There are those who say that we are making a mountain out of a molehill about the DNR’s Declatory Ruling. They say the Boar pigs are not that big a deal, we should just switch our cross breeding to a different heritage breed and move on. They say the legislature is at fault, not the DNR, because the legislature failed to act on the feral pig issue.
“They” do not know the foundations of law in this country or understand that American citizens have a great many rights concerning our property and our activities that the government would just as soon ignore.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,….” Declaration of Independence, 1776
The salient points contained in the opening to our founding documents are that: 1) the government isn’t a benevolent dictator, it is subservient to the same Law that each individual is, 2) the rights and responsibilities of those individuals are held by a Higher Authority and merely managed by the government with no more power than the governed consent to.
There were two basic natural laws that were commonly understood at that time as they formed the basis of British Common Law, to which the colonists were appealing: 1) Do all you have agreed to do, 2) Do not encroach on other persons or their property. The founding fathers felt strongly about limiting government’s role in the citizens’ everyday life and the protection of the citizens’ person and property from government overreach.
Here are some thoughts from the founding fathers:
“The public money of this country is the toil and labor of the people, who are under many uncommon difficulties and distresses at this time, so that all reasonable frugality ought to be observed.” John Adams, American Revolutionary and Second President of the United States. Note that the government has repeatedly shown up at court events with 4 lawyers to our 1 and spent A LOT on unneccesary security at Ron McKendrick’s hearing. We rely on the support of our labor and your generosity while they are spending your tax dollars.
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” George Washington, First President of the United States
“Every time government attempts to handle our affairs, it costs more and the results are worse than if we had handled them ourselves.” Benjamin Constant, 1833-1891, Brazilian statesman
“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence
“It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million human beings collected together are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately.” Thomas Jefferson
“Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, that don’t hurt nobody. When they do something they can be dangerous.” Will Rogers, humorist and columnist
“The history of liberty is a history of limitation of government power, not the increase of it.” Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States
Currently, we are waiting for our court date. The DNR has requested extensions and made motions that effectively push the dates further and further out. This effectively creates a blockade on the commerce and livelihood of all the bread earners involved as we can sell processed and frozen pigs, but can not sell our live feeder pigs–even though we’ve had many interested buyers. Most of this is legal maneuvering, which is best left to those specialized in that. However, the net effect is that the government agency which has created and is enforcing its own law is creating a great deal of financial and other hardships for those who dare to defend their rights. As I’ve pointed out before, even though they are initially focusing on Boar strains of pigs, they describe a “hybrid or genetic variants” every pig known to civilization. The enforcement has been extremely subjective and individualized rather than objective. Therefore, if we don’t stand up against this ruling there will be a law on the books that they can use on anyone at any time in the future. Farms that raise pigs on dirt are not safe as long as their animals are described in this ruling. This is about a law made by tyrants that violates the rights of the individual. They are impeding our ability to do what we’ve agreed to do (provide wholesome premium quality pork to our customers), and are encroaching on our property by giving themselves the right to take our property from us even though we have done nothing to violate anyone else’s property or person. They have not made a good case for the need to protect the citizens from the potential injury they claim our property could do if we did not keep our agreement to properly care for our property and the pigs encroached on our neighbors. The legislature did take appropriate action to protect the citizenry from feral pigs by enabling the citizens to deal appropriately with pigs at large.
“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, British statesman