Seriously, don't tread on me

A United States District Court has ruled that the interstate commerce clause of the US Constitution grants the federal government the authority to force you to engage in commerce on the grounds that you deciding not to do so can impact interstate commerce in some way. This ruling is regarding the requirement imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that individuals purchase health insurance. The plaintiff’s argument is that the decision not to engage in commerce cannot be regulated by the federal government. The government’s counter argument is that the likelihood that an individual will need health care at some point means that the decision not to have health insurance impacts the health insurance market overall and can therefore be regulated.

The government’s position was supported by a case in 1942, where a penalty was imposed on a farmer for choosing to grow wheat for his own family’s consumption. The wheat was not being offered for sale in any way, even locally. His decision not to participate in the wheat market was determined to have an impact on that market, not only locally, but also across the country. Therefore, his decision to grow wheat for his own family was determined to have an impact on the federal government’s ability to regulate the price of wheat and the fine was upheld.

So, if you have a garden, uproot it. If a kid wants to sell lemonade made from lemons grown in his back yard this summer, warn him that the feds may come to knock over his stand. Don’t participate in any “buy local” campaigns. In fact, you better not even discuss the potential economic impact of buying locally because your action may influence someone’s purchasing decisions; thereby having a potential impact on interstate commerce and government schemes to regulate prices and the economy in general. Don’t even think about it, because that may influence your own decisions. I guess this means the content of our articles for The Distributist Review can be regulated by the federal government on the grounds that they could have some influence on your economic decisions. Even your decision to read them could be said to do the same. In fact, you better not even think about anything related to economics because it could influence your purchasing decisions and thereby impact interstate commerce and be subject to government regulation.

The Distributist Review