Oligarchy, Anarchy and Democracy, Oh My!: Part II

I was so desperately trying to think of the correct term that, essentially, the land and property that we "buy" does not really belong to us. The sovereigns probably use this as an argument to already further their perplexing agenda of "rights," but imagine their disdain at what is called eminent domain.

Essentially, eminent domain gives power to the national government to seize property with fair (due) monetary compensation but without owner consent. This is usually done when land is needed for government or public use. Surprisingly (to me at least) I did not know that this could be exercised on other things such as patents and copyrights.

My opinions on eminent domain are not fully formed so I won't go into that here, but the fact that sovereigns (and many other law-abiding citizens) think that the property they own is "theirs" are right, but only up to a certain point. The fact that we live in a land governed and protected by a Constitutionally-abiding government means there are rights, but also reminds us that it's the government's land, not ours.

The article that triggered my memory is here. I wasn't planning on blogging about it, but you're more than welcome to share your comments and thoughts on eminent domain and the impact it has on citizens and land owners.