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Supreme Court Rules Private Property Can be Seized
slew writes "CNN is reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case where a local community seized private houses for commercial development (not public works) under the guise of eminent domain. Needless to say, the little guy loses to the commercial developer this case...
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Welcome to Bush's pwnership society. Seems like whether you support right or left-based politics, the way things go, the corporations win every time.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
There is a fundamental tension in geopolitics between two competing principles: Self-determination vs territorial integrity. Recent geopolitical fashion, driven largely by the US Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, has subordinated self-determination to territorial integrity. Specifically, territorial boundaries may not be changed in service of self-determination of minority groups or even majority groups. Self-determination has been limited to mean the ability of residents of a territory, whatever their background, beliefs or preferences, to impose their will on other residents of that territory. To address the objection that this results in tyranny, a long, ambiguous and, in practice, selectively enforced list of "human rights" has been declared by the United Nations -- rights that are supposed to prevent tyranny. Part of the rhetoric for this sort of territorial integrity is the prevention of forced migrations.
By allowing eminent domain compensation to eject residents from their homes in service of other private uses, Kelo et al v. City of New London states that civil authorities may find it necessary to force the migration, with just compensation, of some of their private citizens, for the benefit of other private citizens, so long as the greater public good is served.
This SCOTUS decision takes the stance that territorial integrity can be violated for the "public good" even if the development thereby enabled is a private one. There is just one thing between this decision and a dramatic geopolitical revolution allowing people to create societies with others of like mind for their own living experiments:
The Sections 1981 and 1982 of the Civil Rights Act of 1870.
As Frank Salter points out in "On Genetic Interests: Family, Ethny and Humanity in an Age of Mass Migration", mass migration has put all territories "in play" world-wide. Key to this has been a perverse notion, largely arising from the 1960s reinterpretation of Section 1982 of the Civil Rights Act of 1870. That reinterpretation, spread throughout the world via the US's dominant position during the era, is that the right of central governance to over-ride local governance and even individual, private freedom of association, extends to anything that might remind one of the institution of slavery. Such reminders are called "badges... of slavery". Never mind that when you violate private preferences for personal association you have created a new form of slavery. Apparently, the over-riding governmental interest since the 1960s has been to keep all rights, public and private, territorial and contractual (see Section 1981), "in play" between all ethnies worldwide.
When people realize how much property value is being destroyed by the misguided notion that all people everywhere should be forced to live the multicultural experiment of some misguided 60s idealists and greedy 21st century globalists -- multiculturalist supremacism -- it will become apparent that eminent domain compensation as a means of allowing new territorial boundaries to form is not the slippery slope to Armageddon but rather the path away from it, to true diversity and to the stars.
Seastead this.
He was a conservative at the time. It's only because the Republican party has moved far to the right that we don't think he was a conservative any more.
Justice Thomas is a great thinker.
Does he also write about pubic hairs on soda cans or does he just talk about that in the office?
Zoning is socialist? Should have been moderated Flamebait, not Insightful.
Big fat deal. They'll just draft a bunch of 16 year olds to get shot storming the place. The politicians and beaurocrats who seize the home won't be sticking their necks out to physically take it.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
Bush will probalby nominate a black or a hispanic religious fundamentalist zealot so he can call democrats racist when they oppose him. He has done this several times already.
It will be interesting to see how the rise of american talibanism will shape our country. The afghan atliban destroyed priceless statutes of the budha, I wonder which public art works the american taliban will go after first.
evil is as evil does
So how is allowing private enterprise to reform land under an (albiet specious) claim to "public use" anywhere close to a state run industry in a communist dictatorship? Seriously now. All you free-marketeers should be cheering. No longer are those pesky old people with the flying saucer robots that lay tile keeping you from building your huge skyscraper in New York City.