Moving And Relocation: The Prince of Eminent Domain

Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that the architect of the biggest eminent domain land grab yet quotes Machiavelli as his inspiration without irony:

Machiavelli said it best - the hardest thing to do is to sustain and change the order of things," Brown says. "I will use every ounce of energy I have to fight to make a better life for these people. There will be no more lower class.

I'm all for the idea of lifting up a community through sustained economic change, but in the here and now, what this guy is doing is masking the plight of his region for short-term gains, and violating the property rights of homeowners to do it. "The greater good" is all well and good, but it's not exactly long-term planning for some bullshit developer to reap huge gains from building overpriced s$#tboxes that will sit there like giant middle fingers dirtying the landscape, while they make off with the loot.

Here's an even grimmer tale from my old stomping grounds of Bergen County, Noo Joisey, dealing with displacing a homeless shelter to build condos. Ah, the milk of human kindness. I think NIMBY types really imagine that if they close their eyes and hold their breath, all those nasty, stinky, evil (and usually not white) people will just go away.

The Real Estate Bloggers have been kicking it hardcore on the eminent domain issue for a while. Their blog's well worth the read.

Oh, and here're some pertinent (and definitely ironic) Machiavelli quotes for ya:

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.

(Image courtesy of Philosophy Pages.)

Posted at April 28, 2006 03:38 PM

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Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that the architect of the biggest eminent domain land grab yet quotes Machiavelli as his inspiration without irony: Machiavelli said it best - the hardest thing to do is to sustain and change the order of things," Brown says. "I will use every ounce of energy I have to fight to make a better life for these people. There will be no more lower class. I'm all for the idea of lifting up a community through sustained economic change, but in the here and now, what this guy is doing is masking the plight of his region for short-term gains, and violating the property rights of homeowners to do it. "The greater good" is all well and good, but it's not exactly long-term planning for some bullshit developer to reap huge gains from building overpriced s$#tboxes that will sit there like giant middle fingers dirtying the landscape, while they make off with the loot. Here's an even grimmer tale from my old stomping grounds of Bergen County, Noo Joisey, dealing with displacing a homeless shelter to build condos. Ah, the milk of human kindness. I think NIMBY types really imagine that if they close their eyes and hold their breath, all those nasty, stinky, evil (and usually not white) people will just go away. The Real Estate Bloggers have been kicking it hardcore on the eminent domain issue for a while. Their blog's well worth the read. Oh, and here're some pertinent (and definitely ironic) Machiavelli quotes for ya: The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes. Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself. (Image courtesy of Philosophy Pages.)