You Will Own Nothing and Be Happy

In 2016, Danish priest and politician Ida Auken wrote an essay that was later published by the World Economic Forum. In it, she imagines a utopia where improvements to technology would ultimately create a world where privacy and ownership cease to exist. She imagined that by 2030, there could be a reality in which ownership is scarce, the world is surveilled, and everyone is seemingly glad for it. Auken initially titled her piece “Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better,” but the WEF summarized the piece by simply saying “You will own nothing and be happy.”

In 2026, ten years later, we’ve seen the rise and then the complete domination of digital ownership/rentals of art and media. In many ways, physical media is under attack. Online streaming dominates how the average American watches movies/TV and listens to music at home. The rise of Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max has completely replaced the DVD/Blueray which used to be commonplace. This may seem like no big deal; it sets a dangerous precedent for the relationship between customer and product and how much control a company has over said product.

In March of 2026, Twitter user @coastalfsoftgirl posted about something strange in the ebook she was reading. Pretty Little Liars was published in 2006, when the most prominent social media was MySpace; however, while reading her copy of the book on Kindle, she noticed a reference to TikTok and other strange anachronisms from the 2020s. Although Amazon has not officially commented, it seems that the book was edited by someone to appeal to younger readers, including references to Billie Eilish and even Snapchat.

Sony, the company behind PlayStation, recently announced it will be phasing out physical discs for their video games by January 2028. Instead, all PlayStation games will be digital downloads. Even if you purchase a physical game box, the only thing inside it will be a slip of paper with a digital download code.

You do not own anything you stream through one of these services. If a show or movie that you like gets taken off the platform, then it’s simply tough luck. “Well, I bought this movie digitally.” You may be saying. “I paid Amazon or Apple or whoever an amount of money to have permanent access to this movie.” Except, no, you didn’t. You were told you did, but what you actually bought was a revocable viewing license. Essentially what you now have is permission to watch something, not true ownership. If the company you bought the movie, or ebook, or videogame from loses its license or the ownership of the property changes hands, then your access to the thing you purchased can be revoked, without a refund. This is typically hidden in the recesses of the terms and conditions we all blindly accept, meaning that technically you’ve already agreed to this.

Libraries of art and media could wind up lost to time for a myriad of reasons. We’ve seen examples of this, namely through the practices of HBOMax. Warner Brothers, who own HBO and many properties featured on their streaming service, completely got rid of Cartoon Network. Many of the newest Cartoon Network shows, like Infinity Train or Aquaman: King of Atlantis, have been completely lost save for DVD copies made by the studio. The company also killed two prominent movies that were in development for a tax write-off. Both “Wile E Coyote vs ACME” and “Batgirl” were finished films that Warner Brothers scrubbed for a tax break.

If this trend continues, true ownership of property will eventually become a memory. Media can be altered; you can be gaslit and maybe even propagandized. Books, shows, and movies don’t simply exist for entertainment; they’re also snapshots of when they were made and who they were made by. If Amazon is willing to alter a book like Pretty Little Liars, then they may be willing to alter many more books, both fiction and non-fiction. If Warner Brothers is willing to scrub entire libraries of shows and movies in the name of corporate greed, then is anything in their library truly safe from that?

A physical book, a DVD, or a video game disc can’t be taken from you and its contents cannot be changed. Digital downloads, however, can be taken away at any time and seemingly edited at a whim. Invest in physical copies of the things you like. Push back against this trend. DVDs and Blu-rays are still being made, even for shows and movies released on streaming services. Physical books are still being printed, so are magazines and comic books. If we allow the world to go completely digital, then we’re risking all of our art and media being controlled by the wealthy and powerful who can do what they want, whenever they want with it. Instead, own something, something real, and then be happy.