>> Nathan Newman wrote:
>>
>>> Why progressives are even slightly conflicted on this core legal issue
>>> mystifies me. Of course, we should organize politically to stop bad
>>> uses of
>>> eminent domain, but giving property owners special legal status against
>>> the
>>> rest of the community is clearly against the interests of the democratic
>>> left.
>>
> But this isn't private property vs community. This is private property vs
> capital.
> They are not the same thing. The "community" thing is just a cover.
No, capital would generally be quite willing to have urban centers like New London die. Sure, specific capitalists will happily cut deals to return to them, but most are not pushing that hard in such cities.
Read the Connecticut Supreme Court decision which details the long community planning and efforts to revive jobs for community members in the city. This was very much a community goal, maybe not the ideal approach from a radical perspective but with a city of high unemployment and few financial resources, the whole New London approach was not some capitalist plot with no community involvement.
Nathan Newman