Reasons for optimism.

• Author: Gillespie, Nick
• Position: Editor's Note

LET ME STATE the obvious: In today's political climate, it isn't easy being libertarian--to be dedicated to "free minds and flee markets," to minimal government and maximal liberty, to individual rights and the rule of law. Sure, in these pages, we can--and do--point to all sorts of fantastic developments in science, culture, and technology that allow us to live increasingly richer, more interesting, and longer lives. But given the nearly unchecked growth in government at all levels, an ever-multiplying number of literal and figurative wars fought here and abroad, and the torrent of counterproductive regulations that spew forth like water over a New Orleans levee, it sometimes seems as if the promise of living an extra 20, 50, or 100 years is as much a burden as a blessing.

So I'm glad to tell you that this issue points to reasons for political optimism, some big and some small. In "Property Seizures and the New London Tea Party" (page 24),Web editor Tim Cavanaugh interviews Scott Bullock, the attorney who argued the recently decided eminent domain case Kelo v. New London in front of the Supreme Court. The Court handed down a horrible decision, basically saying, as Bullock puts it, "church property can be taken for a Costco, a farm can be turned into a factory, and a neighborhood can be leveled for a shopping mall." But the popular and legislative response to Kelo has been as heartening as the ruling was dispiriting: Citizens voiced their outrage, and at last count some 30 state legislatures have introduced or promised legislation to curb eminent domain abuse.

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