Ice Hockey Players
13-09-2006, 16:04
Over a round of golf, Super Hyper Mega Mart CEO @@RANDOMNAME@@ discussed how much more revenue for both private industry and the government big businesses could produce than homeowners. The discussion has raised a lot of questions about eminent domain.
The Debate
1. "It's a fantastic idea!" says the well-dressed CEO in the clubhouse over a post-game beer. "Even if Super Hyper Mega Mart gives a generous contribution to the displaced homeowners for the fair market value of their home, we would stand to generate more money for the economy by bulldozing homes and turning them into Super Hyper Mega Marts! Just think of all the tax revenue that would be generated, plus we would be giving people jobs! Surely no homeowner can do that! I ought to be able to take any strip of property, buy it, and turn it into a Super Hyper Mega mart if I can prove it will bring in more tax revenue than some guy's piddling property tax payment!"
[effect]big corporations buy homes en masse, leaving homeowners with checks for their trouble
2. "It's a great idea, but it's not going far enough!" chimes in @@RANDOMNAME@@, your golf buddy's biggest competitor. "We ought to be able to build businesses wherever we please, frankly, and if that's on someone's home, well, I hope they like being homeless 'cuz I don't intend to pay for their house. People can come shop at our stores and pay ridiculously low prices, so we'll put them out of their homes and they'll be glad we did. And then we'll build on government land, too! We don't need a Supreme Court building; we need a Jumbo Large Mart! And then we'll..." At this point, the speech is interrupted by an advisor. "Oh, right, about people's mortgages...well, I guess we can pay off what people owe or maybe talk the bank into forgiving the debt, but if they have equity or own the land, well, I'm sorry, but...wait, I'm not sorry. Business wins, and that's how it should be!"
[effect]businesses seize land for next to nothing and displace everything on it
3. "This is my house, dag nabbit!" cries out @@RANDOMNAME@@, third-generation owner of that green house on Pumpernickel Road. "I'll fight to the death any fat-cat business person who tries to take my house from me! I bought it, and it's mine! Businesses should be banned from trying to buy private homes off of people, and we ought to designate a lot of land as not friendly to businesses. Like, say, all government property and anything historical. If they want to open one of their Ludicrous Marts, they can do it in business and commercial zones."
[effect]all businesses are concentrated into business areas far from homes
4. "Now wait just a minute," chimes in real estate speculator @@RANDOMNAME@@. "I don't have a problem with businesses trying to buy houses and turn them into Insano Marts. But if I have a house or six and I don't want them bulldozed, I ought to have the right to say no. Either that or they can offer me the price I want. Fair market value my eye; if I want to charge a half million @@CURRENCY@@s for a one-bedroom cottage, then those business people can either pay it or leave me alone."
[effect]businesses pay exorbitant costs to opportunistic homeowners for their land
5. "This just highlights a bigger problem," says your brother, who's really pushing you for a spot on the Committee for Public Planning. "The whole layout of these cities is a mess. I propose a complete overhaul of all the cities and outlying areas, and frankly, we can start doing the same in rural areas too. We need to build some super-cool futuristic high-rises that are big enough for families of six, and we need to put businesses on one side of town with residences on another. That gets rid of all these pesky single-family homes anyway; those things took up way too much space. Soon enough, we'll all live in fancy high-rises, and the heck with what kind of house you owned; all you get for it is...oh, a nice monthly payment for life, I suppose, but that's it."
[effect]cities are lined with high-rises and skyscrapers with nary a sign of a house
The Debate
1. "It's a fantastic idea!" says the well-dressed CEO in the clubhouse over a post-game beer. "Even if Super Hyper Mega Mart gives a generous contribution to the displaced homeowners for the fair market value of their home, we would stand to generate more money for the economy by bulldozing homes and turning them into Super Hyper Mega Marts! Just think of all the tax revenue that would be generated, plus we would be giving people jobs! Surely no homeowner can do that! I ought to be able to take any strip of property, buy it, and turn it into a Super Hyper Mega mart if I can prove it will bring in more tax revenue than some guy's piddling property tax payment!"
[effect]big corporations buy homes en masse, leaving homeowners with checks for their trouble
2. "It's a great idea, but it's not going far enough!" chimes in @@RANDOMNAME@@, your golf buddy's biggest competitor. "We ought to be able to build businesses wherever we please, frankly, and if that's on someone's home, well, I hope they like being homeless 'cuz I don't intend to pay for their house. People can come shop at our stores and pay ridiculously low prices, so we'll put them out of their homes and they'll be glad we did. And then we'll build on government land, too! We don't need a Supreme Court building; we need a Jumbo Large Mart! And then we'll..." At this point, the speech is interrupted by an advisor. "Oh, right, about people's mortgages...well, I guess we can pay off what people owe or maybe talk the bank into forgiving the debt, but if they have equity or own the land, well, I'm sorry, but...wait, I'm not sorry. Business wins, and that's how it should be!"
[effect]businesses seize land for next to nothing and displace everything on it
3. "This is my house, dag nabbit!" cries out @@RANDOMNAME@@, third-generation owner of that green house on Pumpernickel Road. "I'll fight to the death any fat-cat business person who tries to take my house from me! I bought it, and it's mine! Businesses should be banned from trying to buy private homes off of people, and we ought to designate a lot of land as not friendly to businesses. Like, say, all government property and anything historical. If they want to open one of their Ludicrous Marts, they can do it in business and commercial zones."
[effect]all businesses are concentrated into business areas far from homes
4. "Now wait just a minute," chimes in real estate speculator @@RANDOMNAME@@. "I don't have a problem with businesses trying to buy houses and turn them into Insano Marts. But if I have a house or six and I don't want them bulldozed, I ought to have the right to say no. Either that or they can offer me the price I want. Fair market value my eye; if I want to charge a half million @@CURRENCY@@s for a one-bedroom cottage, then those business people can either pay it or leave me alone."
[effect]businesses pay exorbitant costs to opportunistic homeowners for their land
5. "This just highlights a bigger problem," says your brother, who's really pushing you for a spot on the Committee for Public Planning. "The whole layout of these cities is a mess. I propose a complete overhaul of all the cities and outlying areas, and frankly, we can start doing the same in rural areas too. We need to build some super-cool futuristic high-rises that are big enough for families of six, and we need to put businesses on one side of town with residences on another. That gets rid of all these pesky single-family homes anyway; those things took up way too much space. Soon enough, we'll all live in fancy high-rises, and the heck with what kind of house you owned; all you get for it is...oh, a nice monthly payment for life, I suppose, but that's it."
[effect]cities are lined with high-rises and skyscrapers with nary a sign of a house