In one of my business dealings, I came across a small city government, completely corrupt, which had a nasty habit of first encouraging new development and then later condemning the property and taking for themselves.
As a thinking businessman, I was well aware of their past history. With large smiles they greated me when I first met them. They encouraged me to clear the land, fill the ditches, and build my buildings. They wanted to sell me their city property for just such development.
I made only one small change to their contract. Instead of a sale, I insisted that they lease me the land for an extended period of time. They must have thought that I was an even bigger fool than the earlier developers, as they agreed with even larger smiles on their faces.
Time passed and I developed the land just as I had planned. Predictably, this small government agency then tried to have my development condemned and confiscated.
They were stunned, however, to learn that they couldn't condemn property that they had leased. The judge sternly told them that condemnation proceedings were null and void against a lease that they themselves had signed.
Of course, I was the one who left the room smiling after that. I had known what I was doing all along. Now they have to suffer my business development for decades to come, all on their own city property (some 8 acres of it, too).
There is a lesson there for people who need to own land that can't be confiscated, and yes, there is still private property in America (but just barely)...