Surprise! You’re sitting on a fortune worth over $1.5 million.

No, you haven’t won the lottery or inherited a distant relative’s estate. You’ve been wealthy all along. That fortune exists in the neighborhood park where children play, the roads carrying you to work, the high-speed internet infrastructure connecting you to the world, and the schools shaping tomorrow’s brilliant minds.

“But my bank account disagrees completely,” you might be thinking.

The disconnect is simple: your real wealth isn’t listed on your monthly statement. In Norway, each citizen’s stake in public assets approaches $2 million, with the nation’s oil fund alone providing an inheritance most private fortunes can’t match. Even in nations with more modest public holdings, each citizen remains a substantial stakeholder.

This wealth belongs to you inherently through citizenship. Governments don’t own these assets, you do, alongside your fellow citizens. Unlike conventional investments, your citizen shareholding pays dividends daily. Every time you drink clean tap water instead of buying bottled, you’re collecting a return. Each morning your child attends a public school, you’re cashing in benefits worth thousands. That weekend hike through a national forest? A premium dividend that millionaires with private woodlands would envy.

Picture your nation as a vast estate where every citizen holds equal deed rights. That designer watch might cost $10,000, but your share of the nation’s water system is worth over $100,000, and which will still have value in fifty years? Your luxury car depreciates the moment you drive it off the lot, but your stake in national parks appreciates with each passing year.

We rarely conceptualize ourselves as shareholders in our nations’ commonwealth. Our attention fixates instead on private wealth: bank accounts, retirement funds, personal property. Yet for most people worldwide, their stake in public assets dwarfs their private holdings.

When public assets transfer to private hands, something profound occurs: wealth doesn’t merely change management, it fundamentally transforms. The asset that once served all citizens now serves shareholders. The park accessible to everyone becomes the resort accessible to paying customers. The public utility stewarding water reservoirs becomes the leisure resort banning public access to maximize private shareholder value.

The language surrounding these transfers often obscures rather than clarifies. We hear about “public-private partnerships,” “asset monetization,” and “unlocking value.” These phrases mask a simpler truth: what belonged to all citizens now belongs to few. It’s like someone rebranding the theft of your bicycle as an “individual transportation reallocation initiative.”

“But don’t private companies run things more efficiently?” some might ask. Efficiency is certainly valuable, just ask anyone who’s dealt with their “efficient” private health insurance company lately. Remember how it felt when your favorite beach started charging $20 for parking? That wasn’t just inconvenience, it was your dividend check being redirected to someone else’s pocket.

Understanding your position as a stakeholder in public wealth transforms how you perceive these transfers. The question shifts from abstract policy debate to personal financial decision: “Wait, are they selling my stuff without asking me?”

Elected officials aren’t distant authorities but more like asset managers you’ve hired. Their job description includes safeguarding and growing your portfolio, not selling it off piece by piece for quick cash. When they do the latter, it’s less “innovative governance” and more “you might need a new financial advisor.”

When your town’s gorgeous waterfront park starts charging admission fees, it’s like someone selling your vacation home without consulting you. When that beloved public university suddenly costs as much as a luxury car each year, it’s the equivalent of someone auctioning off pieces of your inheritance while you weren’t looking.

As you walk through your neighborhood tomorrow, try seeing it through a millionaire’s eyes. That library isn’t just a government building, it’s partially yours. The park isn’t just public space, it’s your space, shared with fellow stakeholding citizens. The school, the hospital, the clean water in your tap, all represent your stake in your nation’s commonwealth.

Next time someone talks about selling these assets to “increase efficiency,” perhaps ask them how they’d feel if someone tried to flip their house without their permission, and pocketed most of the profit. And the next time you hear about “government spending,” try mentally replacing it with “my investment manager allocating my assets.” It changes everything.

Congratulations again on your millionaire status. Your portfolio is quite impressive. The dividends are already flowing, might be worth paying attention to who’s managing them.