Property Rights And Morality Essay Research Paper

Property Rights And Morality Essay, Research Paper

Eminent domain is the moral groundwork by which government acquires private property through compulsory purchase. The idea holds that to advance the greater welfare of the public, government must be able to use land and other private goods to which it would not otherwise have access. Its present day use is often associated with new road construction and other development such as housing, entertainment, and shopping centers. It is an idea that is gaining favor in American politics and this exercise of power has been growing fast in recent decades. This is part of a dangerous trend away from the moral framework that has made America successful and free. If you own land you should be concerned about whether one day you may be forced to give it up. Even if you don’t own land, think about all the things you could lose if government feels it has the right take. Bureaucrats could wipe your place of work or play or your entire community off the map.

The growing faith in eminent domain policies makes this ever more likely. But still, chances remain that you will probably not lose your property anytime soon. Instead it is very likely, and often true right now, that you will live in daily acceptance of the fact that the roads you drive on, the complex you work in, or the stadium in which you watch the home team were made possible by taking from another through force.

Consider what happened when the Texas Rangers needed more space around their ballpark. After failing to secure the surrounding land for well below market value, the local government used its powers of eminent domain to condemn the land, later turning it over, at no cost, to the Rangers for development. The Rangers were then under the ownership of our present president. (5) Remember also how ready and willing Philadelphia’s mayor Street was to tear down a Chinese-American neighborhood in South Philly for the purpose of a new baseball stadium. (8) Mayor Tom Murphy of Pittsburgh recently planned to tear down blocks of eclectic downtown stores and businesses to create a modern shopping district. The plan has since fallen through, primarily because Nordstrom, the key anchor to the project, decided not to commit. This was despite a $28 million gift from the city just to show up. (7)

Further example of this frightening trend can be found in the community of Chester, outside of Austin [not to pick on Texas or anything]. It is an older suburb with twenty-three small businesses and roughly two hundred households. The neighbors know each other here. County officials want to tear the community down and build an Ikea. “We’re just like family here on the street. It feels to me, if we weren’t poor people, they wouldn’t come here,” says resident Ruth McGruder. (1)

City planners do understand that Chester does not want to be torn down, but they say that progress requires it. Mr. Waugh, the county mayor, explained: “In Chester you have bus depots right next to houses, the roads are too narrow and there is not adequate parking. The people do not have access to good shopping. You would never build a place like that today. We can do better.”(1)

Apparently doing better entails booting families out of their homes and paving the way for an Ikea that will provide greater tax revenue than the present residents. This method of community planning has been catching on at all levels of American government. The number of lawsuits challenging government eminent domain plans has doubled over the last sixty years. By some estimates, the use of eminent domain is now increasing five percent annually. The real growth of this practice is even greater when you consider that in the past, most seizures were for the purpose of constructing military facilities while we were fighting WWII, and later the Cold War. Such explanations are now rare and motivations are more likely to be tax revenue driven. (2)

It is easy to focus on those who lose as a result of government eminent domain actions. Some say it is really necessary to step back and look at the big picture, and see that overall our society is advanced by the sacrifice of a few. Many believe that the primary objective of the government is to serve the “the public good” and that if this requires a flexible interpretation of property rights, it is a small price to pay. People find clear precedents for this idea and its relevance to use of eminent domain in America. Our vast national parklands that preserve the wilderness are a result of such policies. The interstate highway system that we all enjoy is a result. Earlier, the railroads paved the way for America’s economic success. Without government power used to get the necessary land, these great things would not have happened.

One can argue there are examples of positive accomplishments associated with eminent domain. But what if we step back again, and look at the really big picture over history, in our culture, and throughout the world. Turn to the language and philosophy of the documents that define America, and you will find acknowledgment of government right to eminent domain. Enthusiastic legislators are glad to interpret this as an open door, granting a free hand to seize what they need for grand schemes. But if we read the plain English of the Constitution, the message is clearly otherwise. After outlawing double jeopardy, the Fifth Amendment re