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libertarians & socialists
Jun. 28th, 2005 05:30 pmThe recent supreme court ruling on eminent domain strikes me as a fascinating opportunity for libertarians and socialists to find common ground.
No, seriously! Stop laughing.
I know that the stereotype people have of the socialist position on eminent domain is that it's a tool for taking away the property rights of individuals and giving them to the state, thus nationalizing property. If you search for socialism and "eminent domain" most of what you'll find is conservative libertarians claiming exactly that.[0]
However, if you listed to what actual socialists have been saying about eminent domain all along, you'll find that they... that *we*[1] have long identified eminent domain as a tool heavily misused in the exact ways that the dissenting opinion warns of. That local governments all along have been using this tool to disenfranchise the poor and benefit corporations.
[0] Screw you, all of you people who've contributed to making "socialist" and "feminist" dirty words with stupid slander like this. You play dirty pool and you deserve to burn for the damage you've done to truth.
[1] Yeah, "we." I've been thoroughly disgusted with the party of my adulthood for awhile, now[2] and have been wondering if it's time to return to my roots.
[2] Previously I'd only been mostly disgusted, but that was the last straw. I don't need him to be supportive, but he really could have kept his mouth shut. His previous answer of "it's a state issue, not a federal one" was plenty good enough for me this time around. He wasn't running for state office; he didn't need to take a more-specific stand.
No, seriously! Stop laughing.
I know that the stereotype people have of the socialist position on eminent domain is that it's a tool for taking away the property rights of individuals and giving them to the state, thus nationalizing property. If you search for socialism and "eminent domain" most of what you'll find is conservative libertarians claiming exactly that.[0]
However, if you listed to what actual socialists have been saying about eminent domain all along, you'll find that they... that *we*[1] have long identified eminent domain as a tool heavily misused in the exact ways that the dissenting opinion warns of. That local governments all along have been using this tool to disenfranchise the poor and benefit corporations.
[0] Screw you, all of you people who've contributed to making "socialist" and "feminist" dirty words with stupid slander like this. You play dirty pool and you deserve to burn for the damage you've done to truth.
[1] Yeah, "we." I've been thoroughly disgusted with the party of my adulthood for awhile, now[2] and have been wondering if it's time to return to my roots.
[2] Previously I'd only been mostly disgusted, but that was the last straw. I don't need him to be supportive, but he really could have kept his mouth shut. His previous answer of "it's a state issue, not a federal one" was plenty good enough for me this time around. He wasn't running for state office; he didn't need to take a more-specific stand.
