Subject: Is It Better To K-ll And Eat Your Enemy Or Make  Him Or Her A 
Slave?
Part 2 of 2. 
Aug. 11, 2011.

  This talks about the origin of the family crest.  I have a friend whose 
last
name is Griffin.  You can emagine what his family crest looks like, which of
course is dragon looking, pagan, beast.

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(780.6) 69:9.3
1. The family. Man not only craves to accumulate property; he desires to
bequeath his capital goods to his progeny. But in early communal society a
man's capital was either immediately consumed or distributed among the group
at his d-ath. There was no inheritance of property the inheritance tax was
one hundred per cent. The later capital-accumulation and 
property-inheritance
mores were a distinct social advance. And this is true notwithstanding the
subsequent gross abuses attendant upon the misuse of capital.
2. R-ligious tendencies.
Primitive man also wanted to save up property as a nucleus for starting life
in the next existence. This motive explains why it was so long the custom to
bury a man's personal belongings with him. The ancients believed that only
the rich survived de-th with any immediate pleasure and dignity. The 
teachers
of revealed re-igion, more especially the C-ristian teachers, were the first 
to
proclaim that the poor could have sa-vation on equal terms with the rich.

3. The desire for liberty and leisure. In the earlier days of social 
e-olution the
apportionment of individual earnings among the group was virtually a form of
slavery; the worker was made slave to the idler. This was the su-cidal 
weakness
of com-unism: The improvident habitually lived off the thrifty. Even in 
modern
times the improvident depend on the state (thrifty taxpayers) to take care 
of
them. Those who have no capital still expect those who have to feed them.

4. The urge for security and power. Commun-sm was finally destroyed by the
deceptive practices of progressive and successful individuals who resorted 
to
diverse subterfuges in an effort to escape enslavement to the shiftless 
idlers of
their tribes. But at first all hoarding was sec-et; primitive insecurity 
prevented
the outward accumulation of capital. And even at a later time it was most
dangerous to amass too much wealth; the king would be sure to trump up
some charge for confiscating a rich man's property, and when a wealthy man
di-d, the funeral was held up until the family donated a large sum to public
welfare or to the king, an inheritance tax.

In earliest times women were the property of the community, and the mother
dominated the family.
The early chiefs owned all the land and were proprietors of all the women;
marriage required the consent of the tribal ruler. With the passing of
comm-nism, women were held individually, and the father gradually
assumed domestic control. Thus the home had its beginning, and the
prevailing polygamous customs were gradually displaced by monogamy.
(Polygamy is the survival of the female-slavery element in marriage.
Monogamy is the slave-free ideal of the matchless association of one
man and one woman in the exquisite enterprise of home building,
offspring rearing, mutual culture, and self-improvement.)

At first, all property, including tools and weapons, was the common
possession of the tribe.
Private property first consisted of all things personally touched. If a 
stranger
drank from a cup, the cup was henceforth his. Next, any place where blood 
was
shed became the property of the injured person or group.

Private property was thus originally respected because it was supposed to
be charged with some part of the owner's personality. Property honesty
rested safely on this type of superstition; no p-lice were needed to guard
personal belongings. There was no stealing within the group, though men
did not hesitate to appropriate the goods of other tribes. Property 
relations
did not end with de-th; early, personal effects were burned, then buried
with the dea-, and later, inherited by the surviving family or by the tribe.

The ornamental type of personal effects originated in the wearing of
charms. Vanity plus g-ost fear led early man to resist all attempts to
relieve him of his favorite charms, such property being valued above
necessities.

Sleeping space was one of man's earliest properties. Later, homesites
were assigned by the tribal chiefs, who held all real estate in trust for
the group. Presently a fire site conferred ownership; and still later, a
well constituted title to the adjacent land.

Water holes and wells were among the first private possessions. The
whole fetish practice was utilized to guard water holes, wells, trees,
crops, and honey. Following the loss of faith in the fetish, laws were
evo-ved to protect private belongings.
But game laws, the right to hunt, long preceded land laws. The A-erican
red man never understood private ownership of land; he could not
comprehend the w-ite man's view.

Private property was early marked by family insignia, and this is the
early origin of family crests. Real estate could also be put under the
watchcare of spirits.
The priests would consecrate a piece of land, and it would then rest under
the protection of the m-gic taboos erected thereon.

Owners thereof were said to have a priest's title. The H-brews had great
respect for these family landmarks: Cursed be he who removes his
neighbor's landmark. These stone markers bore the priest's initials. Even
trees, when initialed, became private property.

In early days only the crops were private, but successive crops conferred
title; agriculture was thus the genesis of the private ownership of land.
Individuals were first given only a life tenureship; at dea-h land reverted
to the tribe. The very first land titles granted by tribes to individuals 
were
graves family burying grounds. In later times land belonged to those who
fenced it. But the cities always reserved certain lands for public pasturage
and for use in case of siege; these commons represent the survival of the
earlier form of collective ownership.

Eventually the state assigned property to the individual, reserving the 
right
of taxation.
Having made secure their titles, landlords could collect rents, and land
became a source of income capital. Finally land became truly negotiable,
with sales, transfers, mortgages, and foreclosures.

Private ownership brought increased liberty and enhanced stability; but
private ownership of land was given social sanction only after communal
control and direction had failed, and it was soon followed by a succession
of slaves, serfs, and landless classes.
But improved machinery is gradually setting men free from slavish toil.

The right to property is not absolute; it is purely social. But all 
go-ernment,
law, order, civil rights, social liberties, conventions, peace, and 
happiness, as
they are enjoyed by modern peoples, have grown up around the private
ownership of property.

The present social order is not necessarily right not d-vine or s-cred but
mankind will do well to move slowly in making changes. That which you have
is vastly better than any system known to your ancestors. Make certain
that when you change the social order you change for the better. Do not
be persuaded to experiment with the discarded formulas of your forefathers.
Go forward, not backward! Let ev-lution proceed! Do not take a backward 
step.

[Presented by a
Melchizedek of Nebadon.]

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Part 2 of 2.

John Winston.  johnfw@mlode.com