the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 18, 2005
Toward the end of June, the Supreme Court found it perfectly "constitutional" for local governments to take over private property from individuals, then hand it over to developers and other business interests to use for their own profit. The particular case involved a decision taken by New London, Connecticut, to expropriate 115 homes and small businesses, handing over the property to a developer. The developer planned to construct a five-star hotel, luxury condominiums and office buildings right near a Pfizer plant. Pfizer execs, as well as the wealthy businessmen and doctors who visit Pfizer, will no doubt be pleased by the convenience!
As for the people whose homes were stolen? They’re outraged, as well they should be. But these 115 ordinary people count as nothing to a Supreme Court that defends the interests of big business.
Oh certainly, the court said they should be "compensated." But what does compensation matter when your neighborhood is gone, your friends thrown to the winds? What does compensation mean when your kids are forced into another school?
The communists are always accused of wanting to take people’s own personal property from them. It’s not true. What the communists want is to expropriate the factories and workplaces built by the labor performed by generations of workers–expropriate the workplaces and plough the profits back into the service of the people who do the work.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in the service of the capitalists who exploit generations of workers, would steal everything it can from working people, handing it over for the benefit of big business.
There’s a world of difference between the two!