A few short years ago, a good friend of mine was put out of business when the city of Moorhead, Minnesota seized his land through eminent domain in order to turn it over to a developer. He got less than fair market value for his jewelry store because the city knew that he would spend more in legal fees to recoup the loss than he'd make recouping the loss.
This was going on at roughly the same time that the city of Richfield, Minnesota was battling with Walser, a chain of car dealers, who was upset that the city took one of their dealerships in order to sell the land to Best Buy for them to build a new 1 Million Square Foot corporate headquarters.
A similar case has just been ruled upon by the Supreme Court. The city of New London, CT seized an entire neighborhood in order to sell the land to Pfizer for a new research facility.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city.
That's it folks, it's official, private property rights are dead. They're a thing of the past. You have no private property rights in America any longer.
The two key rights that are essential to freedom are private property rights and the right to bear (not just keep) arms. Since you don't have either right, according to five unaccountable black-robed tyrants who sit behind a fancy bench in Washington, D.C., you are not free.
All three of these cases, along with hundreds, if not thousands, of similar cases that occur accross the country every year were motivated purely by money. The cities wanted more tax dollars that would come from the increased property values the new owners would bring, and the new owners were motivated by the low price the city would offer for the land they sought. Neither cared about the existing owner.
If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen. — Samuel Adams
No Comments “America: Land of the Formerly Free”
One of my concerns with respect to this ruling is the bearing it may have with churches or planned churches. There are many churches meeting in storefronts because of afforability. Local governments don’t make as much revenue from the religious as from the secular. County commissioners must be salivating over the prospect of seizing church properties.