Land ownership - in real and virtual space

Can be traced back to Feudal times, when the king or queen would dole out parcels of land in exchange for services.

The western concept of land ownership is based on control. There are many indigenous concepts of land ownership centered on stewardship.

The world, as a real thing that exists in time, resists ownership in the form of absolute individual control. Some countries have borders that used to run alongside rivers, but the rivers have shifted leaving an unusual border. The earth shifts.

The metaverse (see [[VR Virtual Reality]]) is made in the image of a capitalist society, and so is compliant to the idea of ownership of space. However, ownership is in tension in a different way. The value of land in the real world is affected by location, resources, use, etc. A large reason it is valuable is it is finite. Land in VR is potentially infinite (energy consumption and disk space allowing), unless artificial limits are imposed.