Benedict Arnold and the Free State Project

[shyfrog]

Current local and national events, coupled with reading historical narratives from the American Revolution¹, have stirred my thoughts regarding the Free State Project, why I moved here, why we must continue to have open and honest dialog about our experiences, and why continued activity promoting liberty and eschewing tyranny in all its facets is paramount. Bear with me over the next few paragraphs as I paint this portrait:

Benedict Arnold. The name conjures images of the foulest deeds committed in the name of power, pride, fame, and lucre. Arnold, a General in the American Continental army, was considered to be one of the most successful leaders in the war until he tried unsuccessfully to hand over the fort at West Point to the British. Imagine the disappointment and sheer, righteous anger that George Washington felt at the discovery of Benedict Arnold's betrayal. As the news spread, he would find he was not alone in his feelings.

In the weeks following the news of Arnold's treason, Dr. Benjamin Rush described the atmosphere surrounding the general populace, who either befriended Great Britain or did not take active part in the war, as having a kind of "hypochondria". This disease, known as "Tory Rot" and "Protection Fever" was found in people disturbed by "the real or supposed distresses of [their] country." The symptoms of this disease included impotence, alcoholism, despair, and suspicion. It is a malady that sounds all too familiar now.

Today we have our own Benedict Arnold. He is the "good citizen". This citizen is found in all of us: the part of us that, either through momentary lapses of reason or by altogether forfeiting reason, forgets that we are sovereign and individual. We own our selves, our property, our thoughts, and actions. The surrender of control of the good citizen's rights to the experts, pundits, panels, and collectives via the machinery of the state has given those assumed authorities the reigns to our lives, hearts, and minds.

By taking away choice, they take away the individual's capacity for good and render them blind automatons. The symptoms are the same now as they were then, only far more pronounced and evident. We are still generally numb and blind to what is surrounding us - as if we are taking Dr. Rush's prescribed treatment "to avoid reading news-papers, and conversing upon political subjects, and thereby to acquire total ignorance of public events." He did offer another cure at the time, however: "take part in the disputes which divide his fellow citizens". Arnold's treason began to have a galvanizing effect on the outrage of the public, stirring them to action.

150 years before Arnold's betrayal, the pilgrims made the long journey across the Atlantic to come to the new world. Why would they risk their lives and families to make the journey? The answer is simple and while I hope this is still taught in the schools, I will repeat it here for any who may have forgotten: they were separatists fleeing a volatile political environment in an attempt to live free from tyranny. They were embracing freedom. The trials and changes they went through during those ensuing years are indicative of all such migrations. The Mormons fled to the intermountain west, only 50 years after the War for Independence, in order to secure their freedoms. Unfortunately, they were followed and eventually forced to change and conform, betraying their own beliefs, by the Benedict Arnolds of their time.

Here we stand, what seems like light-years away from those men and their battles, yet we face the same dilemmas. People wielding and waving the mantle of power like a loaded gun in our faces in order to solicit compliance to their whims for the sake of an imagined society they claim to have created. And from somewhere behind our trust and open communications, Arnold and his ilk are always inwardly, if not unwittingly, laying plans and mapping out our destruction. We have it within us to stop this trend. We have it within us to reach our goal: Independence in our lifetime.

Benedict Arnold was demonized and his character defined as uniquely evil. Should we look at our betrayal of individual responsibility and sovereignty to the all-powerful state in the same way? Or as the  Colonel of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, Alexander Scammel, put it: "Treason! Black as hell! ... we even descended to a critical examination of ourselves". By taking part in the disputes that divide us, we will begin to discover where we stand. We will awaken to find ourselves as either: loyalist or Whig; collective or individual; authoritarian or libertarian. Uniting ourselves with the individuals we become the moving parts of a functioning body that refreshes itself, capable of independence, choice, and ultimate responsibility.

In conclusion I simply ask that each of you examine yourselves and decide where you stand: On the side of Liberty or on the side of Tyranny. I have chosen the Free State Project and Liberty and I invite you, wherever you are, to join us here in New Hampshire.


1. Portions of this article inspired by "For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and their Revolutions" by James R. Gaines

Thank you to Bald Eagle and also my daughter for proof-reading and editorial help

[enloopious]

I think it is important to note that besides the verbal abuse and written history, the worst that Arnold (or Nixon for that matter) ever got was a change of address. This may in fact embolden power hungry opportunists that are willing to risk that. Surely the tree of liberty has never been refreshed?

We are all sovereigns and all we need now is a school to teach it to our kids. If only everyone knew it this would be a much better country. I fear that there will always be people who want to be ruled. The only answer I see to that dilemma is for the leaders to come out of the wood work. Teach your kids how to lead, not rule.

+1 for a darn good post.

[shyfrog]

As I continue to read this book about Washington and Lafayette, I'm finding that our country more resembles France before the French revolution, than America before the war for independence.

As for Benedict, I don't know who could possibly want to have their name synonymous with treason for all eternity o.O Then again, only the most astute and independent minds can recognize history being made as it happens.

[KBCraig]

As I continue to read this book about Washington and Lafayette, I'm finding that our country more resembles France before the French revolution, than America before the war for independence.

As things currently stand, I think our country more closely resembles France after the French Revolution, where égalité and fraternié were more important than Liberté. Sameness is more important than Liberty. That's where the French failed in their attempt to emulate the American Revolution: they didn't understand what Liberty truly means, and mistook "tyranny of the majority" as superior to "tyranny by the monarchy".

[ThePug]

As I continue to read this book about Washington and Lafayette, I'm finding that our country more resembles France before the French revolution, than America before the war for independence.

As things currently stand, I think our country more closely resembles France after the French Revolution, where égalité and fraternié were more important than Liberté. Sameness is more important than Liberty. That's where the French failed in their attempt to emulate the American Revolution: they didn't understand what Liberty truly means, and mistook "tyranny of the majority" as superior to "tyranny by the monarchy".

The only difference between the French and American revolutions is that ours has taken two centuries to go through the process that took the French two decades.

[EthanAllen]

I think our country more closely resembles France after the French Revolution, where égalité and fraternité were more important than Liberté. Sameness is more important than Liberty.

Most people believe equality has to be traded off against liberty. It doesn't.

[Ogre]

An excellent post.  I observe people.  I work on computer and on human-computer interaction, so I spend a lot of time studying people, what they do, and why they do it.  The focus of the post really is "treason."  While I agree with the post, the majority of the public will not.  Why?  Because of incrementalism, they honestly cannot see treason.

In other words, as long as people perceive that there are open and free elections, and they can vote for someone, they will agree that anything that government does, they do with permission.  Therefore, the only thing that can be treason today is disobeying the government.  I'm sure to most on this board, that sounds incredibly radical -- but I would submit that is the view of most of the general public.

Do people yearn for freedom?  Absolutely.  It's deeply ingrained and I don't think that the majority will ever stop wanting freedom.  But if they are told often enough and by enough people that they have freedom to do some things, they will perceive that they have freedom.  I, and those who are here, know the difference.  We understasnd that there is nothing you can do (legally) in this country today without asking permission from the government.  Seriously.  You cannot even go to the bathroom without getting government approval of your waste removal device.  So we have, in my view, absolutely zero freedom -- but the general public simply cannot see that.  They cannot see the treason because they believe they have freedom -- because they're told that they do.

Our view of treason is those who attempt to take freedoms.  The public's view of freedom is those who disobey instructions of government.  I choose to stand with you, on the side of freedom.  But as of today, there's not enough who actually can see the difference between freedom and tyranny.  I work daily to show people what freedom would really look like, if we should ever see it.  I will work until I die to have liberty in my lifetime.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Benedict Arnold's great grandfather of the same name was a neighbor of one of my ancestors in Rhode Island

[shyfrog]

Benedict Arnold's great grandfather of the same name was a neighbor of one of my ancestors in Rhode Island

Was his name Benedict Arnold? oh wait...

[shyfrog]

Our view of treason is those who attempt to take freedoms.  The public's view of freedom is those who disobey instructions of government.  I choose to stand with you, on the side of freedom.  But as of today, there's not enough who actually can see the difference between freedom and tyranny.  I work daily to show people what freedom would really look like, if we should ever see it.  I will work until I die to have liberty in my lifetime.

I'm glad to know there are the few who stand for freedom. And I know, now more than ever, that there certainly are not enough people who can actually SEE the difference between freedom and tyranny. My ancestors fought, lost their businesses, their families, their lives, in order to secure liberty for future generations. Our battles may be different today, but they are nonetheless just as important.

The wise man built his house upon the rock
and the rains came tumbling down
the rains came down and the floods came up
and the house on the rock stood still

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
and the rains came tumbling down
the rains came down and the floods came up
and the house on the sand washed away