Guest Post from James Bovard Redneck ethnic cleansing recalled

Redneck ethnic cleansing recalled

Folks sometimes wonder why U.S. foreign aid projects routinely fail.  Perhaps the lesson can be found barely an hour outside the Beltway.   When the government decides to launch massive projects, often the first thing thrown overboard is justice and due process.  And, as happened in the creation of the Shenandoah National Park, politicians and bureaucrats routinely vilify their victims.

From my review essay -
"Few things vanish from public memory more quickly than government atrocities... The seizure of 176,000 acres for the [Shenandoah National] park provoked court battles that helped establish politicians’ right to seize private property for any purpose they proclaimed. In the subsequent decades, the same legal doctrines sanctified expelling more than a million urban residents from their homes. The dictatorial creation of the Shenandoah National Park is a warning that government cannot ravage property rights without ruining lives far and wide."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/4/book-review-shenandoah-a-story-of-conservation-and/