Progressives - How many support the SC's ruling on Eminent Domain?

Great Debates
61

Progressive here, of course I don’t agree with the ruling but I think it is a tougher call than most give credit for.

The roles of government, as I rank them, are first to protect a common good and then to protect individual rights. I think that most progressives would agree with this, and the decision follows these lines as well, making it identifiably “left” at least for those who have been removed from the current corporate warfare so currently prominent on the American landscape.

The split between the common good versus individual rights is a balancing act, and the government should be parsimonious in its regulation. Like health care, this is a situation where the common good/individual rights divide is defined by people who are in it for a lot of money, namely developers. And therefore, given the current environment, it is ripe for complete exploitation by ruthless developers (at least how I understand it).

That said, if there were provisos to fully address this, then I could get behind this. I don’t want politicians, funded by large donations from corporations who are after my property, telling me what the common good is. But if my fellow property owners and I had a fair voice in it, with an independent auditor, and I could not successfully defend my views over those of the developers, then I could better accept that the application of eminent domain was for the common good.

62

I am completely against the ruling. It puts corporate interests (under the guise of creating jobs) ahead of the interests of private citizens, and destroys property rights. It is not (or should not be) any government’s job to ensure that the Walmarts of the world make a profit, or get any lands they want in order to ensure that profit. I see this ruling as a betrayal.

63

Well, as i suggested earlier, go to this thread. Check out the posts by Aeschines, starting with post #211. He supports the ruling, and claims to be a socialist, so that might give you an idea of how a “progressive” type who supports the ruling connects their support with their broader ideological stance.

I must say, though, that i’ve never seen a self-proclaimed socialist who’s quite so willing to paint property developers as the benevolent saviors of humankind.