In the news today, a rich guy bought himself a whole island. Now everything on the island belongs to the rich man. Fifty miles of beaches? Five hundred homes? The hotels, the stores, and the farms? They all belong to the rich man now.

Will he live in a new home each night? Will he run an ultramarathon on his very own beach? Will he stay in every hotel room? He can if he wants to. Will he tell the 3,000 people on the island to leave so he can run around naked all day? He can if he wants to. Or he could just never visit the island at all. Or a little of both. The rich man can do whatever he wants now. He owns the whole island.

Also in the news today, the dying American Dream is just a couple of percentage points from being formally dead.

The rich man also has a big boat.

[NYT. Photo: Kristin/ Flickr]