Boat club deal sacrifices private property rights for whom?

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Boat club deal sacrifices private property rights for whom?
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By Kurt M. Kramer, Alexandria
(File Photo)

To the editor:

Shame on the city of Alexandria for sacrificing the rights of private individuals to … well, whom, exactly?

Like a scene from an Ayn Rand novel, Alexandria has used the power of the gun to, yet again, force a private entity — the Old Dominion Boat Club — to conform to the whims of those who “know better than us.” In the Times’ coverage of the deal struck between City Hall and the boat club (“Done deal,” July 24), John Keegan was more right than he knew when he used the phrase “the ends justify the means.”

We’ve heard this slogan in history many, many times and have seen disastrous ends. In this case, that slogan can be translated as: The property rights of some individuals must be destroyed so that some unspecified others (The majority? The city council? Homeowners with views of the boat club?) may get their desires.

Make no mistake: This was, in fact, a case of eminent domain abuse under the sickening pretense of a mutual agreement. This sort of immorality must desist, or we will find ourselves losing more than just our property.

 

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