Ever figure out how much of your time is lost dealing with day to day BS? There’s all kinds of things that are required to live in civilization. Bureaucracies and civilizations have always gone together.
Take a simple example: the DMV. Will renewing your license or registering a vehicle take all day? Days? Forever? Never mind the fact that licenses and registrations are required in the first place. How much of your precious, limited, never to be recovered, lifespan is required to do basic things?
Yesterday I registered my boat and trailer. The town clerk handled everything. I had to write one check and sign my name a half dozen times. The whole procedure from the time I came in the door took about ten minutes.
Last time I renewed my driver’s license it took about 20 minutes. That included waiting in line, filling out paperwork, eye test, and photo. Of course, that stuff is state level and I live in a rural area without a lot of people. On the other hand getting a passport was a Federal issue and took what seemed like forever.
How much of your life can you do without getting a permit or a license? I can do a lot of repairs to my house and even do 99% of the wiring without a permit or license. On the other hand, my daughter lives in a Boston suburb and they require a lot more. Everything takes longer and is more expensive.
If you have enough money it doesn’t matter. You have people to do that crap for you. It’s the regular Smoes who have to do everything the hard way. I wonder if previous civilizations have collapsed due to overly burdensome burocratic requirements? Things got so jammed up that people threw their hands up in the air and wandered off into the jungle.
Many people dream about living off the land and dropping out of the system. That’s pretty hard to do. Eventually the tax man and inspectors will come around and then the jig is up. The best we can do right now is to keep that BS to a bare minimum. That might involve moving to the country. It also might involve keeping your mouth shut and doing stuff anyway.
-Sixbears
One of many reasons why I put the six foot fence around my place. So that code enforcement couldn't see what I was up to lol.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did get a permit for the fence and had it inspected. So that gives me a free pass now hee hee...
You built a fort. I like it.
DeleteYeah I wish it were built of twelve inch thick logs ha ha !
DeleteOver the years of my construction career I learned early on "don't ask the building inspection dept, you will always get the wrong response".
ReplyDeleteOne year when I lived in town I did major house improvements without a permit. The building inspector owed me money and was avoiding me. I made it pay. Funny thing is, a year after he moved out of town he sent a check and made good. That was unexpected.
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