"Yoga is the study of the self through direct experience," Suzanne Leitner-Wise, a plaintiff ... said outside federal court in Alexandria, where the lawsuit was filed. "You simply can't put regulations on that. It's just dumb."
While she's right that regulating this is dumb, she has the wrong reasons. Putting words in her mouth, the fact that yoga is "spiritual" and "an ancient Eastern mystical practice" is irrelevant.
Any such licensing by a government body to restrict who is a "valid" business owner or practitioner of some art is not only dumb, it's a violation of individual rights.
The only people who should be able to decide whether to go into a particular business are the owners themselves. And the only people to decide if the business is valid are the customers who can freely choose to patronize it or not.
Comments
While she's right that regulating this is dumb, she has the wrong reasons. Putting words in her mouth, the fact that yoga is "spiritual" and "an ancient Eastern mystical practice" is irrelevant.
Any such licensing by a government body to restrict who is a "valid" business owner or practitioner of some art is not only dumb, it's a violation of individual rights.
The only people who should be able to decide whether to go into a particular business are the owners themselves. And the only people to decide if the business is valid are the customers who can freely choose to patronize it or not.