July 28, 2005

To The Editor, Metropulse:

Often times, people may justify the use of eminent domain if it serves a public purpose or it is for the good of society. If I wanted to use eminent domain to seize another person's house so I can put in a retail store along a busy intersection, would that be for the good of society?

But what is society? It is simply a label for an interacting set of individuals, be it two, two thousand or two million people. Treating society as if it were an actual entity that chooses and acts obscures the real forces at work. Put another way, it gives people an excuse to commit theft albeit legal, or to not take responsibility for their actions, rationalizing that they were just doing what the crowd wanted them to do. In short, this is nothing more than mob rule, precisely the thing the Founding Fathers were hoping to prevent.

Sadly, due to the ignorance of many people and the power-grabbing ways of politicians, I am afraid we are going to see a time when most people will wind up homeless or relying on government housing because their government doesn't recognize people's rights to acquire and use their own property. There is nothing politicians like more than for people to be forever dependent on them for basic necessities.

CHRIS FORTNER
Knoxville