FREEDOM TO FAIL

The most important thing missing in America today, is the freedom to fail! Think about that for a minute. Do you have the freedom, the ability, to fail? Certainly in business we do, that is not up for discussion! But to fail at other aspects of life..... do we have the freedom to fail, or are we legislated..... LOBBIED by special interest groups, into an inability to fail...... IF, we pay the appropriate fee and hire those the lobbyists protect?

We re-watched the documentary "Garbage Warrior" today. It shows the struggle that our mentor and alternative building guru, Michael Reynolds endured when he built his Earthship projects in Taos, New Mexico. Michael made the comment that he, we, learned from failure and that over-legislation had taken that from us.

No big deal right? In fact, it actually protects us from making costly mistakes, or doing something that could harm others..... or something so radically different that it could change forever the way we live!

You know, something like the assembly line, a railroad, steam power, sailing across the FLAT ocean, flying buttresses, bronze, the wheel, or fire. All these things could and did harm others. All these things in America today, would be subject the scrutiny by an endless army of beauricratic drones whose main purpose in life is to squash anything non-traditional!

Humanity has, for the 50,000, yes, 50,000 years of social civilization learned nearly everything that brought Europeans to the New World (blacks had been here for 35,000 years and Asians for 12,000 before the modern European invasion, but white folk have re-written that out of history) from trial and error....... and there where a lot of errors that did not make the chronicles!

But, zoning laws, "uniform" building codes, "environmental" standards and the fear from assorted constuction industries that they might lose income if we "did it ourselves" have removed, as far as construction goes, the ability to fail AND to learn from that failure!

THIS is why homes today are essentially built the same way as they were 300 years ago! Even so called sustainable homes are not much more that clones of Elizabethan homes with better insulation and a few solar panels or wind turbines!

Oh sure, the regulations are there to "protect" us from mistakes and had they been in place a hundred years ago, pennicilian, a mistake, would have been delayed a few million lives, to name just one mistake mankind has profited from!

Michael Reynolds went through Hell to build his Earthship communities. WE would have NEVER gotten approval to build the Eco Ranch had we remained in Florida...... we got a serious violation in Florida because our septic system was not built by a contractor and even though Robert's design would NEVER have utilized a drainfield, our drainfield required three "inspections to meet the required, "one inch drop in ten feet"that "code" demanded!

SOME of the regulations do make sense, but when those charged with determining whether something meets "code" do not themselves possess the ability to cover thier own butt-crack, one has to wonder just how much money changed hands from the construction industry to the County Commisioners to even write the "codes"!

Freedom to fail has been the thing that brought humanity to this point. Freedom to fail is what allowed America to build the greatest civilization that has been recorded on Earth AND to innovate for the future! Some might suggest that mistakes by an alien races.... two crashes, one near Roswell, New Mexico and one near Cincinnati, Ohio resulted in microchips, cyclosporin, pinpoint guidance and more!

Freedom to fail is an inalienable right of mankind! We cannot have it legislated away by old white men and enforced by butt-crack sporting, gap-toothed drones!

We are lucky (smart) enough to live in one of the less that 40 counties in the USA that allow alternative construction. Those who seek to emulate ours and Reynolds lifestyles need to seek out these counties. But beware, the construction lobbyists, HVAC contractors, Masons, realtors and assorted others with interests in our housing are already trying to close these "loopholes". Many counties and municipalities nationwide ware passing laws prohibiting solar panels and wind turbines and as we often mention, three states claim rainwater as "State property" and regulate or prohibit its collection!!!!

"Garbage Warrior" is on YOUTUBE in its entirity. Watch it to see what some are going through, what has been accomplished and where we can take the country, if we first RE-TAKE it from the lobbyists and butt-crack drones!

I wrote this today and am submitting it to everyone I can. While the illegal gating in Terlingua Ranch is not in the front of everyone's mind, it is there and needs to have a final solution. I think my article offers an opportunity for just that. Gating may not be on everyone's mind, but let a gate appear on YOUR road and it will be all that is on your mind.... I know! ------------------------------------------------------------ Taxes & Gating in Terlingua Ranch We received our proposed tax bill for 2014 this week. It proposes a 258% increase in our property taxes. This is huge, percentage wise, but still a small sum of money. However, it seems to be a PERFECT time to force Brewster County into action regarding the gating of our roads here in Terlingua Ranch by a few ne'er-do-wells! If EVERY Terlingua Ranch property owner protested the valuation of their land, due to the uncertainty of access created by the current poor ruling regarding ONE case, Brewster County would be forced to take definitive action! Some may not want action, but once a gate pops up between them and their property, their opinions can change! With the possibility of having up to 20 gates erected between my property and highway 118, my land is worthless, possibly landlocked and that can be easily shown in a hearing. If enough Terlingua Ranch residents protest their tax valuation and Brewster County is faced with the subsequent revenue loss, they will take decisive action against and to prevent gating. Let's create a group to motivate property owners and solve this problem once and for all! Interested landowners can contact me to get this moving! Robert Earl  432-371-3200    robert@eco-ranch.us Robert Earl ECO-RANCH.US 400 North Smiling Dog Trail Alpine, TX 79830 432-371-3200 facebook.com/ecoranchus "The measure of a man lies not his potential, but his achievement. Failing in achievement, his worth lies in his effort, or lack of effort in attempting achievement. Enlightenment comes not from amassing fortune, but in gathering knowledge & peace. He who leaves this Life while on the path to enlightenment has accomplished more than a thousand men resting on the side of the path, counting their gold."   "Robert, 2-20-11"

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