Do you think that you are free? Most Americans would still probably answer “yes” to that question, but is that really the case? In the film Edge of Darkness, Mel Gibson stated that “everything is illegal in Massachusetts”. Well, the same could pretty much be said for the United States as a whole. Our lives are governed by millions of laws, rules and regulations and more are being piled on all the time. In fact, 40,000 new laws just went into effect in January. Every single new law restricts your freedom just a little bit more. The truth is that America has become a crazy control freak nation where virtually everything that we do is highly regulated. You have probably broken multiple laws today that you don’t even know exist. We have all become criminals and lawbreakers because almost everything is illegal at this point. Our politicians are convinced that they are “making life better” by piling gigantic mountains of laws on to our backs, and law enforcement authorities are convinced that they are helping society by “cracking down on crime”, but the reality is that our liberties and our freedoms are being strangled by all of this government oppression. This is not the way that America is supposed to work.
Yes, every society needs laws. But the laws should be short enough and simple enough that everybody can read them and understand them.
In America today, there is no possible way that any of us could ever read all of the laws that apply to us. Most of us just live our daily lives and try to do the “right” thing. But there is no guarantee that men with guns will not show up at your door one evening because of some obscure regulation that you have broken.
The following are 19 signs that America has become a crazy control freak nation where almost everything is illegal….
#1 One California town is actually considering making it illegal to smoke in your own backyard.
A town in California is proposing to ban smoking outside, even for residents lighting up on their own property.
Smoking is already banned indoors in public places in most of the country, and in California it is illegal to smoke in parks and playgrounds too.
The town of Rocklin, near Sacramento, could take the draconian regulations further by extending them to private property as well.
#2 In Louisiana, a church was recently ordered to stop giving out water because it did not have a permit to do so.
A Louisiana church was ordered to stop giving away free water along Mardi Gras parade routes because they did not have the proper permits.
“We were given a cease and desist order,” said Matt Tipton, pastor of Hope Church in Metairie, LA. “We had no idea we were breaking the law.” Tipton said volunteers from his church were handing out free coffee and free bottles of water at two locations along a Mardi Gras parade route when they were stopped by Jefferson Parish officials. The church volunteers were cited for failing to secure an occupational license and for failure to register for a sales tax.
#3 In the United States it is illegal to operate a train that does not have an “F” painted on the front. Apparently without that “F” we all might not know where the front of the train is.
#4 In many U.S. states is it now illegal to collect rain that falls from the sky on to your own property.
#5 In America today it is illegal to milk your cow and sell the milk to your neighbor. If you do this, there is a good chance that federal agents will raid your home at the crack of dawn.
A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area.
#6 In Washington D.C. it is illegal not to recycle cat litter.
D.C. resident Patricia White has received 8 fines, totaling $2000 for not recycling old newspapers which she uses as cat litter. Ms. White told Fox News DC that she wanted to help the environment by shredding old newspapers and junk mail instead of buying cat litter from stores. Unfortunately for her, it is illegal to not recycle in DC, and she has incurred the Department of Public Works’ wrath.
#7 It is illegal to give a tour of the monuments in Washington D.C. without a license.
In Washington, D.C., talking without a license can land you in jail for 90 days.
Tonia Edwards and Bill Main are lawbreakers. Nearly every day, they teach a group of people how to ride Segways, and then take them around Washington, D.C., to talk about local sights and attractions. Their business is located near the National Archives, so one of the things they tell their costumers is where the Bill of Rights is located. For this, the city government could throw Tonia and Bill in prison for three months. In Washington, D.C., it is illegal for anyone to give a tour of the city for compensation without first obtaining a special license—quite literally, a license to describe.
#8 In the United States it is illegal to sell natural cures for cancer – even if they work.
#9 In the state of Massachusetts it is illegal to deface a milk carton.
The city of Concord passed a law in April banning all bottled water in plastic containers, effective January 1, 2011. Supporters of the law say ridding the town of bottled water is a first step toward a cleaner planet. Never mind that plastic water bottles only account less than one percent of landfill space. Who are we to let facts get in the way of a good regulation?
#10 In the state of Alabama, bear wrestling is completely illegal.
#11 In Fairbanks, Alaska it is illegal to give alcoholic beverages to a moose.
#12 In Lake Elmo, Minnesota it is illegal to sell pumpkins or Christmas trees that are grown outside city limits.
Farmers should not be threatened with 90 days in jail and $1,000 in fines for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees grown outside city limits.
Yet that was the law in Lake Elmo, Minn. On December 1, 2009, the Lake Elmo City Council declared that it would begin enforcing a law that forbids farmers from selling products from their own land unless they were grown inside city limits. The city’s politicians argued that they were protecting Lake Elmo’s rural character. In fact, they were destroying that character by making it impossible for their farmers to earn an honest living and making it more likely that family farms will fail.
#13 There is a federal law that makes it illegal to be “annoying” on the Internet.
It’s no joke, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.
In other words, it’s OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.
#14 If you register with a false name on MySpace or Facebook you could potentially “spend five years in federal prison”.
#15 In Hazelwood, Missouri it is illegal for little girls to sell girl scout cookies in the front yards of their own homes.
Once upon a time in America, if you were a couple of little girls and you wanted to sell lemonade or girl scout cookies at a little stand in front of your home nobody would give you any problems. In fact, most of the people passing by would have smiled and would have seen it as a sign of hope that the next generation was being so industrious. Well, that is not the way that it works anymore. Today, all across America nightmarish control freaks are seeking to micromanage every single aspect of our lives. That includes banning young girls from selling girl scout cookies on their own front lawns. Yes, you read that correctly. In Missouri of all places, two young girls named Abigail and Caitlin Mills were recently taught a lesson on how to be good citizens in the emerging totalitarian control grid going up all over the United States. After a complaint from a neighbor, the city of Hazelwood cracked down on the two girls and told them that they must shut down the girl scout cookie stand that they had been operating in their front yard.
#16 All over the United States lemonade stands run by children are being shut down because they do not have the proper permits.
Back in the old days, if young kids wanted to earn some extra money they would set up a little stand outside and sell some lemonade or some cookies. For many little kids, this was their very first practical experience with making money. Once upon a time, you would see lemonade stands all over the place during the summer in America. In fact, “lemonade stands” became such a part of American culture that people knew exactly what you were talking about the moment you mentioned them. Even up until a couple of decades ago, nobody would have ever dreamed that little kids would need the permission of the government in order to set up a little stand to sell some lemonade or some cookies. But today, everything has completely changed. If you are a little kid and you try to sell some lemonade in “Amerika” today, the authorities will swoop in and shut you down in a heartbeat.
#17 In Florida, it is illegal to bring a plastic butter knife to school.
#18 In San Juan Capistrano, California it is illegal to hold a home Bible study without a “conditional use permit”.
Chuck and Stephanie Fromm already have been fined $300 for holding Bible studies for their friends at their home, and they face the potential for additional fines of $500 for each study held, according to a legal team taking their case to court.
The newest conflict over Bible studies in homes in America arose in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where city officials say city code section 9-3.301 prohibits religious organizations in residential neighborhoods without a conditional-use permit, a sometimes very expensive procedure.
#19 In the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania it is illegal to make even a single dollar from a blog unless you buy a $300 business license.
The weekly Philadelphia City Paper kicked off the kerfuffle with an article spotlighting several small-scale bloggers who were startled to receive letters from the city demanding that they shell out up to $300 for a license allowing them to operate a local business. One of the recipients had raked in a whopping profit of $11 over two years from his blog.
Sadly, this list of crazy laws and ridiculous regulations could be thousands long.
We are a nation run by a bunch of control freaks that do not care about our liberties and our freedoms.
In this 40 minute video, John Stossel goes into great detail about how almost everything is illegal in America today. In particular, the first 20 minutes are absolutely excellent. If you have not seen this yet, I highly encourage you to check it out….
