It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.
So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.
Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.
Turns out that kids' lemonade stands -- those constants of summertime -- are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors.
The idea that government claims the power to control private contracts between people that don't violate anyone's natural rights is fundamentally absurd.
"public health" + the government's guns = CASH COW
I've never met a retarded person who wasn't smiling.
I presume you've heard about how government regulation has driven large portions of the "raw food" industry underground? I'm particularly thinking of people who enjoy raw milk.
I guess I'm fine with some kind of gub'ment regulation to make sure that the public at large is not getting sick from tainted meat and all that, but where you have stores that specialize in unprocessed foods, the consumer knows exactly what he's getting and presumably recognizes any risk that comes with it.
I guess I'm fine with some kind of gub'ment regulation to make sure that the public at large is not getting sick from tainted meat and all that, but where you have stores that specialize in unprocessed foods, the consumer knows exactly what he's getting and presumably recognizes any risk that comes with it.
The problem is that there's simply no way to limit government's regulations once they get rolling. Over time government always expands as it devours resources stolen from the from the production of the free market.
I've never met a retarded person who wasn't smiling.
Oh, and I had heard about the government cracking down on raw food folks. It's complete and utter bullshit. People should be able to freely contract for any product or service that doesn't fundamentally destroy natural rights. So basically, you can't sell people or yourself into slavery and you can't contract to murder/steal/rape, etc....other than that, there doesn't need to be any regulation of the right to contract freely.
I've never met a retarded person who wasn't smiling.
I guess I'm fine with some kind of gub'ment regulation to make sure that the public at large is not getting sick from tainted meat and all that, but where you have stores that specialize in unprocessed foods, the consumer knows exactly what he's getting and presumably recognizes any risk that comes with it.
The problem is that there's simply no way to limit government's regulations once they get rolling. Over time government always expands as it devours resources stolen from the from the production of the free market.
Not to mention all the corruption with people paying these "gov't officials" to look the other way anyway. People get a sense of false security thinking that what they are getting has been "protected" or "inspected"...when actually, they should just be prepared and do their own research on what they are buying. We really have become rather lazy in our society. And I can't say I'm not guilty of it myself. Bah.
Not to mention all the corruption with people paying these "gov't officials" to look the other way anyway. People get a sense of false security thinking that what they are getting has been "protected" or "inspected"...when actually, they should just be prepared and do their own research on what they are buying. We really have become rather lazy in our society. And I can't say I'm not guilty of it myself. Bah.
Yep, you're talking about moral hazard, which is one of the most evil unnoticed consequences of government regulation. People feel that they're being protected so they take more and more risks that they'd never be comfortable taking in the absence of some top down authority making them feel safe.
I've never met a retarded person who wasn't smiling.
