7 ms·

Ah, the American dream, owning land! Land that you can’t have any privacy on, or do with as you wish (in a resident capacity), because of the militant departmen

Ah, the American dream, owning land! Land that you can’t have any privacy on, or do with as you wish (in a resident capacity), because of the militant department called zoning who’s jobs consist of harassing the citizens they work for, sneaking around and snapping pictures, sending out threatening legal action warnings (yet rarely have the funds to persue legal action). But hey, it’s your land! Your chunk of America! You made it! Except, is it really yours when at any time, with or without the need to compensate you, the land can be taken by the local or federal government if they decide they want it for something else? We are the land of the free, it’s true. Free to do whatever we want inside the invisible box restricting our freedoms that we don’t see around us our entire lives. But go live your life, you’re totally free to do so! Evenings after work, and maybe the weekends! If you make enough to enjoy that limited time off, and aren’t too tired. /tangent /rant

cma 3y ago
They can't "take" it without compensating you. And very few people created their land from their inner mind or something anyway, it is being taken from everyone else for you to have possession of it, in exchange for hopefully you (or as it is set up, someone who willed it to you) having contributed to society as imperfectedly reflected in the markets.
- wutwutwat 3y ago
  You're right, they now are required by federal law to provide "just compensation", but that wasn't always the case, and even so, they are not required to reach a settlement with you. If you like the price or not, that's what they are paying and that's what you're getting. It's also true that if we go back in time far enough, the land is always being taken from someone. I am speaking about the times since the government was established, because it would be hard for me to say things about something before it existed. It wasn't always the case that land claimed with eminent domain was for public use, either. There's a long history of the government taking people's land, throwing money at them and using it for things not in the best interest of the public. > The Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) went a step further and affirmed the authority of New London, Connecticut, to take non-blighted private property by eminent domain, and then transfer it for a dollar a year to a private developer solely for the purpose of increasing municipal revenues. > Eminent domain has been used to acquire land from African-Americans for urban renewal redevelopments[25] and in other cases to dispossess them and remove them from areas where their presence was not desired by white neighbors, e.g. Bruce's Beach subdivision in Los Angeles, California.[26] Seneca Village was an African-American majority settlement in an area of what became New York City's Central Park. South Glencoe was an African-American neighborhood in Glencoe, IL[27] Central Avenue was an African-American neighborhood in Tampa, Florida. > Eminent domain was used to take property from Japanese-Americans incarcerated by the United States government during World War II. For many, their homes and businesses were then sold while they were incarcerated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_S... So, you're right, people are paid when their property is taken without consent, as they should be, but the whole practice is still a shit one to have happen to you. I think my main point, that owning land, the thing America was built on and was preached to me growing up, isn't a thing you are ever guaranteed, even after you purchase the land.

cma 3y ago

They can't "take" it without compensating you. And very few people created their land from their inner mind or something anyway, it is being taken from everyone else for you to have possession of it, in exchange for hopefully you (or as it is set up, someone who willed it to you) having contributed to society as imperfectedly reflected in the markets.

wutwutwat 3y ago
You're right, they now are required by federal law to provide "just compensation", but that wasn't always the case, and even so, they are not required to reach a settlement with you. If you like the price or not, that's what they are paying and that's what you're getting. It's also true that if we go back in time far enough, the land is always being taken from someone. I am speaking about the times since the government was established, because it would be hard for me to say things about something before it existed. It wasn't always the case that land claimed with eminent domain was for public use, either. There's a long history of the government taking people's land, throwing money at them and using it for things not in the best interest of the public. > The Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) went a step further and affirmed the authority of New London, Connecticut, to take non-blighted private property by eminent domain, and then transfer it for a dollar a year to a private developer solely for the purpose of increasing municipal revenues. > Eminent domain has been used to acquire land from African-Americans for urban renewal redevelopments[25] and in other cases to dispossess them and remove them from areas where their presence was not desired by white neighbors, e.g. Bruce's Beach subdivision in Los Angeles, California.[26] Seneca Village was an African-American majority settlement in an area of what became New York City's Central Park. South Glencoe was an African-American neighborhood in Glencoe, IL[27] Central Avenue was an African-American neighborhood in Tampa, Florida. > Eminent domain was used to take property from Japanese-Americans incarcerated by the United States government during World War II. For many, their homes and businesses were then sold while they were incarcerated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_S... So, you're right, people are paid when their property is taken without consent, as they should be, but the whole practice is still a shit one to have happen to you. I think my main point, that owning land, the thing America was built on and was preached to me growing up, isn't a thing you are ever guaranteed, even after you purchase the land.