Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It sounds so nice, doesn’t it?

And then there’s this.

(link to the book)

Yup. That just about sums it up.

I want to make healthy food for people. I was thinking especially for people who are sick….

Illegal. (Unless I get an industrial kitchen. With a residential kitchen I could make dried stuff, or sugary desserts or breads. The list is very limited and far from healthy.)

I thought about a business creating morning juice for people on their way to work….

Illegal. I can’t have any “traffic” coming to my house.

I want to sell herbal products….

Illegal. I could sell dried herbs. But I can’t sell them online. I guess that enforces the buy it local….and I for sure can’t sell alchohol-based tinctures. Nor beauty products. Not without going through a whole lot of regulations.

I want to plant hemp and black locust.

Illegal. Hemp is banned because it’s a relative of marijuana. Funny, I eat hemp seeds all the time. No buzz. Black locust is illegal because it’s classified as an invasive plant in Massachusetts.

Even with this herbalism certificate I am going for, I’m not even sure what I’m “allowed” to do, although I’m hoping it will lend a legitimacy to the herbal products, as part of a “service” I provide.

Just the other day I learned of the USDA shutting down a neighboring farmer’s slaughtering business. After he spent 10k last year bringing it up to their regulations. If that isn’t the complete opposite of liberty, I don’t know what is. Yet the USDA allows ungodly amount of poison to be sprayed on our food.

Injustice.

Whatever happened to the old days when there weren’t so many rules and regulations and people could provide services to others? It didn’t used to be like this. I didn’t ever live in the old days, though…the old days are when they came up with the words “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That is what the founders wanted this country to be.

Instead, I get to plod along in my high-tech job, dreaming of ways I can start a business off my land. Dying inside, trapped, and decidedly unhappy.* All the while feeling myself becoming more and more rebellious.

My new business already has a name. Dandelion Forest. I think some day it’s going to be a “pick your own” place for fresh herbs and unusual fruit and berries. But who knows? I think the only way you can make a business off of your land is to homestead (meaning you are providing a lot of what you would otherwise buy and with that comes living frugally), teach others to do the same (but not everybody wants to dive in that deeply and would prefer to buy healthy products from someone who makes them), or figure out exactly what you can sell that is legal, and focus on those items. Even if they aren’t what you really want to do. And even if they might be illegal tomorrow.

Self-evident, my foot.

(Rant over, I just needed to spit that out.)

*Slight exaggeration, for poetic purposes.