Arizona dairy farmer Hein Hettinga exemplifies what makes America great. Emigrate from the Netherlands. Exploit the freedom here. Find out how to make something better and cheaper. Please customers, make money, everybody happy.

So, got to find a way to stop the man, right?

Or so say many competitors in the hyper-regulated dairy industry.

If you’re a competitor watching this guy’s business grow and grow, you have two basic alternatives. You can either cheer and applaud, and say: “Gee, we’ve got to find a way to get out from under these regulations as well, so we too can compete better.” Or you can boo and hiss, and say: “Hey, no fair that he’s got more freedom than we do! We must find a way to make him wear the same handcuffs we have to wear!”

Hein got around onerous regulations by both producing the raw milk and processing it for store shelves. Because he bottles his own milk, he has been able to use a “loophole” in Depression-Era regulations to bring his product to customers more directly and cheaply. Competitors lobbied Congress to stop him. So now, in his 60s, Hettinga is battling to save his company.

Hettinga says, “They passed a law to kill one private dairy. . . . Big business shouldn’t be able to influence in this way. They went to the House and the Senate and said, ‘This guy has to be stopped.’ ”

Mr. Hettinga, you will get no argument from me.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.