Gun registration is often a prelude to confiscation – so is it reasonable to suspect that garden registration could eventually lead to government seizure of independently grown food — including survival gardens?
Any time a government wants to “register” something, it’s reasonable to believe that bureaucrats have eventual confiscation in mind. Think of how the tax collection bureaucracy strives to account for every penny of income people earn, spend, and invest. It’s also worthwhile to remember how firearms registration lists have been used to track down and confiscate personally owned firearms during times of emergency; this has happened during U.S. military operations abroad, such as the 1994 mission in Haiti, and in the aftermath of domestic disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
Here is a sound survival axiom in dealing with government bureaucracies: If they know what you’ve got, you should expect them to take it when times get tough. This is the perspective that should inform a proposed garden registry in Utah.
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is sponsoring an initiative it calls the “Utah Garden Challenge,” through which the agency is trying to entice 10,000 gardeners in the state to “come forward and document their gardens…. Whether locals grow a tomato in a pot, a row in a community garden, have backyard gardens, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program or work a fruit and vegetable farm, Utah is encouraging its denizens to register their gardens! There is no garden too small!”
Why does the state want its “denizens” – an odd and mildly pejorative description for the state’s inhabitants, who are more commonly called “citizens” – to register their gardens with a government agency? One possible answer is found nestled among the buzzwords that litter the initiative.
According to the UDAF, “The 10,000 Garden Challenge is an example of the local movement for sustainable agritourism and living.” “Sustainable” is a term of art that grows out of the UN-centered Agenda 21 initiative, which if implemented would require regimentation, by administrative bodies populated with wise and far-seeing bureaucrats, of all human interactions with the natural world.
This approach is referred to as “sustainable development” – that is, economic and social development supervised by people who are uniquely attuned to nature’s needs, or at least pretend to be. Another potent hint is found in the fact that the project refers to independently grown food as “an important resource to the state” – a phrase through which the state agency implicitly asserts collective ownership over private property of the most vital kind. Official language makes prominent use of the collective possessive pronoun “our” – as if every backyard garden that was cultivated and harvested through individual initiative somehow becomes the property of the collective.
The UDAF is doing its best to draw a rhetorical smiley face large enough to disguise the hammer-and-sickle essence of its proposed garden registry. According to Commissioner Leonard Blackham, IFA Country Stores has “partnered” with the agency “to provide gift certificates as a small incentive to sign up. For each 1,000 gardens enlisted, a $500 gift certificate will be awarded to a participant, selected at random. A $100 gift certificate to the Slopes or The Farm restaurants … will be awarded to an additional participant selected at random for each 1000 registered gardens. In addition, there will also be awards for communities that sign up the largest number of gardens.”
Right now, the state is inviting participation, and offering small incentives; at some point, will it insist – and impose “penalties” for non-compliance? Developing the habit of asking questions of this kind is a vital survival skill.
Read more here.
July 2nd, 2012 at 7:08 PM
This is ridiculous. If you knew anything about Utah, you would know that almost every other home has a good size garden. Utah is not one of the communist states of amerika, there is no way possible that the state could “confiscate” all the gardens here – even if they were registered. While no survey has been done, it would be safe to assume that 50% of the representatives in the legislature have gardens of their own. There is no need to dump your paranoia on the culture of another state that you are unfamiliar with. Try using something besides paranoia and speculation and actually do some research.
July 2nd, 2012 at 10:01 PM
Thanks for the feedback. As it happens, I’m very familiar with Utah, having lived at various times (and for several years) in Logan, Provo, Orem, and Salt Lake City. Gardens are nearly ubiquitous in that state, and the LDS population, to its immense credit, is generally much better-prepared in terms of food storage than the general population.
That having been said, the question remains: Why does the state government want to “register” gardens? The irreducible truth about government is that it is the only segment of society that claims the moral right to take property by force, and this process always begins with apparently innocuous “requests” for information by bureaucrats.
If you have something, and a government agent wants to know what it is, the chances are pretty good he or someone like him is interested in taking it from you. One needn’t be paranoid in order to appreciate that principle; one need only be informed and reasonably observant.
July 3rd, 2012 at 12:47 AM
I also have my car, house, animals, kids, wife, marriage and my tractor registered with the government. The flier that you link to is pretty clear what they’re doing – they want to quantify just how much food is produced individually in the state. As you said in your comment, Utah has a proud heritage of self-reliance and of preparedness. The only way they could quantify how much food is produced by individuals is by basically doing a census on it. That’s what it looks to me like they’re doing.
So far they haven’t taken my truck, kids or dog. I think I can trust my representatives with knowing I produce my own food. In fact, I WANT them to know. I’m not afraid of my local government and I want them informing other states just how much food a self-reliant culture can produce for itself. In my estimation, the chances that my local government wants to “take my food” from my garden is right around ZERO.
For one thing, they know dang well that at least 50% (a low guess) of the people growing gardens in this state also have guns. Utah is one of the more heavily armed states – and I go shooting regularly with 3 of my state legislators. We don’t have the problem of idiot reps that some other states do.
July 3rd, 2012 at 5:39 AM
We don’t have the problem of idiot reps that some other states do.
“In matters of power, let us hear no more of confidence in man,” as Thomas Jefferson put it. Or, as a similar point was made elsewhere, “We have learned, through sad experience…”
A “census” is an enumeration; what is going on here is an inventory and that’s a much more ominous thing, particularly in light of recent developments: In more than a few jurisdictions, local officials — no doubt looked upon by their constituents as much more sober and reliable than the “idiots” who hold office elsewhere — are cracking down on people who are seen as a bit too self-reliant:
http://survivalist.com/attention-preppers-get-back-on-the-grid.html
July 3rd, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Phil says he has his car, house, kids, animals, marriage registered with the government. Perhaps he does not realize how his rights have been stripped concerning his say-so over those very things. Licensing your marriage gives the state (as the third party of the marriage contract) more say over your children. If you do not give them the type health care or education the judge or social worker thinks they should have, you will lose them in court. Witness the stripping in court by an unfaithful spouse of a man and half his livelihood due to no-fault divorce. Stop paying property tax on your mortgage-free home and see what happens. Let the insurance/registration/licensing/property tax/inspection lapse on your car and see how it goes. Omit the reports certain states require on our animals and see what they do. Utah is not exempt from the federalization of all things, nearly all of which began as voluntary programs.
July 3rd, 2012 at 1:51 PM
“they want to quantify just how much food is produced individually in the state.”
You fail to ask why they would want to know this. What reasonable purpose could this serve, other than as a feel-good time-waster?
“So far they haven’t taken my truck, kids or dog.” So far, Phil. So far. But they could if they wanted to, couldn’t they? And their guns outmatch your guns, don’t they Phil? And if you resisted their right to take what was apparently theirs to license, register, and track, you would be in violation of the 12th Article of Faith, wouldn’t you Phil? And then your neighbors and community would shun you, and talk about how you didn’t obey the law of the land and you got all crazy and if you had just acted like a regular proud citizen and cooperated with the authorities you wouldn’t be in this mess. Yes Phil, trust the government. Trust them as much as they trust you. Good luck buddy.
http://bit.ly/GBaHyo
July 4th, 2012 at 11:19 PM
Isaac
“you would be in violation of the 12th Article of Faith, wouldn’t you Phil? And then your neighbors and community would shun you, and talk about how you didn’t obey the law of the land”
WTF? I’m not even sure what the 12th article of faith is. I’m not Amish – my community isn’t going to “shun” me for your imaginary gestapo attack. That’s pretty high up there on the list of the most ignorant things I’ve had someone say to me – and I grew up in Missouri.
You don’t know sh!t about me. I work with the county sheriff, I’m involved with my local government, I’m good friends with my councilmen, I go shooting with my state reps. What you’re imagining wouldn’t be allowed to happen… PERIOD.
As far as ‘why do this’ – yeah, it’s basically bragging rights. I think it’s pretty cool.
July 5th, 2012 at 2:07 PM
See? Phil is one of them. “Nothing to see here. Move along.”
July 6th, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Michael, if by “one of them” you mean an American who understands that it our duty to help, educate and warn our neighbors and the Nation, that knows that after serving in the military, it’s my duty to continue to serve my community through search and rescue efforts, CERT, the Red Cross and volunteerism, who believes his calling in life is to help as many people as possible to prepare for any eventuality whether natural or man-made, to teach them how to shoot, store and survive – then yes, that’s me! And I’m damn proud of it.
If you mean one of the hermit “survivors” who are too damn scared – no too chicken shit – to put your neck on the line and alert and prepare people then you’re wrong. That would be you and pretty much everyone else writing on this page so far. YOUR FEAR gives them THEIR POWER over you.
I hope you don’t call yourselves Patriots because the Founding Fathers would be disgusted with you and your attitude. Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? Does that somehow instruct you to hide your shit and keep you mouth shut? The majority of the Founding Fathers gave EVERYTHING to create and defend this great country. Where would we be if they said “screw this” and took their shit and headed for the hills (which was an actual real possibility for them)?
You’re bitching about registering some gardens? When was the last time you spoke IN PERSON to your elected representatives at the local, state and federal level about what is going on in this country and how are they going to represent you in getting it changed?
For me it was 3 days ago when I met with my Mayor and then with my Congressman later that day (admittedly that was due to circumstances since I was providing Comms Support for Mulit-Agency Command for one of the many wildfires in my area and they were both there).
I met with my Senator in person 3 weeks ago at a rally and had the same discussion. I speak regularly with the County Sheriff, whom I work with as a volunteer SAR member, reaffirming with him that if some kind of gun confiscation order came down he and his deputies would ignore it and NEVER enforce it.
I’ve spoken to my governor a few months ago discussing the same and I went shooting with 3 of my state legislators a few weeks ago (one a retired USAF Colonel) where we were blowing shit up and discussing illegal immigrants.
You’re welcome to ask Ed Corcoran (of Survivalist Magazine) whether he believes my claims based on how well he knows me.
Yeah, I’m one of them. What the F#*K are you?
July 6th, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Why would I want to register what I grow on my own property? If this ever comes to pass, or is suggested, in Massachusetts, I will decline.
July 6th, 2012 at 1:34 PM
I don’t doubt Phil’s beliefs or integrity. But Phil you do need to realize that you are in a very different position from most constituents. Most people don’t have the access you have. The connections you have make a huge difference.
It seems that one reason for wanting gardens registered is to know how much less food the government is going to need to hand out as they take more control of the food system. If you have a garden you get less food by X amount.
Phil I appreciate that most (if not all) of the elected officials you know are not out to control people’s lives. But I do believe that is the agenda of some people in government. History is blatantly clear on this. Ignoring that is foolish.
As with many things, if all the officials were evil, the choices would be clear. If all the officials were good, the choice would also be clear. But it’s a mixed bag. As Justice Roberts just demonstrated, politicians are more like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
July 6th, 2012 at 2:22 PM
Phil hopes that his complicity will be taken into account when the govt takes over. He brags about his relationship with his governor and his state legislators, and how he knows a USAF colonel.
So, whose side is Phil on?
Phil is on Phil’s side.
Keep goin’ there, Phil ol’ boy. The more you write, the more we can see what you really are.
July 6th, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Nicely said Phil and thanks for your dedicated service! It it so refreshing to hear a voice of reason.
July 6th, 2012 at 4:25 PM
My my Phil, such language! Maybe where you live all is well and good, maybe. I like you am very involved, I am a disabled vet, six years in the Army, I am a member of the State Guard 6yrs. now, I am CERTS trained, FEMA/MEMS qualified, and I do volunteer work of various types not to mention helping my fellow neighbors when the need arises.
That does not mean I just accept everything our government throws at us, and as of late that has been quite a bit. I wonder how those muckity-mucks you rub elbows with will react when the “feds” decide to honor the UN small arms disarmament treaty. If the fed decides to cut off funding to your state, then how will the “officials” you are friends with act? There is an old expression “money talks BS walks” are you familiar with that?
We have had so many freedoms taken away from us in the last two administrations, and with the recent SCOTUS decisions, the Constitution is literally in shreds. You act as though everything is just fine and dandy…status quo. Well, Mr. Phil, you really need to wake up and “smell the coffee” I think it might be laced with arsenic.
July 6th, 2012 at 7:19 PM
“Yeah, I’m one of them. What the F#*K are you?”
I’m the free humanbieg that GOD created.. not a slave nor a lap dog to the state.. ie mamon.
Like Isaac said “Yes Phil, trust the government. Trust them as much as they trust you. Good luck buddy.”
Phil you cant serve 2 masters.
July 6th, 2012 at 7:33 PM
It’s real simple– at all times — DEFY THE GOVERNMENT!
July 6th, 2012 at 7:50 PM
I have to agree with much you’ve said here Phil. It really is only fear that gives them power. We also shouldnt be hiding anything from the government as the government should be “of the people, by the people for the people”. However, this no longer applies to our country. It is quite obvious that that the government is no longer operated by patriots, only by whores for corporate interests. As the previous statement has become somewhat of a cliche and people will discredit it as such, it still holds very true. I cannot think of anything the government has done in my life to uphold the constitution, or to be “for the people” the many current and past debacles that this country has concocted is all the proof anyone needs. A governments nature is never to be for the people, its purpose is to only serve itself and those who wish to grow it.
July 6th, 2012 at 7:56 PM
Thumbs up to Phil!
July 6th, 2012 at 8:02 PM
And just to end with one of my favorite quotes (one I believe should be the goal of all presidents), even though I dont know much about Calvin Coolidge….
“Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
July 7th, 2012 at 1:04 PM
First, my last comment did not post.
To the topic. There is simply no need for backyard growers to register anything with the state.
July 7th, 2012 at 3:03 PM
Phil, thank you for your service, and for all you still do. Not all of us share your trust in the government. My state representative and senator were also freedom lovers, however the majority of the legislators here in Obamaland are liberal nut jobs, and no infringement upon freedoms is off limits to them.
While fighting against the National Animal Identification System (a registration scheme for property real and personal) I was jolted from my slumber to realize how tyrannical our country was becoming. Agenda 21, benchmarks to meet cooperative agreements,etc., just sign your sovereignty away right here.
Registering a garden revives the memory of blocking the registration of a cow into the “national herd”, that fight still is not over, the USDA just tries different back door approaches. Frankly, history shows a pattern of registration and confiscation enough to make me suspicious.
July 7th, 2012 at 10:25 PM
They want to tax your f—ing garden thats what.They will NEVER know what I grow and how much.
July 8th, 2012 at 5:08 AM
@Phil Burns..
I think you are missing the point about the Utah gardens Phil.
It isn’t whether they can or can’t register every garden in Utah..The purpose is to set a precedent so registering gardens becomes a law..and then they can expand it from there.
It’s the same tactic they’re using with the stack and pack housing of Agenda-21.
July 8th, 2012 at 9:29 AM
To keep it simple, if you trust your state reps then you are NAIVE!
July 12th, 2012 at 1:13 AM
Registering means controlling. Like as the lemonade stands that have been shut down in Amerika and the food control bills that have been introduced in Michigan. Control the food and you can control the people. Make them take a mark on their right hand or their forehead or you can’t buy or sell or work.
July 14th, 2012 at 8:10 AM
They want to do this because they don’t want us to be self dependent. They would rather for us to live off of the government, and off of their corporate buddies that make money from us buying their crap! The stuff that we grow is organic,a nd purely natural this is all a part of their fear tactics! I highly recommend that you read the book “How to overcome fear, and start living fearless” it will open your eyes to the fear tactics that they’re using my brothers and siters it’s time that we take back what’s really ours!
August 2nd, 2012 at 7:02 PM
I have to admit that when I started prepping not so very long ago I had wondered what the tipping point would be for some individuals. What I mean is folks that would take any conspiricy theory and multiple it x10. Wow! I think I just found the turn around point.
August 27th, 2012 at 11:18 PM
Everyone, please don’t skip this post what ever you do, I am long winded but you need to hear this. I’ll start with an old Chinese proverb that Phil needs to ponder on for a while. “If a man is thirsty, and he asks for water give him half a glass. If he drinks that half a glass, and he asks for more, then give him another half a glass. If the man is still thirsty fill his glass.” Guy’s you can only help someone see, if the mind is open and willing. Don’t be so hard on old Phil, not everyone has vision and can see the real picture. Phil here is kind of like a man in love. Phil’s judgment is clouded, because he believes everything they tell him, instead of looking at the whole picture, and really digging for the truth, just like the married man who’s wife is cheating on him, but don’t want to believe it when someone tells him the truth. Phil seems mad by the tone of his post, he attacks the messenger because just like the married man, he is trusting too much, or maybe he just wants to live in denial.
Some of us can see the truth, I aways could. I will dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, you get the point right?, until 2 plus 2 is 4. Always follow the money, truth always finds you. I was in the military too, in the 80′s during the cold war, I was in East Germany. They had these camera boxes there that took your picture if you ran a red light, it also took a picture of your license plate. You were then mailed pictures of you and your car going through the red light, and fined. I remember the first time I asked about these. I was told they had more boxes than cameras, and nobody knew if they ran a red light, if they would get caught because the cameras were rotated. My thought was it will be here within 20 years, and I was right. People laughed at me all those years, and even when we got them in my town, people still wouldn’t believe they were cameras. Now we have red light cameras, they don’t deny those, everyone knows what they are now. Some still won’t believe the other surveillance cameras, are cameras.
We didn’t have a wheel tax in this county 12 years ago. They said they needed to build a new High School, and the wheel tax would be in effect for only 3 years. I told everyone 3 years was BS, as the Government never stops taking monies for something once it succeeds in getting it for even one year. I was not heeded, and the idiots around me voted it in. Three years has turned into 12, and guess what else, they never did build the new high school, and I’ll wager, they never had any plans too. O’ how quickly the sheep forget, almost everyone pays it now, without a second thought, it is like it was here forever.
Registration, is the first step to confiscation, and that is a fact. Now you can argue anything you want, but it is irrelevant, history proves this time, and time again. If you do not study history, you are bound to repeat it. In Commifornia they have already been kicking down doors and arresting people, confiscating food. Hell, they even took a little girls laptop with all her school work on it, as far as I know, she never got it back. They have arrested Amish for selling unpasteurized milk. The Amish have been selling it like that for over 100 hundred years, and as far as I know, nobody has gotten sick. The Government said they did it for health concerns. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I’ll wager my left nut against one of your fake dimes, that the real reason was, MONEY!!!! POWER, etc. Nope, nope, we can’t have people selling milk that is in a natural state, they will comply and do it our way, we know what is best for you citizen, comply, comply or else feel our power. Shut down that lemonade stand little girls, you have no license. I am the Authority over you, and I’ll dare you practice working to get something you want. If you want something, let us know, and we will steal it from someone else, and give you some if we want you to have it, etc, etc.
Wake up people, the storm is already here, if you wait too long to wake TFU, you will perish in that storm. Now I know some of you think it is just a little sprinkle, but watch and see just how deadly that basketball size hail gets. If you are not preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best, you are doing it wrong. It is just a matter of time before the inevitable primer is fired that cooks this party off.
The truth is out there, some of you should do a lot more digging with an open mind. By the way, I guess I may be a fool, but I’m way past being scared of the powers at be. The being scared part is what happens before you prepare, and make peace with your maker. Scared, I think not. Can I THINK FOR MYSELF, Damn right I can. I don’t need them telling me what I can and can’t do. I’ll ride this train as long as I can stand it, hoping most of you wake up, but I will not even ponder crossing my fingers. I don’t care who the conductor is, or who he works for, what he says he is going to do, or any of that crap. Eventually this train will leave the tracks, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting off no matter what they say, before it goes up in flames, I suggest you join me. Everything has a price. I will draw my line in the sand with my boot some day, when that line is crossed, I will collect.
October 16th, 2012 at 9:16 PM
The next American Revolution will not be televised
October 19th, 2012 at 11:48 PM
I haven’t read ALL the responses but I can bet that the reason why the government is registering the ability the grow personal food sources is to identify them for reduced aid in the event of an emergency. Kind of like “means testing”.
February 16th, 2013 at 5:23 PM
The less they know about me, my family and my community the safer I feel.Call it paranoid like a good little sheeple if you will. Just don’t ask me to “Avenge” you. from the re-education center.