More on the Purpose of Government

Yesterday, we had a guest lecturer in our private economic development
class who is a law professor. The subject was takings in general, and
Kelo v. New London in specific. Here is a great flashpoint on the
topic of the purpose of government. So many issues and angles to
consider: property rights vs. police power, the framer's original
intent in the Constitution vs. what those words written 200+ years ago
mean today, the role of the legislature vs. the role of the judiciary,
the power and limits of government in the realm of economic
development, the legal arguments vs. the economic arguments vs. who
can tell the better tear-jerker vs. who's cheating who, and the list
goes on and on. The only thing I'll say here is, I wonder what the
Founding Fathers would say, if they could've been magically
transported to the present day; how they'd marvel at the longevity of
the Constitution and at the same time the challenge of applying it to
a society and economy so different from its original context.