The funny thing is you're using the government definition of ownership. Government has literally defined how you can own something, and you're trying to say government can't own something by its own definition.
Remember tribal cultures don't even have a concept of land ownership, and I think private land ownership itself is a relatively new concept (I just haven't been able to find a date.)
The reality is that without government defining how land can be owned, it would fall to "possession is 9/10 of the law" or "might makes right."
Either way, the important part of the analogy is that you chose to live here knowing the conditions.