Imagine this: a group of strangers comes and knocks on your door, telling you that they are going to take your land to build something that you will all use. You don't have any say in whether or not you want to give up your land, but don't worry, you'll get paid market value for your property!
Does this seem wrong to anyone? What I've described here is actually eminent domain: the power of government to take private property for public use without the owner's consent. Although this is in the American Constitution, it just seems un-American for the government to take someone's land, regardless of market conditions and without regard to the owner's wishes.
Take, for instance, the recent case of a farmer in my area. The state government wanted to build a freeway, and his farm happened to be right where they wanted to build. Now, they could have gone around his farm- it would have only meant a slight curve of the freeway- but because his fields were considered "undeveloped", they decided that it would be less costly to just build a freeway through the middle of his land.
Dual problems now confront this farmer: a freeway runs through his farm, so it blocks access to half of his fields, and that leads to his second problem, that land is now useless to him, so he is facing a huge loss of revenue. And contrary to popular opinion, farmers do not make huge net profits, so that loss could likely kill his business.
In theory, I am against eminent domain, but I do realize that it is a necessary evil, vital for the building of important infrastructure. However, I believe that there are some steps that could be taken to dampen the negative effects that it has on those it impacts the most- the (former) owners.
Firstly, government should take into consideration the needs of the owner when considering the use of emeinent domain. If taking a piece of property, real estate or otherwise, would have a catastrophic effect on the owner, then look for other ways to accomplish the objective. In the example above, the government could have easily gone around the farm.
Second, since the government is taking the property without the owner's consent, the price payed should be above market value. Paying say, 125%, of the "fair" market value would be reasonable, in my opionion. Just think about it, if the government were to come in and take away your home, or business, I'm sure that you would feel cheated, especially since the prices paid to owners are often far below what the owner could get on the open market.
As a sidelight, the recent, advent of the use of eminent domain land for commercial uses totally disgusts me and should be offically declared illegal in all 50 states, but that's an issue for its own blog.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
I live in New Mexico and this old hispanic family have lived on their land for years! The state wanted to build a Hispanic Cultural Center that all families can enjoy. I still haven't been there, anyway... They fought with the state so much that the state actually built around their house. It was pretty crazy because when you go to the cultural center there is a little driveway up to their house kind of by the massive parking lot. I was very happy that they got to keep their place. I would hate to have this happen to me