WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.980 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. We are really 00:00:01.980 --> 00:00:04.040 glad to have you with us today. We've got a fascinating 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.580 one for you. We really do. We're going to tackle 00:00:06.580 --> 00:00:10.539 a subject that it sits right at the intersection 00:00:10.539 --> 00:00:13.740 of your daily life, your bank account, and some 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:15.960 really high -level political philosophy. It's 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:18.899 one of those ideas that feels solid until you 00:00:18.899 --> 00:00:21.640 push on it. It feels completely solid, concrete 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:23.760 even. I'm talking about ownership. I mean, think 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.469 about the narrative. We're all sold, right? From 00:00:26.469 --> 00:00:28.589 the time we're kids. Oh, yeah. You work hard. 00:00:28.710 --> 00:00:31.969 You save up. You buy a house. You sign that, 00:00:31.969 --> 00:00:33.869 you know, that massive stack of papers at the 00:00:33.869 --> 00:00:36.250 closing table. Your hand cramps up from signing 00:00:36.250 --> 00:00:38.950 your name 50 times. Didn't there. And you pay 00:00:38.950 --> 00:00:41.689 that mortgage for 30 years. And at the end of 00:00:41.689 --> 00:00:44.450 all that, you think, this is mine. This is my 00:00:44.450 --> 00:00:47.350 castle. I can do what I want here and no one 00:00:47.350 --> 00:00:49.350 can take it away from me. That's the dream, isn't 00:00:49.350 --> 00:00:51.250 it? The American dream, the global dream, really. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.200 It's about stability. Exactly. It's the foundation 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:56.759 of modern security. The idea that you have a 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.920 sanctuary, a place that's inviolable, where the 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:01.659 world just stops at your doorstep. But that's 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:03.740 the thing. It's a bit of an illusion. It really 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:06.640 is. Because as we dug into the stack of research 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.299 for today, and it is a massive stack of legal 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.359 history and case law, it turns out that mine 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:16.379 is a very, very flexible word when the government 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:19.290 gets involved. It's not as absolute as we think, 00:01:19.390 --> 00:01:22.069 not by a long shot. So there's this legal superpower 00:01:22.069 --> 00:01:24.489 that governments all over the world have. It's 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:29.030 a power that predates our constitutions. In some 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:31.870 ways, it predates modern democracy itself. It's 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:35.930 the power to say, actually, we need that property 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.370 more than you do. We are talking, of course, 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:40.950 about eminent domain. Eminent domain. Or, you 00:01:40.950 --> 00:01:42.390 know, depending on where you're listening from, 00:01:42.450 --> 00:01:44.430 you might know it as compulsory purchase. Or 00:01:44.430 --> 00:01:47.930 resumption, expropriation. Land acquisition. 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:50.150 It has a lot of names. It does. And we'll get 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:51.909 into why that is, because the names themselves, 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:54.510 they kind of tell a story. But the mechanism 00:01:54.510 --> 00:01:57.349 is the same every time. It's the state taking 00:01:57.349 --> 00:02:00.290 private property for public use. And we are not 00:02:00.290 --> 00:02:01.769 just talking about the government needing to 00:02:01.769 --> 00:02:03.510 build a highway through a cornfield. I mean, 00:02:03.530 --> 00:02:05.670 that's the classic example everyone learns in 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:08.310 civics class. Right. The textbook case. No, the 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:10.449 rabbit hole goes so much deeper than that. It's 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:12.849 not just about infrastructure. It's about the 00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:15.349 very nature of the relationship between a citizen 00:02:15.349 --> 00:02:17.689 and the state. It asks that fundamental question, 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:20.509 doesn't it? Does the individual exist for society? 00:02:21.129 --> 00:02:23.469 Or does society exist for the individual? And 00:02:23.469 --> 00:02:25.590 where do you draw that line? That's the core 00:02:25.590 --> 00:02:27.789 philosophical tension we're going to explore. 00:02:28.050 --> 00:02:30.930 So our mission today is to really unpack this 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:32.530 philosophy of ownership. We're going to look 00:02:32.530 --> 00:02:35.569 at everything from, you know, 17th century Dutch 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.449 jurists who actually invented the terminology. 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:42.229 All the way to modern sports franchises. Yes, 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:44.909 sports teams. We have to talk about the sports 00:02:44.909 --> 00:02:47.330 teams. And we'll see how different cultures balance 00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:50.449 your individual rights against this idea of the... 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:53.180 It's really a tour of how we define society. 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.159 Because when you look at how a country handles 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.080 eminent domain, you're looking at an X -ray of 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:00.860 their values. That's a great way to put it. You're 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:03.199 seeing how they weigh the individual versus the 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.699 collective. Absolutely. And the sources we have 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:08.500 for this deep dive are just fascinating. We've 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:10.960 got legal treatises, constitutional frameworks 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.819 from literally every continent, historical records 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:16.360 going way back to the Middle Ages. And even some 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.599 religious texts, which was a surprise to me. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.620 Right. We're going really broad today to try 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:22.599 and understand this thing from all sides. We 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.590 have to. The nuances are everything here because 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:28.250 it affects everyone. So here's the roadmap for 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:30.250 the hour. We're going to start with the definition 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:32.949 and the origins. Where did this idea even come 00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:35.629 from? Then we'll get into the mechanics of what 00:03:35.629 --> 00:03:38.289 can be taken. And spoiler alert, it is not just 00:03:38.289 --> 00:03:41.469 land. Not by a long shot. Then we have to get 00:03:41.469 --> 00:03:44.169 into the controvert, the whole public use definition 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:47.030 in the U .S. that has caused so much heartburn 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:49.150 and so many legal battles. And then we'll take 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:51.110 that global tour. We'll see how this all plays 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:55.620 out in Europe, Asia, Africa and beyond. It's 00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:57.319 going to be a journey through time and geography. 00:03:57.620 --> 00:03:59.479 So let's unpack this. Let's start right at the 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:01.659 beginning. Where do we get this term eminent 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:04.759 domain? Because it sounds very fancy. It sounds 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.139 like something a king would say while wearing 00:04:07.139 --> 00:04:09.759 a velvet cape. It does sound regal, doesn't it? 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:11.180 And that's actually pretty appropriate because 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:13.900 it comes from Latin. To find the origin, we have 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:17.459 to go back to 1625. Okay, 1625. So let's set 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:20.839 the scene. The world is in flux. The Thirty Years' 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:24.339 War is raging across Europe. Colonialism is really 00:04:24.339 --> 00:04:26.360 ramping. up. The whole concept of the nation 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:28.300 state is just starting to solidify. Exactly. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.180 And in the middle of all this political chaos, 00:04:31.459 --> 00:04:34.939 we're looking at a Dutch jurist named Hugo Grotius. 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:37.899 Grotius. I feel like if you go to law school, 00:04:37.980 --> 00:04:41.180 that is a name you hear on like day one. An absolute 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:43.860 titan. He's often called the father of international 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:46.920 law. He wrote this seminal legal treatise called 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:50.160 De Jure Beli Akpachis. Which translates to? On 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.779 the law of war and peace. Ah, some light reading 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:55.949 for the beach. An absolute page turner for 17th 00:04:55.949 --> 00:04:58.610 century lawyers, I assure you. But this book 00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.589 was foundational for, well, for everything that 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:04.009 came after an international law. And in this 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:06.970 text, Grosius used the term dominium eminens. 00:05:07.029 --> 00:05:09.870 Dominium eminens. Which translates to supreme 00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:13.790 ownership. Supreme ownership, that sounds. Intense. 00:05:13.870 --> 00:05:16.069 It sounds like the final boss in a video game. 00:05:16.129 --> 00:05:18.709 It implies that there's ownership and then there's 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:21.069 ownership with a capital O. That is precisely 00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:24.550 the implication. The core theory, Grotius argued, 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:26.490 was that the property of subjects is essentially 00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:29.589 under the supreme ownership of the state. So 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:31.610 the state is the ultimate owner of everything. 00:05:31.870 --> 00:05:34.639 In his view, yes. He believed that the state 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.720 or those acting for it could use, alienate, or 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:40.319 even destroy property. Destroy. Just blow it 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.540 up. If necessary. I mean, think about a city 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.439 under siege. If you need to burn down a row of 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.879 houses to create a firebreak or to deny cover 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.560 to an invading enemy, the state has to have the 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:52.300 power to do that. Okay, that makes sense in an 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.250 extreme emergency. Right. And Grotius said this 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:58.149 power applies not just in cases of extreme necessity, 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:00.990 where even a private person might have a right 00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:03.129 to use someone else's stuff to survive, like 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:06.339 stealing bread if you're starving, but for ends 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:09.300 of public utility. Public utility. Now, that's 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:12.459 a very broad phrase. It is. His argument was 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.060 based on the social contract. He argued that 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:17.220 the people who founded civil society must have 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:19.439 intended that private needs should give way to 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.660 public needs. So by living in a society, by accepting 00:06:22.660 --> 00:06:25.699 the protection of the state, you implicitly agree 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:28.800 that your private property rights are secondary 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.819 to the state's survival or utility. You own it, 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.329 yes, but the state owns it more. That is a spooky 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.670 concept. You own it, but we own it more. It fundamentally 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:42.730 changes how you look at your deed. It's not a 00:06:42.730 --> 00:06:44.769 grant of absolute authority. It's more like a 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:47.110 grant of permission that can be revoked. Exactly. 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.490 It's a conditional ownership. But surely there 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:52.149 was a catch. He didn't just say, the king can 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:53.970 take your stuff. Good luck. Have a nice life. 00:06:54.170 --> 00:06:56.589 I would hope not. That just sounds like tyranny. 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:00.290 No, no. There was a very important caveat. Grotius 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:02.930 noted that when this is done, the state is bound 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:05.889 to make good the loss to those who lose their 00:07:05.889 --> 00:07:08.670 property. OK, so the pay me part of the equation 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:11.769 has been there from the very beginning. Theoretically, 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.829 yes. The idea of compensation is baked into the 00:07:14.829 --> 00:07:17.629 original definition. It acknowledges that a wrong 00:07:17.629 --> 00:07:19.750 is being done to the individual for the sake 00:07:19.750 --> 00:07:22.329 of the group. And that wrong has to be balanced 00:07:22.329 --> 00:07:25.029 by payment. It turns it from what would be a 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:28.360 theft into a forced sale. Now, you mentioned 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:30.279 earlier that this concept goes by a lot of different 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:32.100 names. And I think that's important because it 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:34.379 shows just how universal this is. If you're in 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:37.000 the U .S. or the Philippines or Liberia, you 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.120 call it eminent domain. Right. And that's the 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.100 terminology derived directly from that Latin 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:44.500 dominium, eminence. It really emphasizes the 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:46.939 supremacy of the state's title. But if you cross 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:49.399 the Atlantic to the U .K. or go to New Zealand 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:52.399 or Ireland, you'll hear compulsory purchase. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:54.699 Which sounds a bit more transactional, doesn't 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.259 it? We are purchasing this and it is compulsory. 00:07:57.639 --> 00:07:59.879 It frames it almost like a commercial interaction 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.420 where one party just happens to have all the 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.240 leverage. Right. I'm buying your house. You don't 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:07.660 have a choice in the matter. But hey, I'm buying 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:13.139 it. It feels very. bureaucratic. It does. Then 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:15.899 if you go to Australia or Hong Kong, they use 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:18.519 the term resumption. Resumption. Yeah. Now that 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:20.939 is an interesting word choice. It implies they're 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:23.079 just taking back something that was already theirs 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:25.459 to begin with. That's a very keen observation. 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:28.279 And we will absolutely get to why Australia uses 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.620 that specific word later. It has some deep legal 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:34.379 implications about the crown and how land was 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:36.679 originally granted. It suggests the government 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:38.659 never really gave up full ownership. They just 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:42.500 leased it to you. That's the idea. Then in Canada, 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.659 South Africa, and parts of Europe, you have expropriation. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.039 And in India and Malaysia, it's often just called 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:50.500 land acquisition. So regardless of the label, 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:52.600 whether it's a purchase, a resumption, or an 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:55.179 acquisition, the mechanism is the state stepping 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:58.220 in. Let's talk about that mechanism. In the legal 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.639 world, who are the players here? What are the 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:04.740 terms? Well, you have the condemner. That's the 00:09:04.740 --> 00:09:08.149 taker. Usually the government or an agency that's 00:09:08.149 --> 00:09:10.529 been empowered by the government. And the legal 00:09:10.529 --> 00:09:13.009 act of taking the property is called condemnation. 00:09:13.110 --> 00:09:15.409 Right. Which is confusing because usually when 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:17.169 I hear a building is condemned, I think it means 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:19.990 it's rat infested, falling down and has a big 00:09:19.990 --> 00:09:22.490 red X on the door. Right. That's the common use 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:25.250 of the word condemned for safety reasons. But 00:09:25.250 --> 00:09:29.129 in this legal context, it just means seized via 00:09:29.129 --> 00:09:33.029 eminent domain. It could be a brand new. beautiful 00:09:33.029 --> 00:09:35.389 building. If the government condemns it, they're 00:09:35.389 --> 00:09:37.769 taking it. And here's a crucial concept from 00:09:37.769 --> 00:09:39.470 the notes that I think our listeners need to 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:42.809 understand. Fee simple. Fee simple. This is absolutely 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:45.190 critical to understanding the power dynamic here. 00:09:45.330 --> 00:09:47.750 So what does that mean in plain English? When 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:49.690 the government takes your land, they typically 00:09:49.690 --> 00:09:52.830 take it in fee simple. And that's a legal term 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:55.889 for absolute total ownership. Once the judgment 00:09:55.889 --> 00:09:58.590 is final and they've paid you, the condemner 00:09:58.590 --> 00:10:00.950 owns it completely. They own the dirt, the air 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:03.330 rights, the mineral rights, everything. Meaning 00:10:03.330 --> 00:10:05.090 they can do whatever they want with it. Whatever 00:10:05.090 --> 00:10:07.409 they want. And this is a point that really surprises 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:10.190 people. Let's say the government takes your land 00:10:10.190 --> 00:10:13.690 specifically to build a new school. They make 00:10:13.690 --> 00:10:15.970 a big speech about how the children need education. 00:10:16.509 --> 00:10:19.309 They condemn your farm. They pay you and you 00:10:19.309 --> 00:10:22.889 move out. Five years later, plans change. The 00:10:22.889 --> 00:10:25.340 budget dries up. They decide not to build the 00:10:25.340 --> 00:10:28.299 school after all. Do I get my land back? Do they 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:31.559 call me and say, hey, sorry, our bad. We didn't 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.080 use it for that. Almost certainly not. Because 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:36.539 they own it in fee simple. They can put it to 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:39.100 uses other than those specified in the original 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:40.860 eminent domain action. So they could turn it 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.480 into a park, a storage depot. Or even sell it 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:45.940 to a private developer. Wow. So once it's gone, 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:48.440 it's really truly gone. There is no return policy 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:51.000 on eminent domain. It is absolute. And that leads 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.519 us to the next big question. What exactly can 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.000 they take? Right. Section two of our deep dive. 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:00.100 I think most of us picture land. We picture the 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:02.620 widening of a road or a new government building 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:05.379 or maybe a military base. And that is the most 00:11:05.379 --> 00:11:09.039 common use for sure. Real property. Roads, utilities, 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:11.820 government buildings. Historically, railroads 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:15.039 were a huge, huge driver of this. Oh, the railroad. 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:17.320 They were the tech giants of the 19th century, 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:19.340 weren't they? They absolutely were. And they 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:21.759 were very often granted eminent domain power 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.899 to obtain land or easements to connect their 00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:28.399 rail networks. You couldn't have a transcontinental 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.860 railroad if one farmer in Nebraska could just 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:33.360 say no and block the whole line. That makes sense. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.360 It's an infrastructure necessity. You can't curve 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.419 a train track around every stubborn landowner. 00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:39.710 it would be inefficient and probably dangerous. 00:11:39.929 --> 00:11:42.409 Exactly. But the sources we looked at make it 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:45.309 clear it's not just dirt and bricks. Governments 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:48.269 can seize personal property, physical items. 00:11:48.649 --> 00:11:52.850 Like my car, my office supplies. In theory, yes, 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:55.370 if there was a compelling public use for it. 00:11:55.470 --> 00:11:57.970 Think about wartime requisitions. If the army 00:11:57.970 --> 00:12:00.809 needs trucks, they can take trucks. But where 00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:03.330 it gets really, really fascinating is when we 00:12:03.330 --> 00:12:06.929 get into... Intangible rights. Intangible rights. 00:12:07.029 --> 00:12:08.789 What does that mean? We're talking about things 00:12:08.789 --> 00:12:12.210 you can't touch. Contract rights, patents, trade 00:12:12.210 --> 00:12:15.009 secrets, even copyrights. Wait, hold on. Let's 00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:17.830 unpack that. The government can use eminent domain 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:21.169 to seize a patent. They can. If the government 00:12:21.169 --> 00:12:23.330 determines that a patent is necessary for public 00:12:23.330 --> 00:12:25.870 use, maybe a medical device during a pandemic 00:12:25.870 --> 00:12:28.190 or a specific piece of technology needed for 00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:31.090 national defense, they condemn that intellectual 00:12:31.090 --> 00:12:33.009 property. That feels like a whole other level 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:35.529 of power. It's one thing to take my yard. It's 00:12:35.529 --> 00:12:37.470 another thing entirely to take my idea. It feels 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:42.450 so much more invasive. It is. But the logic from 00:12:42.450 --> 00:12:44.769 the government's perspective is the same. Public 00:12:44.769 --> 00:12:47.230 necessity. If a company is sitting on a patent 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:49.049 that could save thousands of lives, but they're 00:12:49.049 --> 00:12:51.350 refusing to produce the drug, the government 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:53.929 has the theoretical power to step in. But the 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:56.169 example in the notes that really just blew my 00:12:56.169 --> 00:13:00.590 mind was the sports franchise. Ah, yes. The Raiders. 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:03.940 City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders. This was 00:13:03.940 --> 00:13:08.059 1982. I'm a football fan, but I did not know 00:13:08.059 --> 00:13:10.639 about this particular legal battle. I know the 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.000 Raiders move around a lot. Oakland, L .A., back 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:15.860 to Oakland, now Vegas. A very nomadic team. But 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:17.620 I didn't know the courts got involved quite like 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:19.899 this. What happened? Well, the Oakland Raiders 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:21.820 were planning to move the team to Los Angeles. 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:25.409 And the City of Oakland... They did not want 00:13:25.409 --> 00:13:27.330 to lose them. They felt the team was part of 00:13:27.330 --> 00:13:29.809 the city's identity, a community asset. Okay, 00:13:29.950 --> 00:13:32.350 I get that. So the city tried to exercise eminent 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:35.350 domain to seize the team itself. They tried to 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:37.919 seize the football team, like the players. Yeah. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.519 The brand. Yeah. The whole franchise, the legal 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.259 entity. They argued that the team was a vital 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:46.700 public asset, much like a park or a landmark 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:49.340 or a museum. That is an incredibly bold move. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.519 Did it work? It went all the way to the California 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.059 Supreme Court. And here is the absolutely wild 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:56.740 part. The court ruled that taking a professional 00:13:56.740 --> 00:13:59.720 NFL franchise was within the purview of the public 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:02.620 use constitutional limitation. No way. Yeah. 00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:05.509 So they actually said yes. A football team can 00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:07.629 be considered public property. They did. They 00:14:07.629 --> 00:14:10.730 essentially said, yes, recreation is a valid 00:14:10.730 --> 00:14:13.710 public purpose and a sports team provides recreation. 00:14:13.870 --> 00:14:16.769 So theoretically, you can condemn it. But the 00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:18.610 Raiders aren't owned by the city of Oakland today. 00:14:18.669 --> 00:14:21.529 They're in Las Vegas. So what happened? The taking 00:14:21.529 --> 00:14:24.379 was eventually blocked. But then this is the 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:27.500 key part. Not because it wasn't a valid use of 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.080 eminent domain. It was blocked because the court 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.679 deemed it violated the Interstate Commerce Clause 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.159 of the U .S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause. 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:37.940 Because the NFL is a national business. Precisely. 00:14:38.250 --> 00:14:40.850 The NFL operates across state lines. If every 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:43.009 city started seizing teams to keep them from 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:45.250 moving, it would completely destroy the interstate 00:14:45.250 --> 00:14:47.710 commerce of the league. It would be chaos. You 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:49.889 couldn't run a league if Baltimore sees the Colts 00:14:49.889 --> 00:14:51.950 and Oakland sees the Raiders and so on. Great. 00:14:52.029 --> 00:14:54.009 So the Commerce Clause saved the Raiders, not 00:14:54.009 --> 00:14:57.370 property rights laws. The eminent domain argument 00:14:57.370 --> 00:15:00.049 itself was found to be plausible. That is just 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:03.450 wild. It really stretches the definition of necessity 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:06.980 to its breaking point. It implies that public 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:09.419 entertainment is a public necessity. It does. 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:11.720 And that brings us to the other side of the equation, 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.899 the compensation. We talked about Grotius saying 00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:18.200 the state must make good the loss. Just compensation. 00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:20.350 That's the phrase in the U .S. Constitution. 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:22.889 And in theory, the idea is to make the owner 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:25.789 whole, to put you in the same pecuniary position 00:15:25.789 --> 00:15:29.049 money -wise, as if the taking had never happened. 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:31.110 That sounds fair on the surface. If my house 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:34.830 is worth $500 ,000, you give me $500 ,000. I 00:15:34.830 --> 00:15:37.330 take that money, I buy another house. No harm, 00:15:37.389 --> 00:15:40.029 no foul. But worth is a very subjective term. 00:15:40.409 --> 00:15:43.529 In practice, courts usually limit this to fair 00:15:43.529 --> 00:15:46.230 market value at the property's highest and best 00:15:46.230 --> 00:15:48.029 use. Okay, but what about all the other stuff? 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.440 I mean, moving is expensive. What if I run a 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.519 business out of that building? What about my 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.779 goodwill, my reputation with the locals? What 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:57.659 if all my customers know I'm on the corner of 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:00.320 main and first, and if I move, they won't be 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.820 able to find me? That is the pain point. And 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:05.179 generally, incidental losses are not covered. 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:10.159 Really? So all that is just lost? Your attorney's 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.700 fees to fight the taking. Usually not covered. 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:15.970 Appraiser's fees. That's on you. business goodwill, 00:16:16.129 --> 00:16:18.870 unless there's a specific state law or something 00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:21.529 like the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act applies, 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:24.389 you don't get paid for the fact that your customer 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.149 base won't follow you to a new location. So you 00:16:27.149 --> 00:16:29.470 could literally lose your building, get paid 00:16:29.470 --> 00:16:31.529 the market rate for the bricks and mortar, but 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:33.889 lose your entire livelihood because you can't 00:16:33.889 --> 00:16:36.070 replicate the business elsewhere. And the government 00:16:36.070 --> 00:16:37.909 just says, sorry, that's not our problem. That 00:16:37.909 --> 00:16:40.230 is precisely what can happen. There are very 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:43.509 rare exceptions. There was a case, Kimball Laundry 00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:45.929 Co., United States, that dealt with business 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:48.950 losses in temporary takings. A temporary taking. 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:50.990 The government took over a laundry during World 00:16:50.990 --> 00:16:53.250 War II, and the court said they had to pay for 00:16:53.250 --> 00:16:56.029 the trade routes, the delivery routes that they 00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:58.750 disrupted. And another, United States v. Pee 00:16:58.750 --> 00:17:01.149 Wee Coal Co., which covered operating losses 00:17:01.149 --> 00:17:04.809 during a WWII mine seizure. But those are exceptions, 00:17:04.910 --> 00:17:07.569 not the rule. They are. For the average person 00:17:07.569 --> 00:17:10.690 losing a shop or a home, the fair market value 00:17:10.690 --> 00:17:14.269 often feels very, very unfair. It covers the 00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:16.690 asset, but not the disruption, the emotional 00:17:16.690 --> 00:17:19.190 toll, or the lost momentum of a family business. 00:17:19.609 --> 00:17:21.809 It seems like the make -whole theory is a nice 00:17:21.809 --> 00:17:24.130 idea that gets completely lost in the bureaucracy. 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:27.210 It is the gap between legal theory and economic 00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:29.930 reality. Let's shift gears and look specifically 00:17:29.930 --> 00:17:32.809 at the United States. Because in the U .S., this 00:17:32.809 --> 00:17:35.190 battle over public use versus public benefit 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:38.569 has been well, it's been intense. It feels like 00:17:38.569 --> 00:17:40.730 this is where the philosophy really hits the 00:17:40.730 --> 00:17:42.890 road. It has been one of the most contentious 00:17:42.890 --> 00:17:46.130 areas of constitutional law for decades. We start 00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:48.549 with the Fifth Amendment. It's very short. Nor 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:50.829 shall private property be taken for public use 00:17:50.829 --> 00:17:53.250 without just compensation. Just two requirements, 00:17:53.470 --> 00:17:56.190 public use and just compensation. That's it. 00:17:56.309 --> 00:17:58.369 And as we said, Congress can do this directly 00:17:58.369 --> 00:18:01.059 or they can delegate it. Right. So Congress can 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:03.900 pass an act to take land directly or they can 00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:06.420 delegate the power to private entities like public 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:09.339 utilities. So a power company can take land for 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:11.880 power lines or railroads can take land for tracks 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.220 or even in some very specific cases, individuals. 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:17.559 But the real battle has been over that first 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.099 phrase, public use. That definition has evolved 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:24.799 or maybe mutated over time. That's a good way 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.019 to put it. Originally, it meant what you think 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.589 it means. Actual public usage. A road that everyone 00:18:30.589 --> 00:18:33.710 drives on. A fort that protects everyone. A post 00:18:33.710 --> 00:18:36.190 office. Things the public actually touches or 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:39.009 occupies. Correct. But in the mid -20th century, 00:18:39.130 --> 00:18:41.589 we saw a massive shift. The government began 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:44.289 taking property specifically to transfer it to 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:46.210 private third parties. And this is where it gets 00:18:46.210 --> 00:18:48.210 really tricky. Taking my land to give it to a 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:51.029 private developer. Yes. It started with the concept 00:18:51.029 --> 00:18:53.650 of blight. Blight. That sounds like a disease 00:18:53.650 --> 00:18:55.970 for a city. In urban planning terms, it kind 00:18:55.970 --> 00:18:58.529 of is. The first big case was Berman v. Parker 00:18:58.529 --> 00:19:01.950 in 1954. This was in Washington, D .C. The Supreme 00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:03.509 Court allowed the government to take properties 00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:06.490 that were deemed blighted or impediments to development. 00:19:06.769 --> 00:19:08.890 So we're talking about slums, basically. Yes. 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:11.890 The argument was that the area was dilapidated, 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:14.230 unsafe, and was hurting the community as a whole. 00:19:14.390 --> 00:19:17.210 So clearing it all out was a public benefit, 00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:20.009 even if the land ended up being sold to private 00:19:20.009 --> 00:19:22.269 developers to build nice new apartments or shops. 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:24.960 Okay, I can... I can see the argument there. 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:28.819 Urban renewal. If a place is genuinely dangerous 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:31.359 and falling apart, maybe the government does 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.000 have a role to play. But it didn't stop there. 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:36.980 No, it expanded. The landmark case, the one that 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.839 really got people angry, was Kelo v. City of 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.299 New London in 2005. I remember this. This was 00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:45.220 huge news at the time. It was. In Kelo, the Supreme 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.180 Court ruled that the government could take non 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:49.619 -blighted property. We're talking about perfectly 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:52.180 good, well -maintained homes. Susette Kelo had 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:54.359 a lovely little pink house. It wasn't a slum 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:55.920 by any stretch. And they took her perfectly good 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.000 house to give it to a private developer. Yes. 00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:00.660 The justification was purely economic development. 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:04.420 Not blight. not danger. Just money. Just money. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.779 The argument was that the new owner, a big pharmaceutical 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.099 development, Pfizer was involved, would generate 00:20:10.099 --> 00:20:12.579 higher tax revenue and create more jobs. Therefore, 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:15.579 it was a public benefit. So if I have a modest 00:20:15.579 --> 00:20:18.079 little house and a developer wants to build a 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.920 luxury hotel that would pay more in property 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:23.960 taxes, the government can come in and say, sorry, 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:26.039 the hotel is better for the public than your 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.759 house is. Under the Kelo decision, yes. The court 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:31.500 essentially said that public use could be interpreted 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:42.819 as public. That feels like such a slippery slope. 00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:45.660 It basically means no property is safe if someone 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:48.259 richer wants it and can convince the city they'll 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:51.559 pay more taxes. It was a very controversial 504 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.140 decision. Justice Sandra Day O 'Connor wrote 00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:56.859 a stinging dissent. She said this decision made 00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:59.720 all property vulnerable. What did she say? Her 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:13.460 words were, That is a chilling quote. What was 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:15.619 the fallout from that decision? It sparked an 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:18.119 enormous backlash at the state level. People 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.160 were absolutely furious. Many states rushed to 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.940 pass new laws and even constitutional amendments 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:26.640 restricting that kind of taking, specifically 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.420 forbidding takings for economic development alone. 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:31.599 So they tried to close the door that the Supreme 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:34.319 Court had just opened. They did. It really struck 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:36.740 a nerve with the public. It felt deeply un -American 00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:39.319 to many people. Now, before we leave the U .S., 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:40.960 I want to touch on one more technical thing that 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.099 I found really interesting in the notes. Partial 00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:46.079 takings. Yes, this is very common. Let's say 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.960 the government needs to widen a highway. They 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.799 don't take your whole farm. They just need to 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.039 take a 20 -foot strip along the front of your 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:56.619 property. Okay, so I keep my house, I keep my 00:21:56.619 --> 00:21:59.160 barn, I just lose the frontage. Right, and obviously 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:00.980 they have to pay you for that 20 -foot strip 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:03.279 they took. But taking that strip might lower 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.460 the value of the rest of your land. Oh, for sure. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.740 Maybe my house is now right up against a noisy 00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:11.779 highway. Maybe I lost my nice driveway and now 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:14.339 I have a weird, awkward entrance. Maybe the shape 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:16.380 of the land is now strange and hard to farm. 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:18.859 Right. Who wants to live five feet from a six 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.420 -lane freeway? It absolutely ruins the property 00:22:21.420 --> 00:22:24.579 value. So what happens then? That loss in value 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:27.079 to the remaining property is called severance 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.380 damages, and you're entitled to compensation 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:31.140 for that as well. Okay, that's good. So they 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:33.680 pay me for the land they took and for the damage 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.500 they did to the rest of it. However, there is 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:39.670 a little something called... an offset. Of course 00:22:39.670 --> 00:22:41.910 there is. There's always a catch. If the new 00:22:41.910 --> 00:22:44.490 project increases the value of your leftover 00:22:44.490 --> 00:22:47.450 land, let's say that new highway builds an exit 00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:49.809 ramp right near your farm, suddenly making it 00:22:49.809 --> 00:22:53.170 prime commercial real estate, that benefit can 00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:55.490 be deducted from your damages. So they could 00:22:55.490 --> 00:22:57.829 theoretically say, yes, we took your front yard, 00:22:57.950 --> 00:22:59.910 but we also made your backyard a gold mine, so 00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:01.730 we don't owe you anything for the damages. In 00:23:01.730 --> 00:23:04.250 some jurisdictions, yes. If the benefit outweigh 00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:06.490 the damage, they can argue, we took your front 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:08.269 yard, but now your property is worth a million 00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:10.750 dollars because it's next to a new Walmart, so 00:23:10.750 --> 00:23:13.529 we're even. Fascinating. It really does turn 00:23:13.529 --> 00:23:16.809 your home and your land into a complex math problem. 00:23:17.009 --> 00:23:19.269 It does. It removes the emotion and just replaces 00:23:19.269 --> 00:23:21.430 it with appraisal tables and benefit calculations. 00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:24.650 Let's jump across the pond because the U .S. 00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:27.470 system is fundamentally based on English common 00:23:27.470 --> 00:23:30.190 law. So to understand where this all came from, 00:23:30.289 --> 00:23:32.210 we have to look at the United Kingdom. We have 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:34.789 to look at the roots of the law. And for that, 00:23:34.869 --> 00:23:38.269 we have to go way back to 1066. 1066 and all 00:23:38.269 --> 00:23:41.509 that. William the Conqueror. The Norman Conquest. 00:23:41.769 --> 00:23:44.589 Right. When William conquered England, he seized 00:23:44.589 --> 00:23:47.609 virtually all the land in the country. He maintained 00:23:47.609 --> 00:23:50.410 absolute power over it and then granted fiefs 00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:53.250 to landholders who served him. So originally... 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:55.559 The king owned everything anyway. He was the 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:57.519 ultimate landlord. Effectively, yes. Everyone 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:00.200 else was just a tenant. But the English have 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:03.119 this long, proud history of pushing back against 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:06.319 absolute power. And that brings us to the Magna 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.059 Carta, Chapter 28. The Magna Carta comes up in 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:10.940 everything, doesn't it? It's just that foundational. 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:13.480 It was a check on this kind of power. It required 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:16.640 immediate cash payment for expropriations. It 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:19.599 said, and I'm paraphrasing, no constable or other 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:22.099 royal official shall take corn or other movable 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:24.039 goods from any man without immediate payment. 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:28.880 So cash on delivery for land seizures. No IOUs 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.430 from the king. Basically. But there are some 00:24:31.430 --> 00:24:33.470 amazing little historical curiosities in the 00:24:33.470 --> 00:24:36.269 UK legal record. For instance, the commissionals 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.710 of sewers in Lincolnshire in 1427. The commissioners 00:24:39.710 --> 00:24:41.910 of sewers. That sounds like the absolute worst 00:24:41.910 --> 00:24:44.349 job title in the Middle Ages. A very powerful 00:24:44.349 --> 00:24:47.029 group, apparently. They were granted the power 00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:49.609 to take land without any compensation. Ouch. 00:24:49.789 --> 00:24:52.569 I guess drainage was considered so vitally important 00:24:52.569 --> 00:24:54.509 that property rights just went out the window. 00:24:54.730 --> 00:24:57.369 It was an early outlier. By the 16th century, 00:24:57.569 --> 00:25:00.109 parliamentary takings generally did require compensation. 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:03.039 compensation. And here's a fun B sale. For a 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.319 very long time, the common practice in the UK 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:08.579 was to pay the assessed value of the land plus 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:11.440 a 10 % bonus. A bonus. Why on earth would they 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.920 pay a bonus? It was a recognition of the compulsory 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:16.559 nature of the sale. We are forcing you to sell, 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:18.720 so here is a little extra for the trouble. A 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.079 salatium for the inconvenience. That is incredibly 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:23.700 civilized. Here is the fair market value, plus 00:25:23.700 --> 00:25:26.059 a tip for inconveniencing you. What happened 00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:28.539 to the 10 % bonus? It was eliminated as the voting 00:25:28.539 --> 00:25:31.240 franchise expanded. Wait, what does voting have 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.299 to do with it? Well, think about who was sitting 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:35.920 in Parliament in the 18th and early 19th centuries. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.319 It was landowners. When only landowners could 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:41.960 vote... Parliament, which was made up of landowners, 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.759 was very generous to other landowners. If you 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:46.920 take my land, you better pay me a handsome bonus. 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:51.460 Ah, he was self -interest at work. Exactly. But 00:25:51.460 --> 00:25:54.119 as non -landowners got the right to vote, the 00:25:54.119 --> 00:25:56.539 political will to give extra bonuses to property 00:25:56.539 --> 00:25:59.640 owners just evaporated. The general public didn't 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:01.799 want their tax money going to extra bonuses for 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:04.579 the rich. So the bonus disappeared. That is a 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:07.220 perfect, perfect example of how politics directly 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:10.220 shapes the law. It is. Another little difference 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:12.900 is the use of juries. In the U .S., we don't 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:15.099 typically use juries for these valuation cases 00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:17.339 anymore. It's usually a judge or a special commission. 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:20.420 But the U .K. used juries for valuation well 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:23.259 into the 20th century, like in the Attorney General 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:27.460 Vita Kaiser's Royal Hotel LTD case in 1919. So 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:29.920 today in the modern U .K., it's all called compulsory 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:32.579 purchase. Yes. And if the price isn't agreed 00:26:32.579 --> 00:26:34.920 upon, it goes to what's called the upper tribunal. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:38.269 That sounds very Harry Potter. The upper tridunal 00:26:38.269 --> 00:26:41.460 will now decide your fate. It does a bit. And 00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:44.319 Scotland, as is often the case, has its own distinct 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:47.079 legal history. Compulsory purchase there really 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.200 took off during the Victorian railway mania. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:51.900 The trains again. It really seems like trains 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.640 are the driving force of modern property law 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.400 in the 19th century globally. They absolutely 00:26:57.400 --> 00:26:59.920 were. They reshaped the physical and the legal 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.559 landscape. The sheer amount of land needed for 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:05.000 a national rail network forced every country 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.240 to standardize and codify how they took land. 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:10.000 You couldn't have a patchwork. Town by town system. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:12.200 Let's broaden our horizon now. We've done the 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:15.299 West. Let's look at Asia. Because the scale there, 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:17.980 it's just completely different. The scale is 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:20.660 immense. And the prime example has to be China. 00:27:20.859 --> 00:27:23.119 We have to talk about the Three Gorges Dam. The 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.519 Three Gorges Dam. It is the ultimate example 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:29.279 of eminent domain on a massive, almost unimaginable 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:32.160 scale. To build that dam, the Chinese government 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.839 displaced over 1 .3 million people. 1 .3 million. 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:38.640 That's the population of a major city. That's 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:41.720 bigger than San Francisco or Dallas. Entire towns, 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.400 ancient cities, ancestral villages, all of it 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:48.500 now underwater. This just highlights the incredible 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:51.319 social and environmental cost of these large 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:53.940 -scale public interest projects. How does the 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:56.220 legal framework even work there? I'm assuming 00:27:56.220 --> 00:27:58.180 it's not... quite like the U .S. system with 00:27:58.180 --> 00:28:01.440 court battles over fair market value. The term 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.319 they use is requisitions. It's constitutionally 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.619 permitted for the public interest with compensation. 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:09.960 But for a long time, the compensation was heavily 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:12.019 criticized as being insufficient, especially 00:28:12.019 --> 00:28:14.539 for rural farmers who were moved into high rise 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:16.539 apartments in cities where they couldn't farm. 00:28:16.660 --> 00:28:18.299 So they lost their land and their entire way 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:20.759 of life. Exactly. But there have been reforms. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:23.720 In 2019, there was a major amendment to the land 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:26.380 administration law. It specifically aimed to 00:28:26.380 --> 00:28:28.940 guarantee greater financial security for displaced 00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:32.000 farmers. It spells out much more detailed guidelines 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.339 for compensation and resettlement. So it shows 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:36.539 that even in a system like China's, there is 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:38.980 a growing pressure to address the hue and cost 00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:41.279 of these massive takings. You can't just displace 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:43.140 a million people without significant consequences. 00:28:43.380 --> 00:28:45.160 Right. There's a recognition that the process 00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:48.549 needs to be fairer. Then we have India. And India's 00:28:48.549 --> 00:28:50.670 story is really interesting because of the constitutional 00:28:50.670 --> 00:28:53.390 gymnastics they've gone through over the right 00:28:53.390 --> 00:28:55.750 to property. Gymnastics is the perfect word. 00:28:56.269 --> 00:28:59.130 Originally, in the Indian Constitution, property 00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:01.950 was a fundamental right. It was in Articles 19 00:29:01.950 --> 00:29:04.809 and 31. So it was protected on a highest possible 00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:08.109 level, like free speech or freedom of religion. 00:29:08.309 --> 00:29:11.670 It was. But then came the 44th Amendment in 1978. 00:29:12.029 --> 00:29:14.519 What happened? They just... deleted the right 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:16.880 to property from the list of fundamental rights. 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:19.019 They just diluted it. You can do that. They did. 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:21.880 It's now Article 300A. It's just a constitutional 00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:24.380 right, not a fundamental one. What is the practical 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:26.839 difference between a constitutional right and 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:29.140 a fundamental right? The difference is huge. 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:32.960 It means that if a legislature makes a law that 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:36.119 deprives a person of property, that law is not 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:38.440 unconstitutional, provided there is some legal 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.779 authority for it. You can't go to the Supreme 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:43.160 Court claiming a violation of your fundamental 00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:45.200 rights in the same way you could before. Why 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:47.460 on earth did they do that? It was largely to 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.440 facilitate land reform and redistribution. The 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:52.660 government at the time felt that strong property 00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:55.000 rights were blocking necessary social changes, 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:57.359 like breaking up large feudal estates. states 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.200 and helping the landless poor. But fast forward 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:02.400 to the modern era and you get the Al -Anar Act 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.319 of 2013. Lawyer. It's a mouthful. The Right to 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:09.220 Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:11.839 Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act. Okay, but 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:14.759 transparency and rehabilitation sound like promising 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.000 words to have in the title. It was a big step. 00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:20.759 It replaced a colonial era act from 1894. That's 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:23.400 a long time to operate under an old law. The 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:25.619 focus of the new act shifted to fair compensation 00:30:25.619 --> 00:30:28.089 and actually rehabilitating the people you displace. 00:30:28.349 --> 00:30:30.650 But there is a massive tension in India right 00:30:30.650 --> 00:30:32.910 now. Between what? Between the liberalization 00:30:32.910 --> 00:30:35.470 of the economy, setting up these huge special 00:30:35.470 --> 00:30:39.150 economic zones or SEZs for industry and the rights 00:30:39.150 --> 00:30:42.430 of farmers. These SEZs require enormous amounts 00:30:42.430 --> 00:30:44.410 of land. I'm guessing farmers don't want to give 00:30:44.410 --> 00:30:46.329 up their land. Exactly. There have been huge 00:30:46.329 --> 00:30:49.269 protests and there is this serious debate happening 00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:51.950 in India right now about whether property needs 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:54.450 to be reinstated as a fundamental right to protect 00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:57.049 the little guy. against powerful corporate interests 00:30:57.049 --> 00:30:58.829 who are working with the government. It's the 00:30:58.829 --> 00:31:01.630 classic development versus displacement dilemma. 00:31:01.950 --> 00:31:04.710 Do you build a factory that creates 10 ,000 jobs, 00:31:04.849 --> 00:31:07.410 or do you save the 500 farms that have been there 00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:10.049 for generations? Everywhere you look in the world, 00:31:10.130 --> 00:31:12.650 that is the core question. Let's move to Africa, 00:31:12.849 --> 00:31:16.369 specifically Zimbabwe. This is a case where eminent 00:31:16.369 --> 00:31:19.450 domain intersects with history, colonialism, 00:31:19.670 --> 00:31:22.750 and racial justice in a very raw and powerful 00:31:22.750 --> 00:31:26.069 way. Yes, so the historical context here is absolutely 00:31:26.069 --> 00:31:28.829 vital. In the 1980s, shortly after independence, 00:31:29.230 --> 00:31:33.269 about 4 ,400 white Rhodesians owned 51 % of the 00:31:33.269 --> 00:31:35.410 arable land in the country. That is a staggering 00:31:35.410 --> 00:31:38.509 statistic. 51 % of the land owned by such a tiny 00:31:38.509 --> 00:31:40.990 group. It was the direct legacy of colonialism, 00:31:41.329 --> 00:31:43.509 and it was seen as unsustainable and unjust. 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:46.779 So under Robert Mugabe, starting in the 1990s, 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:49.160 the government used compulsory purchase extensively. 00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.380 They called it the land reform program. And the 00:31:51.380 --> 00:31:54.539 goal was redistribution. Yes, to redistribute 00:31:54.539 --> 00:31:58.500 land to dispossessed black Zimbabweans. The government 00:31:58.500 --> 00:32:00.759 argued this was necessary to correct historical 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:03.720 injustices. They viewed the colonial era land 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.279 ownership itself as a theft that needed to be 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:09.329 reversed. But the compensation issue. That was 00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:11.630 the big sticking point, right? It caused a huge 00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:14.589 international incident. It was a major geopolitical 00:32:14.589 --> 00:32:17.809 flashpoint. The process was often chaotic and 00:32:17.809 --> 00:32:20.650 sometimes violent. Compensation was delayed for 00:32:20.650 --> 00:32:23.509 years or not paid at all. The economy suffered 00:32:23.509 --> 00:32:26.029 massively as agricultural production just collapsed. 00:32:26.309 --> 00:32:28.750 It became a global cautionary tale about how 00:32:28.750 --> 00:32:31.269 the process of reform matters just as much as 00:32:31.269 --> 00:32:33.420 the goal. But there is a recent update in the 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:37.140 notes. Something happened in 2022. Yes. In 2022, 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.980 the Zimbabwean government finally agreed to pay 00:32:39.980 --> 00:32:43.160 3 .5 billion U .S. dollars in compensation to 00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:45.000 the white farmers who lost their land. Three 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:47.400 and a half billion. There's a huge sum for a 00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:49.559 country like Zimbabwe. It is. It's a recognition 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:51.900 that while the purpose of the takings might have 00:32:51.900 --> 00:32:54.200 been historical correction, the process still 00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:56.680 required a financial settling of accounts. It's 00:32:56.680 --> 00:32:58.579 an attempt to finally close that chapter and 00:32:58.579 --> 00:33:00.480 normalize relations with the international community. 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:04.519 That brings us to Oceania, Australia. You mentioned 00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:07.220 earlier they use that unique word resumption. 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:10.359 Yes. Resumption. And it reflects the legal fiction 00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:12.759 or a legal reality, depending on your point of 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:15.299 view, that all land in Australia was originally 00:33:15.299 --> 00:33:17.619 owned by the crown before it was sold or granted 00:33:17.619 --> 00:33:19.579 to individual. So when the government takes it, 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:22.359 they are just resuming possession. I'll just 00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:24.660 take that back now. Thank you. It sounds so polite. 00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:27.180 It does. So how does it work there? The Australian 00:33:27.180 --> 00:33:31.319 Constitution in Section 51 requires acquisitions 00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:34.319 to be on just terms. Just terms. Sounds friendly. 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.480 Similar to just compensation. It is. But there's 00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:40.059 a fascinating and controversial legal loophole 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:41.920 involving the difference between an Australian 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:44.799 state and an Australian territory. A loophole. 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:47.079 I love a good legal loophole. The Commonwealth, 00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:49.339 which is the federal government, is limited by 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:51.579 the Constitution to taking land for specific 00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:56.109 public purposes. But the territories... Well, 00:33:56.190 --> 00:33:58.450 there was a famous case in the Northern Territory. 00:33:58.450 --> 00:34:01.650 Go on. The Lands Acquisition Act 1998 in the 00:34:01.650 --> 00:34:03.970 Northern Territory allowed the minister to acquire 00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:06.549 land for any purpose whatever. For any purpose 00:34:06.549 --> 00:34:09.610 whatever. That sounds incredibly broad. That 00:34:09.610 --> 00:34:11.489 sounds like because I feel like it today. It 00:34:11.489 --> 00:34:13.630 is about as broad as it gets. And the High Court 00:34:13.630 --> 00:34:16.309 of Australia upheld it. This became incredibly 00:34:16.309 --> 00:34:18.449 controversial because it was used to extinguish 00:34:18.449 --> 00:34:21.250 native title interests. Native title. So indigenous 00:34:21.250 --> 00:34:24.880 land rights. Yes. By resuming the land for any 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:27.619 purpose whatever, the government could effectively 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:29.900 wipe out the native title claims on that land. 00:34:30.619 --> 00:34:33.199 Justice Michael Kirby, in his famous dissent, 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.639 called it assisted theft and blasted the law 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:38.619 for its lack of any public purpose limitation. 00:34:39.219 --> 00:34:42.400 Wow. That is a stark reminder of how these laws 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.239 can be weaponized against specific, often marginalized 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:47.940 groups. If the government can take land for any 00:34:47.940 --> 00:34:51.210 purpose, then nobody's land is safe. but especially 00:34:51.210 --> 00:34:53.070 not the people with the least political power. 00:34:53.269 --> 00:34:55.349 Absolutely. The definition of public purpose 00:34:55.349 --> 00:34:57.590 matters immensely. If you remove that guardrail, 00:34:57.630 --> 00:34:59.869 you just have raw power. Let's loop back to Europe. 00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:01.969 We talked about the UK, but continental Europe 00:35:01.969 --> 00:35:03.670 has a slightly different flavor. They have the 00:35:03.670 --> 00:35:06.289 European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR. 00:35:06.429 --> 00:35:08.590 They do. And that adds another layer. You have 00:35:08.590 --> 00:35:10.650 Article 8, which is the right to respect for 00:35:10.650 --> 00:35:13.250 one's home, and Protocol 1, Article 1, which 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.050 guarantees the peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions. 00:35:16.050 --> 00:35:18.750 That sounds lovely. Peaceful enjoyment. It sounds 00:35:18.750 --> 00:35:21.599 like something from a spa brochure. It is. But 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:23.500 of course, there are exceptions for the public 00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:26.719 interest and for things like taxes. But generally, 00:35:27.019 --> 00:35:29.679 the ECHR provides a strong layer of protection 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:32.519 for property owners. However, history gives us 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:34.940 some very dramatic exceptions. We absolutely 00:35:34.940 --> 00:35:37.079 have to talk about the Renault story in France. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:39.519 This is one of the most dramatic examples you'll 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:42.940 ever find of punitive expropriation. Punitive 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:46.789 as in? Punishment. Exactly. As punishment. The 00:35:46.789 --> 00:35:49.889 year is 1945. France has just been liberated 00:35:49.889 --> 00:35:52.730 from Nazi occupation. General Charles de Gaulle 00:35:52.730 --> 00:35:55.929 is in charge. He issues an order to expropriate 00:35:55.929 --> 00:35:58.610 the entire Renault car company from its founder, 00:35:58.809 --> 00:36:01.210 Louis Renault. Why? Did the government need the 00:36:01.210 --> 00:36:03.650 factory to build tanks or something? No. It was 00:36:03.650 --> 00:36:05.929 because of accusations that Louis Renault had 00:36:05.929 --> 00:36:08.889 collaborated with the Nazi occupiers during the 00:36:08.889 --> 00:36:11.090 war. So they took his entire company because 00:36:11.090 --> 00:36:13.719 he was accused of being a collaborator. Posthumously, 00:36:13.820 --> 00:36:16.599 yes. Louis Renault actually died in prison before 00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:19.139 he could be tried. But the state nationalized 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:21.920 the company, turning it into the Régie Nationale 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.820 des Usines Renault. And this is the key. They 00:36:24.820 --> 00:36:27.559 did it without... Any compensation. Without compensation. 00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:29.699 So it wasn't a forced sale. It was a penalty. 00:36:29.900 --> 00:36:32.219 It was a fine of 100 percent of his company. 00:36:32.679 --> 00:36:35.199 Precisely. It wasn't we need this for the public 00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:38.000 good. It was you don't deserve to own this anymore. 00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:41.260 That is a very, very different use of the power. 00:36:41.340 --> 00:36:43.960 It was an act of national purification as much 00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:45.980 as it was an economic one. What about Italy? 00:36:46.380 --> 00:36:48.679 Italy makes an interesting distinction between 00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:51.739 esproprio, which is taking a specific piece of 00:36:51.739 --> 00:36:55.019 property, and nationalizzazione. Nationalization. 00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:57.559 Right. Taking a whole industrial sector. For 00:36:57.559 --> 00:37:00.059 example, in 1962, they nationalized the entire 00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:01.760 electric power sector. They just took the whole 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:04.659 grid. But Italy also has this unique concept 00:37:04.659 --> 00:37:07.860 in its constitution called social solidarity. 00:37:08.139 --> 00:37:10.039 Social solidarity. That sounds very European. 00:37:10.340 --> 00:37:12.860 It does, doesn't it? The Constitution explicitly 00:37:12.860 --> 00:37:16.340 binds citizens to duties of political and economic 00:37:16.340 --> 00:37:19.340 solidarity. And this can be used as a justification 00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:22.239 for takings. The idea is that you are part of 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:24.460 a society and sometimes you have to take a hit 00:37:24.460 --> 00:37:26.719 for the team. So it's less, this is my castle 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:29.739 and I'll defend it to the death, and more, we 00:37:29.739 --> 00:37:32.239 are all in this village together and the village 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:34.400 has needs. That's a great way of putting it. 00:37:34.619 --> 00:37:38.079 And in Germany, their basic law in Article 14 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:40.760 is very clear. Expropriation is only permitted 00:37:40.760 --> 00:37:43.880 for the public good. We have covered legal, political, 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:46.639 and historical perspectives. But there is one 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:49.659 more lens in our stack of sources, and that's 00:37:49.659 --> 00:37:53.360 religion. Yes. It's fascinating to see how theology 00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:55.579 tackles this, because usually we think of religion 00:37:55.579 --> 00:37:57.940 as dealing with the soul, not with real estate 00:37:57.940 --> 00:38:00.289 law. Specifically, we're looking at... Catholic 00:38:00.289 --> 00:38:02.190 social teaching. We are. We're looking at Pope 00:38:02.190 --> 00:38:05.050 Paul VI's encyclical Popularum Progressio, which 00:38:05.050 --> 00:38:07.690 was written in 1967. What did the pope have to 00:38:07.690 --> 00:38:10.789 say about eminent domain? He explicitly allowed 00:38:10.789 --> 00:38:13.530 for the expropriation of landed estates if it's 00:38:13.530 --> 00:38:15.949 required for the common good or if the community's 00:38:15.949 --> 00:38:18.480 needs demand it. Really? The Catholic Church 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:21.199 is on board with this. It is. The argument from 00:38:21.199 --> 00:38:23.380 that perspective is that private property is 00:38:23.380 --> 00:38:26.320 not an absolute godlike right that trumps all 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:29.059 other considerations. If the community is starving 00:38:29.059 --> 00:38:31.579 and you are sitting on a massive unused estate, 00:38:31.860 --> 00:38:34.500 the moral imperative, not just the legal one, 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:38.039 might be to redistribute that land. So in that 00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:40.260 view, eminent domain isn't just a state power. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:43.360 It could be seen as a moral tool. Potentially, 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:46.099 yes. It frames ownership as a form of stewardship. 00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:48.940 You hold it, but you hold it within the context 00:38:48.940 --> 00:38:51.000 of a community. If you hoard it to the detriment 00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:53.739 of that community, you could be seen as forfeiting 00:38:53.739 --> 00:38:56.619 your moral right to it. So what does this all 00:38:56.619 --> 00:38:59.440 mean? We have gone from 17th century Dutch philosophy 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:02.960 to modern Chinese dams, from the seizure of French 00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:05.780 car factories to the attempted seizure of American 00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.480 football teams. It is a lot to process, but I 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:10.659 think the synthesis is clear. There is this universal 00:39:10.659 --> 00:39:12.940 tension between the individual and the state. 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:15.880 Between the individual's castle and the community's 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:19.000 needs, whether you call it resumption or requisition 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:22.480 or condemnation, every single society has realized 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:26.539 that sometimes the mine has to yield to the hours. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:29.539 It's the price of civilization in a way. If we 00:39:29.539 --> 00:39:32.480 want roads and hospitals and dams and power grids, 00:39:32.539 --> 00:39:35.800 someone somewhere has to move. But the danger, 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:38.280 as we saw in the Kilo case or the native tidal 00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:41.639 cases in Australia, is who gets to define need? 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:44.840 Who decides when the hours is actually just someone 00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:47.280 else's profit? That is the scary part. And here 00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:49.239 is where it gets really interesting for the future. 00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:51.659 Oh. We have been talking about physical things, 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:55.420 land. Factories, football teams. But we are all 00:39:55.420 --> 00:39:57.659 moving into a digital world. We are, for sure. 00:39:57.980 --> 00:39:59.599 So here's a final provocative thought for you 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:01.460 listening. As we move into an era of digital 00:40:01.460 --> 00:40:04.059 assets, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, 00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:07.119 will the definition of public use expand even 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:08.880 further? That is the million dollar question. 00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:12.000 If the government can take a patent for the public 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:16.199 good, could they one day seize a blockchain because 00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:18.599 it's become critical infrastructure? Could they 00:40:18.599 --> 00:40:22.059 seize an algorithm that runs the economy? If 00:40:22.059 --> 00:40:25.579 public use evolves to mean public economic stability, 00:40:26.139 --> 00:40:29.320 what, if anything, is safe? If the government 00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:31.880 can take a sports franchise because it's good 00:40:31.880 --> 00:40:35.059 for public morale, could they take over a social 00:40:35.059 --> 00:40:36.780 media platform because it's become the public 00:40:36.780 --> 00:40:39.860 square? Exactly. The very definition of property 00:40:39.860 --> 00:40:42.639 is changing right under our feet. You can bet 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:44.820 the definition of eminent domain will change 00:40:44.820 --> 00:40:46.460 right along with it. It's definitely something 00:40:46.460 --> 00:40:48.800 to watch closely. Thank you for joining us on 00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:50.659 this deep dive. It's been a pleasure exploring 00:40:50.659 --> 00:40:52.920 the very fuzzy boundaries of ownership with you. 00:40:52.980 --> 00:40:54.800 Always a pleasure. Until next time, keep asking 00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:57.139 questions. And maybe read the fine print on your 00:40:57.139 --> 00:40:58.139 deed. See you next time.