It is a deeply personal question

It is a deeply personal question. One that I do not expect you to answer aloud.

But you should consider the answer.

We live in an age that has tried to strip away belonging, replacing it with transient individualism, corporate servitude, and the hollow freedom of rootlessness. And yet, no one thrives alone. We were never meant to.

My wife and children are both people and my property.

Does that statement shock you? If so, it may be because we have been given a poor definition of property—one based solely on control, on possession, on the ability to discard something at will. This definition is consumerist and exploitative.

But there is a better definition of property, one rooted in love and duty rather than disposability. True ownership is demonstrated by investment, care, and defense. We own what we cultivate, what we nurture, what we protect. We own what we love.

A good parent does all three for their children. We pour ourselves into them, invest our time and effort, guard them against harm, and shape their future. We do not abandon them or let them drift aimlessly into the world. By this measure, we hold an ownership stake in our children—not as commodities, but as sacred trusts. They belong to us, and we to them.

As our children grow into maturity, the investment bears fruit. They flourish, and in turn, their success nourishes us. This is how a lineage thrives: by raising children into strong, capable adults who do not stagnate in perpetual childhood, but surpass us and carry our people forward.

By this same metric of ownership, my wife is also my property, and I am hers. We have invested in each other. We care for each other. We defend each other. When we stood before witnesses and took our wedding vows, we were publicly claiming one another—not as possessions, but as sacred partners. We belong to each other, in body, mind, and soul.

A Forgotten Bond of Strength

For our ancestors, everyone belonged to someone, and this was not oppression but strength. It was the tie that bound us together. We belonged to our family, our extended kin, our tribe. And they belonged to us.

To be owned in this sense was not to be enslaved, but to be secure—to know that you had people who would stand by you, invest in you, and fight for you. It meant you were never truly alone, never truly adrift. It also meant that your actions were not merely your own; they affected the people who had a claim to you. This belonging forged responsibility, duty, and mutual obligation.

There was a time when, upon meeting someone new, the question was not “Who are you?” but “Who do you belong to?” And the answer might be a family, a house, a retinue, a brotherhood.

The Männerbund—warrior brotherhoods of old—swore oaths of belonging to each other and to Odin, binding their strength together in service of something greater than themselves.

Christian monks and nuns did the same, taking vows to belong to their brethren, their church, and to God Himself.

Even ancient European kings were bound to their land and their people just as their people belonged to them. Ownership was reciprocal; it was duty and stewardship, not mere dominion.

The Hollow Isolation of Modernity

Today, we have been made weak. We belong to no one and no one belongs to us. The family has been fractured. The tribe scattered. The nation reduced to nothing more than a tax base. We exist as rootless, atomized individuals, beholden to faceless corporations and predatory states that take much and give little.

We are told that this is freedom. But is it?

A man without ties, without bonds of belonging, is not free—he is a drifter, vulnerable to whatever force is strongest in his life. A child without parents, a wife without a husband, a people without a tribe—these are orphans, not free men.

And so many today wander through life asking, “Where do I belong?” when they should be asking, “To whom do I belong?”

Reclaiming Belonging

How much better would it be if we reclaimed this sense of mutual ownership? If we belonged to each other once again? If we stood as a family, a tribe, a nation—united under law, bound together in duty, responsibility, and care?

We were never meant to be isolated and untethered. We were meant to be strong links in an unbroken chain, stretching from our ancestors into our descendants, extending outward into the stars.

To do this, we must take action. Belonging is not something we demand—it is something we give. Here are five ways to rebuild the bonds that make us strong:

Between Husband and Wife: Marriage is not just companionship but a lifelong investment. Give selflessly—pour love, protection, and sacrifice into your spouse. Speak words of affirmation, bear each other’s burdens, and create a fortress against the world. A strong marriage is the foundation of a strong lineage.

Between Parents and Children: Be present. Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Teach them, discipline them with love, and show them what it means to be part of something greater than themselves. Give them identity, purpose, and heritage so they never feel lost in the world. Children who belong to their family do not seek belonging elsewhere.

Between Extended Family: Modern life has fractured kinship ties, but they can be reforged. Reach out. Make time. Celebrate traditions, host gatherings, and reinforce the idea that family is an unbreakable bond. A strong extended family is a defense against a hostile world.

Between Friends in a Formalized Group: Friendships should be more than casual acquaintances. Swear loyalty. Form a Männerbund, a brotherhood, a sisterhood. Train together, work together, build trust through shared struggle and purpose. A bonded group of men or women is a force of nature.

Between Us and Our Race, Culture, and Religion: Belonging to something greater than ourselves connects us to the past and future. Honor your ancestors, defend your heritage, practice your faith, and give your life to the preservation of what matters. A people with no sense of belonging will be erased.

Belonging is built through giving—not just receiving. We must give of ourselves, our time, our effort, and our loyalty if we are to restore what has been lost.

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

And so, ask yourself:

Who do you belong to?

And just as important—who belongs to you?