Bribery, insider deals, political influence — must this be how we do business?
No.
Horror stories abound, featuring developers and governments in dark collusion, grabbing stunned innocent persons’ private property. This corrupt, banana-republic way of getting things done hardly serves the public interest. It serves, instead, the dealmakers and the politicians. Not many others.
Is there any way to expand your business other than by unleashing unfriendly bureaucrats and politicians on people who possess what you want? Well, yes, there is.
Former ABC news correspondent — and now Fox Business channel star — John Stossel, observes that cities like Anaheim, California, have figured out how to allow development to proceed without systematically trampling on property rights. In Anaheim, zoning and other regulations have been relaxed, making it easier for businesses to go where they want to. But also easier to expand by staying where they are.
If an owner doesn’t want to sell his property to make way for a project, a developer must build around him. Despite this heretical reliance on voluntary cooperation and respect for the rights of others, however, Anaheim has not withered away.
Stuff still gets done.
Amazing? Not really. This was once the usual American way. It’s only become unpopular … with politicians.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “Markets Without Mauling”
The degradation of private property rights in America, is I believe, part of a long term plan or ideal of the United Nations (UN). Despite all of its high minded rhetoric, the UN does not believe individual private property rights works for ‘the state’. People running the UN think all property belongs to ‘the state’ and not to private individuals. They also think we owe our rights & allegiance to ‘the state.’
The concept of America, that the people created the government & that government owes its very existence to the people, is an anathema to folks at the UN. Basically, most there are global governance socialists. The “Climate Change” issue is centered around developing a lucrative income stream for the UN to operate, totally independent of the will of individual state members & their specific individual wishes. The UN operation absolutely hates America because they cannot control what America wants or does.
The UN wants the American concept of private property to go away. They want all to accept or be subject to their view that all property belongs to “humanity” and not persons. And humanity, in the UN“s view, is subject to the global government. In short, we all are subject to the global government. Our rights, if we have any at all, come to us through the global government, & are subject to the interpretation of the government, depending on circumstances. That really means they will adjust their stance on rights, on property, on almost anything at all, depending on each situation & how it affects their control over people, all people.!
KELO & other rulings that are an assault on the uniquely American view of private property rights, must be revisited by the Supreme Court. This ruling must not be enshrined in case law as an unassailable legal precedent. No legal ruling should become law of this land, unless it goes through the proper constitutional process of the legislative branch, to be subsequently signed by the President. When courts make law, tyranny ensues.
Its great once city has found an accommodation. I wish all the others would do the same. But even that is an unsettling peace. The fact is, the ‘city’ does NOT have the right to take private property for the development by another private person or corporation. There can be no excuse, other than public use, actual public use, that justifies eminent domain.
Prior to America, the ruling elite made all sorts of excuses for why they were taking the land of an individual, unless of course they were totally open about it & simply demanded land as their royal right or some such nonsense.
So lets be happy a compromise has been reached in one city. But lets not be satisfied w/ such compromises, since they all require we the people to accommodate our government, rather than our government accommodating us.
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My story is not complete on this web site. The rest of the story compares exactly to those heard from refugees that escape tyranny in Communist Countries. I am 78 and was subjected to strong armed tactics that I never thought would ever happen in this country – but they did and I will tell it to any media that wants to spread this message of property theft made legal in Florida.