A Wilde Guess

"The recognition of private property has really harmed Individualism and obscured it, by confusing a man with what he possesses." 

Dear Mr. Wilde, I really am a fan of your always so sharp, witty and truthful thoughts. You made me laugh a billion times. In the case of the mentioned sentence you said, I am not sure if you discovered a hidden truth, or if you just shot a wild guess into the world to observe the reactions of a materialistic society.

Well, let me think about it. I was thinking that we actually get to express our individuality in wearing the clothes we like, being creative in furnishing and decorating our rooms and filling our libraries with beautiful books (some of which we plan to read every summer and never do). We are looking at the passers-by on the street and cannot avoid to make conclusions about their character from their appearance. That woman in the bus at the airport, the one with the brilliant rings, leather coat and long claws of finger nails, she must lead a busy life, love her career and luxury. That man with the glasses, long hair, a long coat and a worn-out leather bag must be an academic on his way to a literature class. We all have our mental images about groups of people and everyone fits into a certain drawer we created in our minds. I don´t like that it is that way, but you just cannot separate a human from his/her belongings. They always tell you something about his/her choices. What you are suggesting, dear Mr. Wilde, is, that everyone would need to have the same or we all should possess nothing, in order to see only the person and the character. I believe that we are not confusing the man with what he possesses, we are just making conclusions about his character based on his or her outward appearance, and sometimes these conclusions might be wrong. A wealthy man might be unhappy, have a warm heart and long for a simple life in a wooden home in the woods. 

And yes, sometimes we do care too much about how much we earn in life, how much of luxury we achieve and how many material goods we can afford. In the end, many of us realize that it was not the material goods that made us happy, it was the moments spent with dear people.

So, after all, I think that humans are not confused with what they possess by others, but they lose themselves in material wishes. And they strive to be as wealthy, as good-looking, to have a house as big and a car as fast as their idol, or maybe even next-door neighbour. And after years of buying and collecting things they didn´t really need (have you already got yourself the new apple peeler?), they realize that they haven´t spent time to find their interests and passions, they don´t know what defines them anymore. And then - what to do but to define oneself through all those splendid things exposed in one´s home and at one´s own body. And at that point, people´s possessions are everything we can see in them. So I guess, after these considerations, I must, again, agree with you. At least in a way. 

Sincerely, Katarina