A great many of us are very aware of the very real abuses of the US Federal government and it's encroachments of the liberty of individuals. State governments seem to come in second place. What I have not seen often written and talked about much is the ever increasing real infringements of local city and county governments of the property rights of citizens. The specific county and city departments that I find my self dwelling on the most (while there are many more) are the Building and Zoning Departments.
I dwell on these because shelter is one of the fundamental needs that we as humans need to survive the elements and it is one of the biggest expenses of most people and families.
In virtually every county in the United States if you own a peace of land outright you are required to ask permission before ever disturbing the soil. Not only are your required to ask permission but you are forced to pay the salary of a bureaucrat to inspect the every step of the process in the building of your shelter "for your own safety" (sarcasm). In many places you are also required to finish the project within a specific time frame. (The whole idea of having to be "permitted" is repugnant to free minded individuals.)
So what does this mean?
It means that you don't really have property rights. The land is not really yours. You can not live on your land in a simple structure or tent while you build your structure one brick at a time. You must come up with all the money upfront or sell your soul to the bank in order to get started. In this modern economy most people are not guaranteed a job making foreclosure a real possibility and maybe you don't want a house. Maybe you are happy living in a Teepee in a primitive fashion. You should be able to pursue your happiness and spend less on shelter if it is your wish.
I was told of a man related to a coworker living in Oregon who spent all his life savings on making himself as off-grid and self sufficient as possible. He built decent sized green houses to grow his own organic food and a solar system. The zoning department made changes to rules in his neighborhood and told him that he had to take down all his setup because the land was not zoned for agriculture. He argued that his setup was not agriculture and that the property was his own. They told him that the water supply was being provided by the county and he was forced to discontinue his project.
If we had true property rights and freedom this shouldn't be a problem but the truth is that we are far from freedom. If we did have liberty we would not have to pay property taxes which if we don't pay will lead to the confiscation of our property.
Our entire American centrally planned economic system starting with schools from K-12th grade revolves around promulgating the idea that we live in a free country that allows property rights and that has a free market.
“The best slave is the one who thinks he is free.” Johann von Goethe
We do not have a free market in the united states. We have a centrally planned command economy that allows the facade of property rights while using regulation to strip them from the common individual. Only the politically connected are really allowed to participate in the market. Most of the politically connected corporations write the legislation that regulates business (stamp out competition). The Federal Reserve bank and IRS are scams to keep individual enslaved to the system and in perpetual debt. The state has turned into a leviathan.
So the question is what can we do as freedom minded individuals who don't have a great amount of wealth? I continue to ask myself this question as an individual with a family who is yearning for liberty. I have some Ideas and approaches which I will put down in writing for my second post.
I hope some can relate to my sentiments and thank you so much for reading.