You no longer own anything in this country

[ProdigalJunkMail]

As of this morning, the Supreme Court has passed down a decision that in effect means that you no longer own anything. All possession that you think you have are simply yours at the whim of our government. It can be seized from you at any time for no cause.

If you weren't panicking before, feel free to start now.

theProdigal

[Moochy]

1. Reprivatization

Theres the frame :) We are re-privatizing your home.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. oooh... i like that phrase

simply for the sound...i must admit, though, i HATE the concept.

theProdigal

[bryant69]

2. Some details would be nice in a story like this

This is an alarmist story. It'd be nice to know exactly how alarmed I need to be.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[dweller]

4. LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1574059

for starters.

dp

[ixion]

6. be very alarmed... here's details

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1574059

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. you need to run...screaming...flailing your arms...

this is no simple tinfoil hat crap. This is the decision of the supreme court (yes, I know it should be capitalized). This decision means that a little family in Conn. will have to leave the home that they have lived in for 50+ years. Raised a family there...have memories there...all so that a private developer can come in and put up mixed use corporate and high density dwellings...because it will bring in more taxes.

This is apalling...
theProdigal

[carnie_sf]

5. So much for the ownership society

[Justin54B20L]

10. It IS the ownership society, its just that Americans aren't the owners.

[Moochy]

16. China, enabling the ownership society

Wherein China owns us. Well, at least our debt, and some of our oil comapnies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4116494.stm

[Justin54B20L]

12. double post...n/t

[capriccio]

8. And look who's the minority!

I can't believe I'm on the Scalia-Thomas side of a 5-4 decision. This is so far down the rabbit hole we may never get back.

[maxsolomon]

9. Property is Theft

"No man has any right to buy & sell the earth for private gain"
-Gerard Winstanley, 1649

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. nice quote

but not reality. In a utopian society...might work...but not the world we live in. And whether we like it or not, destroying property rights is not the first step to forming said utopia.

theProdigal

[sui generis]

15. that's all very noble

actually, no man has any "rights" except the ones we make up for ourselves.

Plus, raising children in a house is much easier than raising them in a cave we just happened to wander by that day.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sui generis]

20. well I'm not so good at reading minds

try using smilies or interpretive dance

(I'm looking for my chill pills) :hi:

(takes wrong pill, huffs off in a snit)

[Captain Hilts]

11. Recall how Prez Bush made his money...

The Texas Rangers' owners - who had enough money to pay for a new stadium, instead threatened to leave town if the city didn't build them a new one. The voters voted in favor of building a new stadium, which was built on private land they seized with public money.

Now, the stadium technically belongs to the city, but I don't think that the city's investment increased from $500K to $15million like Bush's did. But they seized private property to do this.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. and it was just as wrong... n/t

[Captain Hilts]

28. Here's a link to an article about it

http://www.mollyivins.com/showMisc.asp?FileName=970509_f1.htm

[getmeouttahere]

17. Tell me, how does this encourage people....

to invest in homes or small businesses. I guess it's more important that a few private developers plunder wherever they want.

I'm glad I don't own anything.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. and the saddest part of this is...

just who has the real power? the corporate lobyyists! that's who. they will be able to wave around a few bucks and trip here and there and before you know it, little old lady number one is out on her keister even though the home has been in the family for four generations...

DAMN IT!
theProdigal

[sui generis]

21. it's very short sighted

and immensely regressive. Mostly only poorer people in older neighborhoods will be affected.

Most of the time you only get land + improvement value, and for an old house that's not even a quarter of what you need to buy a house of equal size on a lot of equal size. If you're retired and you don't have income, you won't qualify for a mortgage to purchase another home, so you're basically on the street.

I am completely baffled by the decision.

The only thing concerned citizens can do is change their city charters through democratic action, and screw the supreme court.

[MadHound]

24. Agree with you to a point, but

The other sector of home owners that will be greatly effected is those people who live on the outskirts of cities, prime hunting ground for developers.

Say I have twenty acres and my lone house, just outside the city limits. Developer comes along, persuades the county commission that eminent domain is the way to go on my property, since the developer will chop up that twenty acres into forty plots and forty houses, thus the public good is being served by the increase in property taxes.

Bang! I'm out on my ass. This is a scene that is going to repeat itself ad nauseum across the country. It is a huge give away to the developers.

Blood is going to be shed over this. Much like the family farmers in the seventies and eighties who had their land seized, people who see no other recourse to stopping a developer seizing the land they've lived on all their life are going to take to the gun. Who knows, this might just be the ticket to wake up the sheeple.

[sui generis]

25. In your case it's different again

If I had acquired 20 acres outside of town, it would be because I had speculated and expected the land value to increase, thereby justifying my investment.

If the land suddenly became SO valuable that a developer laid claim to it through ED, I would expect to be compensated accordingly.

Similarly, moving away from real estate, what if as a resident I had a million shares of company X that I purchased for a penny a share. The holding goes to $100 / share, and the town "seizes" my property through eminent domain to better it's "economic" development. An investment is an investment, and all unrealistic expectations aside the first expectation in homesteading is that you will have a place to live that doesn't require payments after you own it after a specific period of time.

Yes, there will almost certainly be bloodshed by people who feel they have nothing to lose.

There is nothing in the law that effectively requires you be given any compensation whatsoever, and you can bet it's bound to happen sooner or later. There is also nothing in the law that says that once your property has been seized, that they have to actually build anything on it of any value at all. A local government could ostensibly just seize your property to settle a grudge.

[Al-CIAda]

22. Alex Jones is going BALLISTIC over this. Calling it for what it is

Corporatist/Fascist takeover.

[enigmatic]

23. It kills me to say this

But I'm glad I moved up here (Canada) when I did, just before 9/11, because the country I was born and lived in is gone. It's a memory.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Property ownership has always been a delusion.

The government has always been able to seize property on whim or forbid you to do with it as you will.

Don't believe it?

Ownership implies control. Which means you can do with your property as you please. So, try any of the below with YOUR property:

Sell, or give, YOUR land to Cuba, North Korea, or Iran.

Set up an independent country on YOUR land and charge tolls for crossing it or flying over it.

Walk around nude on YOUR property.

Grow marijuana, coca, or opium on YOUR property.

Torch YOUR car on YOUR property.

Rent YOUR property to Al-Queda or Hezbullah.

Burn YOUR flag.

Take YOUR property with you when you die.

etc, etc.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

27. mostly true, i suppose

but you don't really own anything without a goverment to back up your rights to own it, do you? In the past, if a private firm wanted to seize your property, you had reason to believe that the government would take your side...but now, not only can the GOVT take your property, so can WalMart...maybe they will let you walk around nude smoking pot in their stores...

SubjectProdigal