Eminent Domain
In which Rat explains
Good time of day, humans!
Transcript:
Crow: — They want to cut down my tree to make room for power lines.
Crow: — What is «eminent domain,» anyway?
Rat: — It’s government shorthand for «no one is too small to be plundered.»
The purported «market value compensation» stops working when the scale of the taking becomes large enough to affect market values.
H/t to The Bone Writer for bringing this to our attention.
Fun story. A relative of mine used to have a rather small plot of land, used only for gardening, near a big river in a big city. Hundreds of other people had small property like that. One day, the City Council decided to organize a World's fair. They aimed at those plots of land, and expropriated them to build big artistic buildings with office space and attractions and eco-friendly parking space and small business spaces and so on. Big public expenditure, almost olympic games level, lots of demagoguery and very stingy tourists. Less than one year after the fair ended, the buildings were basically abandoned, no one wanted an office there (very far away from the city's most important places) and parking there was impossible, as people had to walk fifteen minutes to find a bus or a taxicab. Tremendous scam. The city was paying interest on debt for many years, and the scarce maintenance of that ghost project of buildings is expensive and unproductive every year.
Conclusion: eminent domain means massive corruption and public debt emission and future tax increases. Eminent domain is far worse than highway robbery, because of the compounding effects.
Rat my tree is worth more than five cords of wood. Its beauty is unmatched and location is perfect for an easy life. Everything that I need is here and there is no fair compensation provided for my total loss. Rat I’m telling you that your house is next and only then will you feel my pain.