1. In Oklahoma it is illegal to sell along public right of ways (sidewalks, roads, rest stops on the highways and toll roads, etc.) Where legal, such high prices are charged for licenses and they usually incorporate such bizarre regulatory requirements that they make street vending illegal. If this kind of free enterprise were legalized, we would end up with a non-stop flea market from one end of the state to the other along our freeways and toll roads. Food trucks would be everywhere, offering tasty Oklahoma foods to travelers. It would give people reasons to stop and spend money in Oklahoma and provide ways for Oklahomans to start their own micro-enterprises that could grow, with time and effort, into full-time employment.

I can most definitely see the reasoning behind having some sort of law for this. I would not want a “non-stop flea market from one end of the state to the other”. For one, there isn’t enough money to support that many small businesses along the highways, and secondly, it is very unlikely that such a small stand would make enough in Oklahoma to support a person’s livelihood. There is a reason certain laws are in place. Besides preventing an eye-sore, what are some other reasons this one was put in place? It is possible that during the time this law was passed, there was a rash of food born illnesses related to small stands. Was there a problem with wildlife or pests? Were people killed by cars losing control? Was someone’s personal property damaged by vehicles parking in their yard to go to the roadside stands? Or, these entrepreneurs might have been leaving their trash strewn across the highway. Maybe there just weren’t enough police/highway patrol to regulate the areas. There are any number of reasons this law could have been put in place. To know whether or not it should still be implemented, I would need to know the exact wording of the law(s), and instances in which it was upheld.

Also, how much is the license? Does it depend on the type of business, or is it straight across the board? Do they provide a temporary license for the first month—so that an entrepreneur has the time to make some money before having the pay for the license? Frankly, before worrying about this type of license, I would go after reducing the prices of fishing licenses (the lifetime license is a great price, but the yearly license is exorbitant), so that the poor could conceivably fish for their food (if there is an appropriate venue in the area), or even sell the products of their labor to people who like to eat fish, but don’t like the activity (of course, if the law you are speaking of also applies to selling the fish, then the right to sell those fish should be included in the cost of the fishing license).

Also, what do you mean by “such bizarre regulatory requirements that they make street vending illegal”? What are these requirements? Why are they bizarre? And, why were they put in place? Is there a reason they are still active requirements, or is there more reasoning for abolishing them?

Changes takes time, deliberation, reasoning, and research. What is yours? Oklahoma is not a teeming center for economic enterprise, so a lot of ideas for successful uplifting will inevitably fail. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying, but some things just aren’t going to work here because of public finances (not just on the part of people looking to sell something, but also on the part of people who have the extra money to buy something). Are there research studies or surveys asking: what kinds of businesses Oklahomans would like to see more of; what kinds of businesses frequently go out of business quickly, and whether that was because of location, lack of need for the items sold, etc; what kind of businesses would Oklahomans (seeking to become entrepreneurs) like to set up?

Let’s see the research!

I really like your writing, I find often you say exactly what I would like to articulate if I had the words for it.

However, in the piece, I take umbrage in the analogy of whether it’s proper and right for the government to be the main supplier of charity to a people and the work of Christ on the cross.

here’s a story i haven’t seen on your site yet… a poor man is able to find work with one of his neighbors. he’s been unemployed for a while and he knows what hunger feels like on a daily basis. at the end of the day, he goes to collect his pay but he gets less than the rate agreed on.

the neighbor explains that he has to give that money to those who allow him to hire people.

1 timothy 5:18 says the worker deserves his pay and not to muzzle the ox while he’s treading the wheat. how often do we do that with the instrument of an ‘income’ taxes we lay on people to pay for state sponsored charity, regardless of who the recipient of the charity is? How much more generous could those who are gifted with the ability to create wealth be if they weren’t stunted by those who seek to make a profit on poverty?

As far the cottage food laws, botulism doesn’t grow in breads, cakes, pies, and etc. It doesn’t grow in high acid foods like jams, jellies, and pickles. Check your science before throwing your laws around.

Finally, if you think anyone is protecting you from being served filet of feline overlord at your neighborhood restaurant, food truck, or cafe, think again because that’s not happening. nobody is running around doing DNA tests on meats in restaurant refrigerators. There is much less going on with food inspection than most people think. You would be better off buying your vegetables from someone in your neighborhood than you are at a big box supermarket. At least your neighborhood vegetables are more likely to be free ot listeria and other fun disease organisms that are rampant in the conventional food inudstry.

You really need to take a trip to one of these unregulated paradises you espouse. Try the Philippines, or any of a number of countries that have one foot in the third world and one foot in the 1st world. You will find that there is little value of human life – and humans living in a lot worse conditions than here. But they live basically unregulated, and they pay the price.