The fight against McDonald's

[Fern]

But why don't the members of a community get to decide what goes on in their own backyard? Isn't that the essence of freedom?
-snip-

They do, to an extent. This is where the issue of competing rights kicks in.

The community through the power of zoning/building regulations and the like can dictate the appearance of the building. They can also regulate signage. They can probably regulate business hours too.

But then we have the rights of the business person (who, BTW, is also a member of that community and will be paying taxes to it.). Don't they have some rights too? As long as their business is legal and they otherwise follow the rules I think they do.

Fern

 

[OverVolt]

That is absolutely correct and a bit funny. Why protest a business, if people REALLY didn't want it there, it would go out of business and leave.

Protesting business just occurred to me is the dumbest thing ever. If you want to "protest" just don't spend your money there.

 

[bshole]

Fern,

I hear ya. It just rankles me that the big corporation/money ALWAYS win when they go against the little people. It appears that "justice" can be bought in America and that those with power have purchased it. It is either let us in OR we bankrupt you with lawsuits. So you lose your wealth defending a lawsuit or you lose your wealth in reduced property values.

 

[mammador]

I can see fast food being banned in the future.

People will say that's illiberal, however if the obesity epidemic goes unabated, it's plausible this could occur.

People also are conditioned to view fast food as better tasting. Food taste is ultimately subjective.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I kind of see your point and I kind of dont. You pay out 700K of your money to move into a nice upper middle class community. Some developer throws in low income housing next door and your neighborhood is now filled with people who pay 400 dollars a week for their housing (and have absolutely nothing in common with the existing residents). The value of that land is now worth about half what it was before. Bang, you just lost 350K of equity, representing half of your net assets. That is certainly alot to ask of anybody in the name of "tolerance".

I know where you're coming from, and honestly, I'd probably feel the exact same way.