This section of the website are philosophical, political, psychological, biological, and social  arguments pertaining to Land Grab. The Constitution is a philosophy and the  bill of rights are written on those principles. If this is a true statement than Eminent Domain, Redevelopment, and Revitalization using condemnation are tools for Corporate Welfare, and contrary to the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence

A Philosophical argument. Does the End Justify the Means?

If the benefits are large enough, can any political decision be justified?

The ruling by Judge Wade defended that the North Lake project would far outweigh the razing of an entire neighborhood by benefits such as social and economic growth for entire San Bernardino.

This sort of balancing of costs against benefits has roots in an ethical theory called Utilitarianism.

The utilitarian movement was founded in the late 18^th century by  English Philosopher, Jeremy Bentham. Bentham’s central proposal was that Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters: pain and pleasure. It is for pain and pleasure alone to point out what we ought to do.

Bentham proposed designing all laws and social policies with one goal: maximize the amount of pleasure in society, and minimize the amount of pain and show no favoritism to individuals, but seek only to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Bentham resolved issues entirely through Reason.

The author argues that Reason in using Bentham’s theory pertaining to the North Lake project is to try to predict the effects as far as possible, on everyone involved, now and future, and not only human beings but also affordable homes, family businesses, churches destroyed by the project, and try to estimate whether the benefits will be clearly greater than the consequences.

So, what will be the consequences of building the North Lake project if we use Bentham’s utilitarian theory of Reason? If happiness is measured in social economic terms is the North Lake project a good project for the  City?

The author argues that the North Lake is based on hope. A plan based on hope is not good to justify the project, however, history can determine if the North Lake project can provide happiness to the entire City. The drought for the past five years and San Bernardino's Leroy Well is just outside the pressure zone at the 345 foot level. This is the lowest in history.In 1964 the voters of San Bernardino voted for the water to stay in San Bernardino. Should we share the Bunker Hill Basin and sell our water resources to  cities in Orange County? Also, will the sharing of the Bun ker Hill Basin be beneficial  to San Bernardino's future growth in population and development?

Bentham theory of happiness is measured if the project benefits the City. Happiness cannot be based on hope if history of failed projects produced pain for the City. The project does not produce happiness, on the contrary, elements of pain are dominant including the outside pressure zone at the 345  foot  level which is the lowest in history. The  sharing of the  Bunker Hill Basin with cities in Orange County does not produce happiness for San Bernardino because of the availability of water and the future cost of water. The only economic benefit that  produce happiness is the water district's profits in selling water.  The financial benefit is not shared by this city and the cities in the region. Further, the water district controls all the land of the North Lake area  and as a gift to the district vacate the streets until some point in time part of the land will be used for  redevelopment.

The project does not produce happiness since the water project is plunked into an area surrounded by blighted and crime neighborhoods. The history of the City is evident that from those neighborhoods which include many parts of the whole are blighted and  failed to receive support from the City to resolve social and economical problems. Also, the myth that we have this huge amount of extra water that we can sell to people down stream who need it. 

The evidence is clearly that a project based on hope opposed to proven history of failed projects cause pain. Reason can be determined by history of  failed projects, history of neglect, and drought that calculates  this project as a project that would produce pain opposed to happiness for the City.

 The Municipal water district is the only party that would derive happiness and since the City does not share in the profits of selling the water, the City be deprived of economic benefits plus indebtedness in developing the land. Also, you have been told we have this huge amount of extra water  that we can sell "to people  down stream who need it." According to Harold Willis, former San Bernardino  Water Commissioner (1964-1999) Muni talked about the tree growth rings that these five  years  are the driest "ever".

The overriding benefits’ argument of Judge Wade is shortsighted because it requires that we predict the future consequences of our actions. This is difficult since history proved that prior predictions of other projects failed and history proved the neglect that caused  pain opposed to pleasure. The pain is deepened because for five years  we are the driest "ever" and we do not have the water that we are trying to get rid off. 

The second argument is the displacement of people and their sense or morale and of importance in their lives. These projects, very often, just even in their own terms are badly calculated.

The downside is always bigger than it was thought to be and very often the thing turns out to be a great negative. And, of course, it’s also irreversible, so it’s a formula of a social catastrophe.

What is the answer? Should one build the North Lake Project or not? If we have to calculate its chief value would we rest on hope or history of failed projects, history of neglect, and drought?  If we have to calculate its chief values, have we examined all sides, and which side offers happiness to the City?

The author’s argument is the City’s history including failed projects, history of neglect including high crime and drought are three arguments that would not gain the City happiness if this project is to proceed as it is. 

***

A very short story:

In quietness, I feel the heart beat of an woman who must part from her little corner of her world. I see her sitting in her garden, and so many  of  her flowers has grown in fitful splendor from a seed planted by her frail hands. This is her paradise, and she does not understand the nature of the intruder, the land master. How can her tiny body be armored with steel to protect herself from the tool used by the Master? I hear her whisper in fearfulness and saw her eyes lit in despair, trembling, and pleading with the Land Master,

 "Oh, Land Master, how can I buy another paradise from the coins you offer? Please, I beg you let me stay and toil with my Land."

The Land Master bitter at heart, Land Grab her Land, and gave her beautiful majestic garden  to another.

**

 I see two-self consciousnessess that confront one another, the gadfly and the body politic. The body politic and the gadfly  fight, they fight to the death, or  almost, because just at the moment when the gadfly is about to die, the gadfly has a choice to submit to the body politic and live. So, what can the gadfly do? If the gladfly submit the gladfly becomes a slave and conforms. If the gladfly fights most likely the gladfly end up in a prison, beaten, and isolated. What will the gladfly do?  Surely, the gadfly choose not to have a relationship where the body politic is Master, and the gladfly a Slave.

When relationship between humans are colored by power, it is not only the powerful who oppress and despise those oppressed but the oppressed starts to gradually see himself through the eyes of the oppressor and will eventually start to despise himself.

********

A Bio-Psychological  Argument.  Does Eminent Domain have a Traumatic Affect?

Public use is now anything a favored  developer  wants to do  with another individual's land. The City gives the developer an exclusive negotiating agreements or  the sole right to develop property still owned  by others. The City and developer want  to acquire the property as cheaply as  possible. The small property owners are then pressured to sell  to the developer. If the property owners do not want to sell, the developer will ask the City to amend their agreement to include  the acquisition of the landowner's property. The City will hold a public hearing, however, the City has already committed itself to  acquire  the property for  the developer, so the outcome is certain.

If a person refuse to sell his or her property to a developer, a letter will be sent saying that the developer has asked them to amend the existing agreement to include the acquisition of his or her property. The City will then covey his or her home to the developer in exchange for a new project earning huge profits on his or her land. This of course could take months and during this time he or she suffers from anxiety and trauma.

 Now, what is the sequella of this traumatic Eminent Domain experience? The personal loss of residence in a community has a traumatic experience that causes secondary psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and anger. The primary psychiatric symptom is his or her personal loss, the loss of his or her place in the world, and the meaning of one’s interpretation of life including a world view of that interpretation. The person may suffer from loss of appetite and disruptions in sleep including sweats and flashes. Frequently secondary psychiatric symptoms come along with depression and anxiety some real and some not so real in respond to the body and discomfort.

The evidence is clear that there are changes in the brain for those who experience a traumatic disorder. We are creatures that mark our territories much like other animals and where we exist in the world is very important to us. The person’s whole frame of reference is completely disrupted and his or her whole sense of meaning changes. This is very disruptive by the intrusion of the Government that one’s whole view of his or her life is changed, and this is traumatic. Experiencing this traumatic event of having to leave his or her marked territory may have a continuous adverse effect for years. A successful adaptation of a traumatic event takes some time and years to recover from.

The coping strategy depends on the individual how he or she can cope in processing information accurately, compartmentalization, active mastery, and guarded optimism. In some case, the coping strategy of Eminent Domain for some is social isolation and a failure to create an alternative meaning in life. Physically there is a discomfort and for some people the traumatic effect can have medical illness and recovery from this violent intrusive traumatic event may never occur. The effects of chronic arousal, feeling unsafe, ambiguous information, and dis trust add to the physical illness of body discomfort or further diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and mental illnesses. Eminent Domain is a disease itself and as a deadly cancer attacks the organism toward traumatic disorders that manifest in various ways.

*******

A Bio-Evolutionary Argument

Is Morality the Extension of the Social Instinct?

The view that people in the state of nature are nasty is the veneer theory. The author find the veneer theory flawed since humans are social, and morality is essential for survival. The author's research concluded that our ancestors possessed instincts of empathy and reciprocity, and those traits are viewed as the extension of the social instinct. Research found that these instincts are wired in the human brain and is independent of traits passed by genes or learned from the environment. Further, these instincts are essential for survival and since empathy and reciprocity are considered moral instincts the human being is moral because of the extension of the social instinct. Of course, biologically we have inherited behaviors to fend off those who aggress against us, however, empathy and reciprocity are equal significant because of their instincts to assure survival. Now, what has this to do with Eminent Domain? The law of Eminent Domain is a bad law because the taking violates empathy and reciprocity. A law that violates empathy and reciprocity is a bad law because the law is contrary to the extension of the social instinct, organic evolution, and an overall insult to the organism.

*******

I don't believe that government is legitimate unless it  is  egalitarian, and egalitarian in the sense  that each citizen is an equal partner in the  collective enterprise of self-government. The profiteering of this project and unjust compensating benefits for the least advantaged members of our society is not only corrupt but I question its legitimacy.

As is the case with any skill, we acquire virtues by first doing virtuous acts. We acquire skill by practicing the activities involved in the skill. For example, we become exploiters  by exploiting, and we become just by doing just acts.

**********

A Political Argument:Can a Good leader Lead in a Corrupt Society?

The argument is to inquire if it is possible to be a good leader and lead in a corrupt Society? One of Plato’s deepest convictions about human nature is that is was impossible, or almost impossible, to be a truly good man unless one live in a good society. A truly good man, in his view, is one who is both good in himself and also useful to others. But in a bad society, a good man will be useless, and a useful one will be corrupt. A man cannot be wholly good, therefore, unless his environment is also a good one.

In our present society, nobody respects knowledge and wisdom. Politicians are respected and admired not because they are wise but because they flatter the people and satisfy the people’s basest desires and instincts. In a society like the one in which we live a Good man cannot hope to be useful.

In a Good environment the man who is intelligent and compassionate will flourish and become wise, but in a society like the one in which we live the more intelligent he  is, the more corrupt he is likely to become. In a corrupt society the people will flatter his intelligence and he will become proud and vain. In these sorts of circumstances, he will use his intelligence for his own self-seeking purposes.

I do believe, however, that a Good person can be useful and teach the value of knowledge and wisdom. Now, politics is a practical business, and a leader must above all be a practical and be experienced. The Good person for all his  wisdom and goodness will be viewed having his head in the clouds all day, so he hardly is  competent or efficient leader. In my view, the Good man is not merely intellectual but apart from being wise, he is also brave and self-disciplined because he has all the other virtues of a Good man. It is possible that a Good man might at some time gain political power and then be able to convince people of the  value of his knowledge and wisdom?

The people elected  are politicians who do not need qualifications or training at all; they will be considered good leaders as long as they profess to be the friends of the people. San Bernardino is not a single and unified City, but rather a whole collection of different personalities and is easily influenced by anyone with whom he or she  comes into contact. As an elected leader he or she will mix with people who give in to their baser desires and impulses. The outcome of such a leader is that he or she will not distinguish between good and bad pleasures equally and will do exactly as he or she likes and will live for the pleasure of the moment.

Leading a City requires virtues of wisdom, courage, discipline, and whose mind is in good order. It is impossible for the way this municipality is set up to lead and use leadership to benefit the "Good" in society. The evidence of the state of this City is the reflection of  bad leadership, a leadership of men who do their best to please the people. Our leaders spend their time pandering to interest, so as to retain their popularity. This, then, is the state they  lead, the worst and the unhappiest of all communities.

**********

Political - Philosophical notes:.

The relationship between citizens and government is a relationship of trust where the State is our trustee. If the State violates its relations of trust, for instance, the State violating people’s natural rights to life and liberty, if it tries to enslave them or take their property in a way that’s unjustified, our obligation to obey the State is at an end, and we are entitled to criticize the State and rebel against it, when it violates its trust.

Now, if he criticize against the injustice he does not revert to his State of Nature, but he becomes once again a community of people creating a government. This is his duty and a safeguard against the oppression of the government.

The preservation of property is the great purpose of men uniting into a community and putting themselves under government. It is the preservation of property that he is willing to part with his freedom. In the state of nature the enjoyment of his property was very unsafe, very insecure and he was willing to part from his freedom to obtain the protection to preserve his life, liberties, and property.

 The Law of Eminent Domain for profit has violated this protection of liberties and pursuit of happiness. No longer is your property safe and your life is intruded by the dominion you agreed to join in society for mutual preservation. It was for this convenience we agreed to a government to protect our interest and protect our property. The threat of taking property by force we are faced, as we lived in the state of nature, in continual danger, are full of fears, and we must revolt in order to safeguard against the intrusion of the control of the government we trusted.

I do not agree with David Hume that the very idea of government is far beyond the comprehension  of savages in the state of Nature. The life of man in the state of nature would not be as savage and short as Hume suggest, and that the state of nature, life  without government, would have inconveniences such as protecting  personal property.

********

The Historical & Occult Argument: Is the political fitness of the  ruling class Real or is it Occult  Hidden by their might of exploitation? How can men and women work together to create a world in which all people, not just the favored few, can live decent, meaningful lives?

Each day, men and women in the project area work to transform nature into the food, clothing, and shelter they need to live. These economic activities form the foundation on which all else of the society rests.

In very early in human history some men succeed in seizing control by force of arms to take the land, the streams, the mines, and the forest, and they prevent others from using them. Once these men have successfully asserted ownership of the means of production, they are in a position to extract a ransom from the rest of the men and women in society. So, two classes of people crystallize out of the social situation, the ruling class, which controls the means of production and the underclass which are forced to give up a part of the product of its labor in order to survive. For example, pay me half of all you grow, the landholder says to the farmer, or I will not allow you to farm the land.

The author notes that the ruling class by nature exploit, plunder, and takes by force from the underclass, and in this case, the underclass people of the North Lake project are forced to give up a part of the product of its labor. The exploitation by  Government are accepted in modern society to sheer custom, and familiarity confers legitimacy, on what was originally mere might. The culture and life style of the ruling class is quite different from that of the laboring majority because they eat and drink and wear what they do not have to produce. Small wonders that even those in the underclass soon come to believe that the rulers are "different" and fit to rule but are they psychologically fit to rule?

The laws of the land are enacted by the ruling class settling disputes of the underclass. The decisions of the disputes have become the law of the land and the decisions rarely threaten the interest of the rulers, for they convene the courts, they who sit on the bench, and they who enforce the orders of the courts with their cohorts. Very early in human history some men by force of arms succeed in seizing control over the vital means of production and modern society virtually remained unchanged throughout time because the ruling class oppresses the underclass and confer legitimacy on what was originally mere might. It is because of the inherent nature of the ruling class the author find the ruling class psychologically primitive and infantile. The only transformation for the ruling class is to find out how can men and women work together to create a world in which all people, not just a favored few, can live decent and meaningful lives.

*********The argument: Does the Media effectively communicate the message that serve the ends of a dominant elite?

The North Lake Project is a classic example of exploitation which serve the agenda for the dominant elite. The environmental necessity for the reservoir and the tossing of the law suits by Judge Wade support that laws serve the agenda for the dominant elite. The evidence of razing an entire neighborhood does not support the claim of the respondents. The evidence supported are blatant lies that a need for a reservoir is to clear high underground water and contamination. To raze an entire neighborhood of two thousand people, forty seven-family businesses, and six churches are supported by a law that serve the agenda for the dominant elite.

The government and the media cooperate to produce an effective propaganda machine in order to manipulate the opinions of the populous. The media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. The function of the media on one hand is used to amuse, entertain and inform, however, the other hand is served as a communication system of implementing values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate the person into institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of conflicts and mixed class interest the media is influenced to serve the agenda for the dominant elite.  

The marginalization of dissidents are needed to convince that Media interpret the news "objectively" and on the basis of professional news values.

The alternative view of the North Lake is this website to inform effectively in reinforcing class consciousness that unifies the underclass (working class) because it fosters and alters the value system and framework established by the media who serve the agenda for the dominant elite. The potential power of the working people are encouraged by an alternative view to effect social change and realize the value of their constitutional rights as a property owner. The effectiveness of change is the "Law" not a revolution of aggression or bloody confrontation. The Law must pursuit a just society where each member of society are recognized worthy. Revolution must not be used as violence to free oppression but through intelligence "rethinking" the Law to benefit a just society. The need is a psychological revolution setting aside laws which serve the agenda for the dominant elite. We are well accomplished in science but our resistance to mature in consciousness are evident that we are willing to shed blood to maintain the status quo.