Last night I went with some others to see this screening of "Battle for Brooklyn," a documentary about one neighborhood's fight against a large real estate developer and all the injustices that go along with eminent domain. It was a well done documentary that was filmed over a span of nearly seven years, following the salient characters of the story the whole way through. It was very gripping and rich story. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in issues of injustice because it was so blatant an abuse of government power. (That probably covers a wide swath of people).
At the end, during the Q&A with the directors, a lady made a statement along the lines of this eminent domain issue not being a current or modern problem of the last 100 years, but something that's been going on since 1492.
For some reason, when people diss on Columbus, it gets my blood flowing a little. To be fair, in the heat of the moment, that was probably the first date that popped into her mind, so I don't think she's a full-time Columbus hater. However I think it odd, perhaps unfortunate, that Columbus has been cast as the symbol of Western abuses. Eminent domain abuse (or loosely defined as taking other people's property) has been going on since way before 1492. And it's not just a Westerner problem but a human problem.
The documentary highlights the vast problems that arise when government colludes power and then private firms cozy up to politicians and encourage laws or acts of force in order to gain an edge in the market. Unfortunately injustice is rarely in such plain language and that was clear to see in the film. Check it out if you have the opportunity.
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