Bill Expanding Cider Freedom Passes in New Hampshire
During a recent session in the New Hampshire state legislature, a bill was passed to amend the language and regulations regarding the manufacturing and selling of specialty ciders by brewers and alcohol manufacturers. Now, the hurdles needed to jump through in order to both make and sell ciders in the state of New Hampshire have been lowered.
Consumers can enjoy newer flavors and options more frequently throughout the year.
For a state whose official drink is apple cider, it only makes sense that there should be as little to no barriers for cider production and selling as possible.
Alcohol laws throughout the country vary in widening degrees of regulation and taxes.
In my state of Virginia, we have the Alcohol Beverage Control Authority, also to be known as the dreaded ABC. Essentially, the ABC is a state-run store which sells hard liquor and specialty drinks exclusively so that they have a monopoly on primary alcohol sales, thus making both the profit and ensuring they receive all the taxes as part of this monopoly.
On top of that, the regulatory hurdles make it near impossible for craft breweries and distilleries to not only start a business but thrive in an unforgiving environment created by politicians and special interests.
In 2018, the libertarian organization Free the People discussed this issue in a short documentary called “Guerilla Whiskey.”
In a follow-up article, contributor Logan Albright summed up the problems with the regulatory environment perfectly:
Consumers can enjoy newer flavors and options more frequently throughout the year.
For a state whose official drink is apple cider, it only makes sense that there should be as little to no barriers for cider production and selling as possible.
Alcohol laws throughout the country vary in widening degrees of regulation and taxes.
In my state of Virginia, we have the Alcohol Beverage Control Authority, also to be known as the dreaded ABC. Essentially, the ABC is a state-run store which sells hard liquor and specialty drinks exclusively so that they have a monopoly on primary alcohol sales, thus making both the profit and ensuring they receive all the taxes as part of this monopoly.
On top of that, the regulatory hurdles make it near impossible for craft breweries and distilleries to not only start a business but thrive in an unforgiving environment created by politicians and special interests.
In 2018, the libertarian organization Free the People discussed this issue in a short documentary called “Guerilla Whiskey.”
In a follow-up article, contributor Logan Albright summed up the problems with the regulatory environment perfectly:
“Whiskey, the drink that has sustained our country through good times and bad, is an American staple that has been made, legally or otherwise, since Scottish and Irish immigrants first came to these shores hundreds of years ago. Today, it’s no longer just a matter of perfecting your recipe and setting up a still. Virginia distillers have to comply with hundreds of pages of densely written regulations and devote huge amounts of their revenue towards taxes and fees just to keep the government off their back. One cannot help but be reminded of the protection money demanded by mobsters in Prohibition-era gangster films; a comical exaggeration doesn’t seem so funny when it hits close to home.”Small victories like the cider bill in New Hampshire show that free people ultimately want to create, sell, and consume without intrusive and unnecessary obstacles created by the government. I only hope Virginia catches a clue soon since our problems seem to be a bit more gigantic of a hurdle to cross.
In direct sales, you are sometimes allowed to do special promotions to push a certain product or even give out free samples. The free samples come with by far the funniest situations according to my own experiences and that of other peers of mine.
It comes down to if you can understand why someone would refuse a free sample of gummy bears, for example, you’ll understand why some people either aren’t fans of individual liberty and economic freedom in general.
Gummy bears are pretty much universally loved by all people, and unlike its more popular candy cousin chocolate, most the world also isn’t allergic to it so that’s a plus too. On a late Friday night at my local mall, the place is packed, and that is the best time to go directly to customers with those free gummy bear samples.
Now, imagine you start offering those things to everyone that comes by, then here you are literally giving out free samples of a new gummy bear flavor (this is a candy shop if you haven’t figured it out yet) and they don’t have to do anything other than taking it, they can even take two samples if they want.
With most people, the samples will be a hit, but some folks will just either ignore you entirely or let you pitch them and then decide for some random reason they don’t want it. You might think getting everyone to take a free sample of gummy bears would be the easiest thing to do, but there are those random people who just don’t take advantage of a good situation when they see it.
Libertarian solutions aren’t as easy to digest as a free gummy bear sample, but the example of the people who just don’t take it still applies. Libertarian solutions don’t require force, theft, or coercion, they just require individual responsibility.
You distill it down to that basic understanding and on a surface level, people will probably agree with you, but there will always be those that don’t, and honestly, you can’t do anything about those folks.
Most people who just can’t even agree with libertarian philosophy at a basic level usually latch onto three camps- they don’t want any responsibility, they think little of humanity itself, or they are so wrapped up in a partisan battle flag, they won’t even let you try to convince them.
Whether you’re going business to business selling bags of makeup or selling religion to sinners on a city street, you need to understand that no is just another word for go, you can’t make people who don’t want to listen to you listen, so don’t get caught up on them and instead focus on general conversations with those who will.
