"Bring Out Your Dead"

I've always had mixed feelings about graveyards. On the one hand, they're a cool place to make out in when you're a teenager. On the other hand, they're pretty much a waste of real estate. It would make much more sense to combine a graveyard with something else, like a golf course or an amusement park. Of course, a good case can be made that golf courses and amusement parks are also a waste of good real estate, which is why the optimal use of scarce resources would be some sort of triple combo where you could visit your dead relatives, get in a round of golf, and ride a few rollercoasters. If you could also get a cup of Starbucks coffee and a taco from Taco Bell, it would be perfect. (It would also be cool to sell "My Father Died and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" t-shirts).

While I think graveyards could be put to better use, I certainly don't want to push my opinion on other people. Unlike the town board in St. George, Vermont which is trying to stop a family from turning their land into a burial ground because bureaucrats would prefer the land to be used for commercial or residential use. (One would think that a graveyard would constitute residential use.). Making matters worse is the fact that the family has the best business idea of this decade. They want to turn their land into a do-it-yourself graveyard where families can cheaply bury their loved ones, after first digging the grave themselves. If the Institute for Justice wins its battle against the casket cartel, then low-budget funerals may truly be just around the corner.

From today's Washington Express:

RIP Now DIY
A St. George, Vt., family is planning to turn 50 acres of their land into a burial ground for do-it-yourself funerals, WPTZ-TV reported. Lisa Carlson said her family would like to offer the land for people to dig graves on their own for bodies or cremated remains. The family would not provide caskets or concrete vaults or embalming. "The idea of a garden park and nature reserve just makes so much sense," she said. However, the town board, which can regulate the land's use, says it believes the land might be better suited for commercial or residential use.