>I think this is somehow similar to how indigenous people wondered how the white man could possibly think of owning >forests, rivers, and land. They considered Earth unownable, not belonging to anyone but rather people belonging to the >Earth.

A) North America has no indigenous people. B) The people who did live here when the Europeans arrived did have ownership and private property. Sometimes owned by families and sometimes by tribes. And anyone who has even a basic high school education should be aware of the fact that there were Native American nations who controlled and owned territory and would exclude other nations from land use, hunting rights, fishing, etc.