03,915
The alternatives to rental are
systematically removed to make

296
00:16:03,915 --> 00:16:07,665
dependency appear to be voluntary,
like we ask them to do it for us.

297
00:16:08,055 --> 00:16:09,015
Did you ask?

298
00:16:09,555 --> 00:16:11,385
Yeah, me neither.

299
00:16:11,745 --> 00:16:15,225
The subscription model turns every
aspect of your life into a recurring

300
00:16:15,225 --> 00:16:17,355
revenue stream that never seems to end.

301
00:16:17,895 --> 00:16:21,435
And let's be honest here, they don't
want it to end Instead of one time

302
00:16:21,435 --> 00:16:25,245
purchases that transfers ownership
of something over to you completely.

303
00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:30,060
Everything has now become a set
monthly payments that continue forever.

304
00:16:30,780 --> 00:16:32,459
You never quite finish paying for it.

305
00:16:32,819 --> 00:16:33,240
Why?

306
00:16:33,449 --> 00:16:36,780
Because you are never actually buying
anything that will become yours.

307
00:16:37,170 --> 00:16:42,000
Then there is the fact that digital
systems enable instant and even permanent

308
00:16:42,270 --> 00:16:45,930
revocation of access without anyone
having to go all dog, the bounty hunter,

309
00:16:45,930 --> 00:16:47,520
and physically repossess the item.

310
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,540
Your books, your music, your
movies, your software, and even

311
00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:54,464
your car features can be removed
remotely without warning or appeals.

312
00:16:55,110 --> 00:16:58,680
The rental relationship gives the
providers complete control over access

313
00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,000
to things you thought you owned.

314
00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:04,260
This sharing type of economy
eliminates ownership while expanding.

315
00:17:04,260 --> 00:17:05,040
Dependency.

316
00:17:05,579 --> 00:17:08,579
Uber means you don't own transportation.

317
00:17:08,730 --> 00:17:10,200
You rent it by the trip.

318
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,620
Airbnb means you don't own
accommodation, you rent it by the night.

319
00:17:14,370 --> 00:17:16,170
WeWork means you don't own a workspace.

320
00:17:16,290 --> 00:17:16,380
Nope.

321
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:18,120
You rent it by the month.

322
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,990
Every sharing platform is
actually a rental platform.

323
00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,790
This type of platform monopolization
ensures that rental becomes the only

324
00:17:26,790 --> 00:17:31,530
option when a few companies control
entire sectors, hell, entire industries.

325
00:17:31,770 --> 00:17:35,250
They can eliminate ownership based
alternatives and force everyone into

326
00:17:35,250 --> 00:17:37,440
these slave like rental relationships.

327
00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,860
The platforms become the
landlords of entire industries,

328
00:17:41,250 --> 00:17:42,780
lording over them from on high.

329
00:17:43,110 --> 00:17:46,560
The most insidious aspect is how
the system makes people complicit

330
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:47,820
in their own dispossession.

331
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,280
The users demand convenience.

332
00:17:50,639 --> 00:17:53,909
They demand variety, and they
demand low upfront costs.

333
00:17:54,240 --> 00:18:00,179
So of course, the rental economy
provides all of these things, but

334
00:18:00,810 --> 00:18:05,885
all that comes with just one tiny
little cost attached, and that cost

335
00:18:06,264 --> 00:18:08,245
is the elimination of your ownership.

336
00:18:08,865 --> 00:18:12,735
People choose this lame ass
dependency because it's marketed

337
00:18:12,735 --> 00:18:17,955
as freedom, as opportunity, and
as the best option for them Then.

338
00:18:18,389 --> 00:18:22,889
Add to that, the regulatory capture
that ensures that laws begin to favor

339
00:18:22,889 --> 00:18:25,260
rental systems over ownership system.

340
00:18:25,679 --> 00:18:28,679
The zoning laws begin to
prevent home ownership.

341
00:18:29,010 --> 00:18:32,280
Transportation regulations start
to lean in favor of ride sharing

342
00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:33,810
over actual car ownership.

343
00:18:34,169 --> 00:18:37,320
Financial regulations shift to make
ownership financing more difficult

344
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,510
while making rental payments far easier.

345
00:18:39,899 --> 00:18:43,320
The pattern extends to how alternatives
get eliminated or marginalized.

346
00:18:43,845 --> 00:18:45,705
Physical media disappears from stores.

347
00:18:45,975 --> 00:18:47,625
Cash payments become impossible.

348
00:18:47,895 --> 00:18:51,345
Ownership based businesses get
regulated out of existence while rental

349
00:18:51,345 --> 00:18:53,415
platforms get subsidized and protected.

350
00:18:53,715 --> 00:18:58,485
The most concerning pattern is how quickly
rental dependency spreads and normalizes.

351
00:18:58,935 --> 00:19:04,455
What seems shocking a mere few years ago
becomes not only acceptable, but preferred

352
00:19:04,935 --> 00:19:07,095
through repetition and social proof.

353
00:19:07,515 --> 00:19:10,485
People adapt to rental relationships
the same way they adapt to

354
00:19:10,485 --> 00:19:11,955
any other form of dependency.

355
00:19:12,389 --> 00:19:16,139
Gradually, reluctantly, but
ultimately they adapt completely.

356
00:19:16,530 --> 00:19:20,820
Of course, not everyone has accepted the
transformation from ownership to the realm

357
00:19:20,820 --> 00:19:23,340
of rental dependency around the world.

358
00:19:23,580 --> 00:19:26,370
Individuals and communities
have spotted the pattern early

359
00:19:26,370 --> 00:19:27,750
and chose different paths.

360
00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:32,730
Some, like my family, for example,
have consciously maintained

361
00:19:32,730 --> 00:19:37,295
physical ownership despite social
pressure and economic incentives.

362
00:19:37,995 --> 00:19:43,125
Buying physical books, CDs,
and DVDs, owning the cars, the

363
00:19:43,125 --> 00:19:45,585
tools, and the homes outright.

364
00:19:45,975 --> 00:19:46,485
Why?

365
00:19:46,845 --> 00:19:50,235
Because we understand that ownership
provides a level of security and autonomy

366
00:19:50,415 --> 00:19:55,155
that the rental relationships can't
match, and that my friends is by design.

367
00:19:55,544 --> 00:19:57,960
I've met entrepreneurs who've
built businesses around

368
00:19:58,095 --> 00:19:59,774
ownership rather than rental.

369
00:20:00,044 --> 00:20:02,205
They sell products
instead of subscriptions.

370
00:20:02,715 --> 00:20:05,835
Transfer ownership instead
of licensing access.

371
00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:11,010
And build customer relationships based
on the value they can deliver instead

372
00:20:11,010 --> 00:20:15,630
of building their customer's dependency
on that value, their success proves

373
00:20:15,630 --> 00:20:17,965
that ownership based models can and do.

374
00:20:18,705 --> 00:20:19,425
Still work.

375
00:20:19,755 --> 00:20:25,185
Communities have created local ownership
networks that resist platform dependency,

376
00:20:25,485 --> 00:20:29,565
two libraries, community gardens,
cooperative ownership structures, and

377
00:20:29,565 --> 00:20:33,165
even local currencies that keep wealth
and true ownership within communities

378
00:20:33,165 --> 00:20:38,115
they foster, rather than extracting it and
delivering it to some distant platform.

379
00:20:38,715 --> 00:20:42,375
Even some countries have implemented
policies that protect ownership rights and

380
00:20:42,375 --> 00:20:44,504
prevent this excessive rental dependency.

381
00:20:44,955 --> 00:20:48,585
They've restricted foreign ownership
of residential property, maintained

382
00:20:48,585 --> 00:20:52,034
public ownership of essential
services, and created regulations

383
00:20:52,034 --> 00:20:53,145
that protect their citizens'.

384
00:20:53,145 --> 00:20:55,905
Consumer ownership rights
against platform revocation.

385
00:20:56,325 --> 00:20:59,925
Some individuals have even developed
strategies for maintaining ownership

386
00:20:59,925 --> 00:21:01,274
within this rental economy.

387
00:21:01,514 --> 00:21:05,325
They find and buy used items
that can't be remotely disabled.

388
00:21:05,685 --> 00:21:08,055
They use open source software
that can't be revoked.

389
00:21:08,415 --> 00:21:11,445
They even maintain cash reserves
and physical assets that provide

390
00:21:11,445 --> 00:21:13,845
some additional independence
from digital platforms.

391
00:21:14,175 --> 00:21:16,665
Some families have organized
their lives around ownership

392
00:21:16,665 --> 00:21:18,375
principles rather than convenience.

393
00:21:18,705 --> 00:21:21,375
They homeschool to avoid
educational rental systems.

394
00:21:21,615 --> 00:21:26,055
They grow food to avoid agricultural
dependency, and they maintain skills

395
00:21:26,055 --> 00:21:30,615
and tools that provides self-sufficiency
rather than platform dependency.

396
00:21:31,170 --> 00:21:35,010
Alternative communities have developed
economic systems based on ownership and

397
00:21:35,010 --> 00:21:37,500
mutual aid rather than rental extraction.

398
00:21:37,740 --> 00:21:38,010
Yeah.

399
00:21:38,010 --> 00:21:41,940
Imagine that giving, instead of just
taking, they demonstrate that human

400
00:21:41,940 --> 00:21:46,350
cooperation doesn't require platform
mediation and that ownership based

401
00:21:46,350 --> 00:21:51,570
economies can be, and if you ask me,
are far more satisfying and sustainable.

402
00:21:51,830 --> 00:21:54,949
Researchers have documented the
psychological and economic costs

403
00:21:54,949 --> 00:21:56,750
of our growing rental dependency.

404
00:21:57,169 --> 00:22:01,820
Their work shows that ownership
provides security, autonomy, and wealth

405
00:22:01,820 --> 00:22:06,169
building opportunities that rental
relationships methodically eliminate.

406
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,879
But as I have mentioned many
times before, the most important

407
00:22:10,879 --> 00:22:12,860
resistance comes from the people.

408
00:22:13,260 --> 00:22:17,550
Like you and me who understand that
ownership is essential for freedom and

409
00:22:17,550 --> 00:22:22,500
that rental dependency is a form of
voluntary, even if it is forced servitude.

410
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,890
They recognize that convenience often
comes at the cost of autonomy, and

411
00:22:25,890 --> 00:22:30,180
that true security requires ownership
of one's own essential resources.

412
00:22:30,540 --> 00:22:34,320
These outliers demonstrate that the
transformation from ownership to rental

413
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,570
isn't inevitable or even necessary.

414
00:22:36,930 --> 00:22:40,290
Every person who maintains
ownership, every community that

415
00:22:40,290 --> 00:22:41,820
resists platform dependency.

416
00:22:42,405 --> 00:22:47,265
Every business that transfers rather
than rents helps preserve alternatives

417
00:22:47,415 --> 00:22:49,275
to that very rental servitude.

418
00:22:49,635 --> 00:22:53,205
Understanding the systematic replacement
of ownership with rental dependency

419
00:22:53,385 --> 00:22:56,565
should completely change how you
evaluate all those quote unquote

420
00:22:56,565 --> 00:23:00,585
convenience offers, those subscription
services and the relationship between

421
00:23:00,585 --> 00:23:01,305
their access and your freedom.

422
00:23:02,820 --> 00:23:05,520
Every subscription offer
then becomes a question worth

423
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,409
examining far more carefully.

424
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,919
When companies offer to make your life
easier through rental relationships,

425
00:23:11,129 --> 00:23:16,080
you should start asking what you lose in
autonomy and what they gain in control.

426
00:23:16,530 --> 00:23:20,730
The convenience often, if not always,
masks the construction of dependency

427
00:23:20,850 --> 00:23:22,169
on their product or service.

428
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,899
The phrase you'll own,
nothing and be happy becomes a

429
00:23:24,899 --> 00:23:26,520
warning rather than a promise.

430
00:23:26,970 --> 00:23:28,955
Real happiness comes from
security and autonomy.

431
00:23:29,685 --> 00:23:31,365
Rental dependency provides neither.

432
00:23:31,545 --> 00:23:34,605
It does, however, provide
convenience, but only in exchange

433
00:23:34,605 --> 00:23:35,925
for control over your life.

434
00:23:36,225 --> 00:23:37,485
One little piece at a time.

435
00:23:38,055 --> 00:23:41,355
Until, poof, it's no longer yours.

436
00:23:41,745 --> 00:23:45,285
The array of platform services out
there take on new significance when

437
00:23:45,285 --> 00:23:49,545
you understand how they eliminate your
ownership while creating your dependency.

438
00:23:49,965 --> 00:23:51,705
Every app that replaces ownership.

439
00:23:52,139 --> 00:23:56,610
Every service that substitutes access
for possession, every platform that

440
00:23:56,610 --> 00:24:00,720
mediates relationships creates new
forms of control over your life.

441
00:24:01,170 --> 00:24:04,950
The importance of physical ownership
becomes clear when you realize just how

442
00:24:04,950 --> 00:24:07,170
easily digital access can be revoked.

443
00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:13,165
Cash, physical books owned tools and
tangible assets provide security and

444
00:24:13,485 --> 00:24:17,639
autonomy that rental relationships
methodically pick away at until

445
00:24:17,639 --> 00:24:19,379
they eliminate them entirely.

446
00:24:19,754 --> 00:24:23,805
In that sense, economic choices become
political choices when you understand

447
00:24:23,805 --> 00:24:25,815
how rental systems concentrate power.

448
00:24:25,965 --> 00:24:30,105
While dispersing dependency, every
purchase decision becomes a choice

449
00:24:30,254 --> 00:24:34,155
between supporting the ownership
based model or giving into the

450
00:24:34,155 --> 00:24:35,835
rental based economic model.

451
00:24:36,195 --> 00:24:40,274
The value of self-sufficiency increases
when you recognize how completely rental

452
00:24:40,274 --> 00:24:42,135
dependency can gain control of your life.

453
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:47,370
Skills, tools and resources that provide
independence become more valuable

454
00:24:47,490 --> 00:24:51,390
than any of those convenient access
things you have zero control over.

455
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,870
So once again, pattern recognition
becomes more important than

456
00:24:54,870 --> 00:24:58,230
individual service evaluation when
the same rental model appears across

457
00:24:58,230 --> 00:24:59,880
different industries simultaneously.

458
00:25:00,030 --> 00:25:02,940
Recognizing the pattern helps you
understand that you're experiencing

459
00:25:02,940 --> 00:25:06,750
systematic social engineering rather
than just a simple market evolution.

460
00:25:07,110 --> 00:25:10,260
Most importantly, you realize
that ownership isn't just

461
00:25:10,260 --> 00:25:11,460
about possessing things.

462
00:25:11,940 --> 00:25:16,440
It's about maintaining autonomy and
security in a world that is increasingly

463
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:21,149
demanding, dependency, the choice between
ownership and rental is often a choice

464
00:25:21,149 --> 00:25:23,190
between your freedom and their control.

465
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,290
But don't get me wrong here.

466
00:25:25,620 --> 00:25:28,350
The goal is not to reject
all convenience or avoid all

467
00:25:28,350 --> 00:25:29,435
rental relationships entirely.

468
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:34,050
The goal is to understand the trade-offs
involved and to maintain enough ownership

469
00:25:34,169 --> 00:25:37,590
so that you preserve your autonomy and
your security when those rental systems

470
00:25:37,590 --> 00:25:42,629
fail, or worse yet become coercive,
they turned your ownership into a burden

471
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,030
and their rental model into liberation.

472
00:25:45,659 --> 00:25:49,950
They convinced you that possessing
things was wasteful while accessing

473
00:25:49,950 --> 00:25:51,840
everything was far more efficient.

474
00:25:52,409 --> 00:25:55,139
They made dependency feel
like freedom and control.

475
00:25:55,139 --> 00:25:56,460
Feel like convenience.

476
00:25:56,835 --> 00:25:59,505
I've watched this transformation
from corporate conference rooms to

477
00:25:59,505 --> 00:26:02,865
family living rooms and have seen
how the same techniques we use to

478
00:26:02,865 --> 00:26:07,185
create customer loyalty got scaled
up to create societal dependency.

479
00:26:07,485 --> 00:26:10,845
The playbook is ancient, but
the application is modern.

480
00:26:11,145 --> 00:26:15,075
But when you own nothing, you
can control the same amount.

481
00:26:15,795 --> 00:26:20,115
Nothing when everything you need
is rented from someone else, your

482
00:26:20,115 --> 00:26:24,795
life depends on their availability,
pricing, approval, and access.

483
00:26:25,169 --> 00:26:28,770
Then when access replaces
ownership, citizens become tenants

484
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:29,909
and tenants can be evicted.

485
00:26:30,645 --> 00:26:34,245
The rental reality isn't about sharing
or sustainability or even efficiency.

486
00:26:34,605 --> 00:26:37,905
It's about creating a population that
depends completely on systems they

487
00:26:37,905 --> 00:26:42,045
don't control that are managed by people
they didn't elect according to rules

488
00:26:42,045 --> 00:26:43,995
they didn't agree to and can't change.

489
00:26:44,265 --> 00:26:45,975
Your Kindle books can be deleted remotely.

490
00:26:46,275 --> 00:26:50,385
Your streaming music disappears when you
stop paying or when the artist bucks the

491
00:26:50,385 --> 00:26:52,995
system, your car features get disabled.

492
00:26:52,995 --> 00:26:56,955
When you miss payments, your social
media account vanishes without appeal.

493
00:26:57,284 --> 00:26:58,635
You thought you were buying convenience?

494
00:26:58,844 --> 00:26:59,175
Nope.

495
00:26:59,385 --> 00:27:01,844
You were actually renting
permission to just live your life.

496
00:27:02,145 --> 00:27:04,695
The World Economic Forum's
vision of owning nothing and

497
00:27:04,695 --> 00:27:06,435
being happy is not a prediction.

498
00:27:06,524 --> 00:27:07,544
It's a prescription.

499
00:27:07,935 --> 00:27:09,764
They didn't forecast this future.

500
00:27:10,004 --> 00:27:11,145
They engineered it.

501
00:27:11,564 --> 00:27:16,455
Every subscription service, every
sharing platform, every access based

502
00:27:16,455 --> 00:27:20,925
business model moves us closer to a
world where ownership is eliminated

503
00:27:21,074 --> 00:27:23,354
and dependency is all encompassing.

504
00:27:23,685 --> 00:27:25,395
But here's what they can't rent from you.

505
00:27:25,784 --> 00:27:26,685
Your awareness.

506
00:27:27,270 --> 00:27:30,780
Once you see that the rental
economy is designed to create this

507
00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:33,480
dependency, you can't unsee it.

508
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,450
Once you understand that
ownership equals freedom, you can

509
00:27:36,450 --> 00:27:38,370
choose to own rather than rent.

510
00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:41,730
Once you recognize the cage,
you can refuse to enter it

511
00:27:42,210 --> 00:27:43,620
or simply step out of it.

512
00:27:44,010 --> 00:27:46,980
The official story is that the
rental economy provides convenience,

513
00:27:47,460 --> 00:27:51,390
it provides variety, and it
provides sustainability, but.

514
00:27:51,824 --> 00:27:54,375
The real story is that
it provides control.

515
00:27:54,584 --> 00:27:58,665
It fosters dependency and creates
servitude disguised as progress.

516
00:27:59,024 --> 00:28:00,435
Ownership is not a burden.

517
00:28:00,824 --> 00:28:03,105
No, it's freedom.

518
00:28:03,764 --> 00:28:05,834
Rental is not liberation.

519
00:28:06,105 --> 00:28:06,915
Hell no.

520
00:28:07,665 --> 00:28:08,564
It's a leash.

521
00:28:08,865 --> 00:28:11,625
The choice between owning and
renting is the choice between

522
00:28:11,625 --> 00:28:13,365
autonomy and dependency.

523
00:28:13,574 --> 00:28:18,165
Between security and vulnerability,
and between citizenship and tenancy,

524
00:28:18,584 --> 00:28:21,345
they want you to own nothing
so they can control everything.

525
00:28:21,885 --> 00:28:23,504
So the question is.

526
00:28:24,315 --> 00:28:25,695
Are you ready to own your life again?

527
00:28:25,995 --> 00:28:27,285
Tracy out

528
00:28:27,585 --> 00:28:29,655
if this story didn't sit right with you.

529
00:28:30,075 --> 00:28:30,465
Good.

530
00:28:30,945 --> 00:28:32,385
You are not here to be comforted.

531
00:28:32,805 --> 00:28:35,325
You are here to see what others overlook.

532
00:28:35,715 --> 00:28:38,295
Thanks for exploring
some unapproved thinking.

533
00:28:38,775 --> 00:28:41,925
Learn more@someunapprovedthinking.com.

534
00:28:41,925 --> 00:28:44,260
New episodes, drop weekly.

535
00:28:45,340 --> 00:28:50,685
Subscribe, share, and keep questioning
because the pattern's still playing out.

536
00:28:51,105 --> 00:28:53,145
And next time we're going deeper.