What does the state owe the dead?

A land controversy in Texas is exposing the iron grip of liberal ideology.

Matthew Gault, writing for 404media:

Almost 30 years ago a farming family deeded land to the City of Taylor, Texas, on the condition the city use it for a public park…Now the land that was supposed to belong to the community will become a 135,000 square foot data center.

The story Gault tells here is practically tailor made to elicit the sympathy of its liberal audience, pitting plucky local activists against the corporate might of an up-and-coming tech company, and the benevolent, conservationist intentions of a farming family against ruthless profiteering. As local community group HALT Taylor Data Centers put it, “a generous family set aside land for a future park, and this change of use directly impacts a largely working-class community.”

The backlash has been ferocious. “Deed restrictions are suddenly irrelevant?” asks Austin resident Sandia Blanca. Amanda Katz declares this “an atrocious appropriation of what was supposed to be city parkland”. “Really need to get rid of eminent domain,” La Reina del Rye says.

That last comment, however, should probably raise a red flag for socialists — because what ought to occasion a serious critique of privatization has become, for liberals, a chance to defend private property and attack public power.