Kerby Anderson

If you are familiar with the World Economic Forum, you are probably also familiar with the slogan: “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.” The phrase comes from a 2016 article by Ida Auken that was published on their website.

The article was her attempt to describe the world of a fictional citizen living in 2030 where people do things differently. Private ownership of homes and cars is a thing of the past. What we now consider a product has become a service. No need to own a house when you can rent. No need to own a car when you can use public transportation or even have a self-driving car pick you up and then go back to a parking lot waiting for the next consumer.

Although previous presidents pursued policies designed to increase home ownership, the current trend is going in the opposite direction. Inflation and higher interest rates have made it difficult for the younger generation to own a home. Meanwhile, major companies are buying many of the homes coming on the market as investments. We are becoming a nation of renters.

When someone else owns your house, your car, or your appliances, they make the decisions about what you can do with them. The corporation or the government can implement ESG regulations along with social credit scores.

That last point brings us back to the original article that had the title: “I Own Nothing, Have No Privacy, and Life Has Never Been Better.” Big Tech, corporations, and the government are collecting massive amounts of information on you. That makes sense if the goal is to provide goods and services to you that they own. Supercomputers and artificial intelligence make it easier to crunch Big Data, and that makes it easier for corporations and the government to control you.

This was supposed to be a utopian vision, but I doubt many Americans think this will be a positive step toward the future.