The 'Live Free Or Die' Lie: Why I Chose Political Exile in Vermont

[Kat Kanning]

Gee, I can't really say I'm sorry we lost this one.   


The 'Live Free Or Die' Lie: Why I Chose Political Exile in Vermont
http://www.strike-the-root.com/62/knight/knight7.html
by Alex R. Knight III

Exclusive to STR

November 6, 2006

Free State Projecters are no doubt amazed at my impudence:  A self-styled libertarian who conscientiously chose to leave New Hampshire for greener pastures in the Green Mountains .  Granted, at the time of my emigration, in 2002, a dozen U.S. states were still under consideration by the FSP as the target of their endeavors -- and Vermont was one of them.  Not that there was ever much chance, mind you: It was always my feeling that the FSP organizers never gave VT a fair shake.  Be that as it may, many Liberty Seekers would still call my action irrational, if not out-and-out crazy.  They may be correct about the latter, but surely not the former.  This aims to explore how and why.  But first, a bit of background is in order. 

For those reading this who are not from or have never lived in New England , we have a kind of strange political axiom going on here.  I call it a truism.  To wit, that New Hampshire , with its infamous 1809 General John Stark "Live Free Or Die" motto, automatically and without question trumps all five other States in the region as a bastion of small government, low taxes, and individual liberty.  This, to put it politely, is a thin patina of redolent cow manure.  However, in the spirit of remaining polite, let's examine the major points which have earned the Granite State its dubious reputation: 

*  There is no broad-based income tax (note I say "broadbased"; there are still corporate income taxes, and capital gains taxes). 

*  There is no broad-based sales tax (again, note I say "broadbased"; there is still a tax imposed on vehicle rentals, and one on motor oil purchases, of all things). 

*  There is no seat-belt law (for anyone over the age of 12, that is). 

*  There is no motorcycle helmet law. 

*  Automobile insurance is not mandatory. 

And that about outlines what purportedly makes New Hampshire tantamount to being some kind of libertarian paradise.  Or at least, supposedly fertile ground for establishing one.  So why did I leave for Vermont ? 

In my specific case, it is worth mentioning that there were any number of personal issues affecting my life which influenced my decision.  Most of them are not relevant here.  However, in making my move, I had four other states to choose from, assuming I wanted to stay in New England (which I of course did; I'm a native, and it's just in my blood).  Let's have a brief peek at those before we move on to Maple Syrup Country: 

1.)  The People's Republic of Marxachusetts:  All I can say is that I really would have had to be crazy to have moved back there (I'm originally from Ted Kennedy Land ).  Other than the climate, and some measure of free speech, there is not much difference between this state and Castro's Cuba .   

2.)  Maine :  A lovely state (as states go), and home to one of my favorite authors.  Really nice people, beautiful seashores, big hearty meals -- but like Marxachusetts, excessive, heavy-handed taxation.  Not for me. 

3.)  Connecticut :  Too many urban areas, too many taxes, too close to New York City .  No thanks. 

4.)  Rhode Island :  Other than not having a "bottle-bill" ( New Hampshire is the only other New England state which doesn't), I can't see why anyone would want to live here, period.  Outside of being on a boat at Providence Harbor in summertime, not much to offer a liberty-lover. 

And that brings us back to Vermont .  So what, pray tell, makes said State the crown jewel of New England , in my view? 

Well, Vermont is not Utopia.  No place in Amerika these days is, nor ever was, even when it was still allegedly a "constitutional republic."  But here's why I think Vermont is better than New Hampshire , all things taken as a whole: 

*  Most infamously, Vermont boasts virtually zero gun control, with the carrying of handguns -- including concealed ones -- requiring no government licensure or permission of any kind.  This is in sharp contrast to the Granite State , where licenses are required and rigidly enforced by police.  The website relating one particularly aggressive instance of police abuse I endured is now defunct, and the incident is too long to reproduce here, but the New Hampshire town in question was Exeter -- which I regard as demonstrative of the very worst which modern Amerika has to offer.  And may it in turn live in well-deserved infamy as a pestilential garbage dump. 

*  On that note, Vermont has not only a much lower population (some 600,000 to NH's 1.2 million), it also possesses, even per capita, a far lower and less draconian law-enforcement presence.  In fact, between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. , seven days a week, the Vermont State Police actually shut down.  That's right:  they turn off the lights and lock the doors to the barracks.  A couple of troopers stay up at home in case a telephone call comes in during the wee hours, but that's all.  At the time of this writing, I can't recall the last time I even saw a cop.  There is a county sheriff's office, but the town I live in doesn't even have a local constable. 

*  Property taxes are roughly imitative of the national average.  True, Vermonters complain about high property taxation (which really is a growing national trend; would that people wake up and demand an end to government schools altogether to permanently fix several problems at once, not just high taxes), but New Hampshire is the all-time national record breaker for property taxation.  It's not uncommon for a shack on a half-acre in the Granite State to be taxed at $5,000 to $6,000 per year.  And that's supposed to somehow be excused in light of the non-existence of other taxes? 

*  Electric rates are the lowest in New England .  Right next door in NH, they are the highest in the country.  Chalk that up to all the Federal Nuclear Decommissioning charges passed on to Granite State electric customers by the utility providers to pay for "powering down" the Seabrook Station nuclear plant.  The real rich part of the joke is the bill of goods sold to New Hampshirites in the late 1970's by then-Governor John Sununu Sr.  He bellowed loudly in those days that Seabrook Station would (a) bring thousands of jobs to NH, and (b)  provide NH with lots of clean, cheap electricity while helping the country to reduce dependency on foreign oil.  While Seabrook Station was being built, I could, in those days, stand in my grandparents' backyard -- which was in direct full view of the plant's main gate -- and look at the license plates of workers driving in and out . . . in between the throngs of hippies and environmentalists who had more or less formed a permanent protest camp all along U.S. Route 1.  Lots of Maine and Massachusetts plates, not too many New Hampshire .  It gets better:  In the 20 years or so since SS went "online," virtually none of the power ever generated by that plant was sold into the New Hampshire market.  Almost everywhere but, in fact.  Yet NH consumers are footing the bill to this day. 

*  And speaking of license plates, registration of personal motor vehicles (automobiles, trucks, etc.) incurs paying a one-time 6% sales tax on the Blue Book value, and is then a flat $50 per year fee (tax) regardless of the vehicle's value, as opposed to a logarhythmic sliding scale excise tax system, such as NH and most other States have.  This means Vermonters pay about one-third what their NH counterparts pay in the long run. 

I could wax and wane on and on about more personal things I like better in Vermont -- the beautiful landscapes, the cleaner air, the friendlier people, the slower pace of life.  But that's me, I realize, and not necessarily the next person.  And to each his own is a big part of the point I hope I'm making here.  So I've tried to stick with the objectively demonstrable.  And I think the bugs I've uncovered under the stones I've overturned have revealed what for some may be an ugly truth:  To wit, that New Hampshire, for all the hyperbole, ain't what it's cracked up to be. 

To be more critical yet, I really have my doubts that the Free State (an oxymoron in itself) Project will affect any measurable change working within the abhorrently corrupt political system in New Hampshire -- and that's even assuming they are ever able to get 20,000 or so "libertarians" to move there (at the time of this writing, fewer than 500 have done so).  A sorry affair. 

Those long-dead people who fought the American Revolution were made of different stuff, it seems.  Basic survival mandated sowing and reaping crops, raising livestock, hunting, building shelter and home necessities by hand, fighting Indians, seeing little in hard cash (gold and silver) throughout most of one's life.  A life which generally lasted about 30 years, maybe a bit longer for women.  How big of a transition was it to pick up musket and bayonet and sword and battle tyrants to the death in a blood-soaked revolution?  Today, spoiled by technology and creature comforts, most Americans prefer "convenience" over liberty.  Why risk prison or death when the refrigerator keeps the beer cold; lights come on at the flick of a switch; turn the knob and the thermostat banishes a winter's chill; hit the remote control and you're watching American Idol in digital sound and color. 

Given this sum-total reality, for better or worse, I chose to come to Vermont .  I must be either way ahead of the curve, or way behind it, I suppose.  No matter.  Those of us who cherish freedom dearly must each find our own path to the maximization of that end.  Perhaps some New Hampshire apologists may come to recognize this.  If that means you, remember that heading west across the Connecticut River is always an option.  Drop me a line if you decide to make the switch.  I might even fix you some pancakes.

[burnthebeautiful]

He makes valid points.

[error]

Add them to the to-do list.

[lildog]

*  Property taxes are roughly imitative of the national average.  True, Vermonters complain about high property taxation (which really is a growing national trend; would that people wake up and demand an end to government schools altogether to permanently fix several problems at once, not just high taxes), but New Hampshire is the all-time national record breaker for property taxation.  It's not uncommon for a shack on a half-acre in the Granite State to be taxed at $5,000 to $6,000 per year.  And that's supposed to somehow be excused in light of the non-existence of other taxes?

In reading that I recall a conversation I had with my dad not long after I moved to NH (my parents live back in NY).  He was shocked over the high property taxes I pay.  So I sat down and said, what do you pay in property tax to NY?  And now what do you pay in income tax?  And let?s take and save you?re sales receipts for a month (not even at Christmas time when people tend to spend more on gifts) and see how much you spend in sales tax?  And any other taxes?

When adding everything up, my father found that living in a smaller house which much less land, earning a smaller combined income (between he and my mom vs. my wife and I) he is paying out far more per year then I am.  But he pays less in property taxes.

See this is one of the BIG dangers of government, if allowed to have several small taxes they hide the over all amount they are taxing you.  Personally I think if everyone in this country was given a single bill for ALL their taxes (federal, state and local) all at once just before election time we would end up seeing an out right tax revolt that put the tea party to shame.

[d_goddard]

It ain't about which state is the freest on whatever grab-bag of issues you want to cite. One could debate forever which of Nevada, Alaska, Vermont, or New Hampshire is "really" most free.

To my mind, it's about which state can be MADE FREE, not which IS FREE.
And, for the way I fight, the NH system of extremely participatory government just can't be beat.
Even if you're not into politics, the fact that you can call up your State Rep and know that he lives just a few blocks from you and he WILL take our call -- that in itself is golden.

That plus the fact that liberty-lovers with enough gumption to pull up stakes and move... are arriving all the time... tells me where it's best to invest my time and effort. God bless the KFP!

[aries]

NH has far better gun laws than VT and our state police are on call for the same hours as VT

[BaRbArIaN]

I remember the author from NHLP meetings in the 90s.   I think all his problems are leftover bile from his dealings with the Exeter PD.

[mraaron]

NH has far better gun laws than VT

This is true.  VT is a close second to NH in places I wouldn't mind calling home.  The fact it shares a border with NH might be important in the future. 

[intergraph19]

He does indeed make some valid points, but he misses a few big ones too.  As was mentioned below be Denise, it's not about which state is the most free but which can be most easily made free.  That is still NH at this point and we are far more standoffish and gun toating than VT people as a whole.  Not to mention our state governmental machine is much easier to infultrate than VTs.  And of course the largest one I can see at this juncture, ALL THE OTHER LIBERTARIANS WHO MOVED ARE HERE!  So you can go shout in the woods in VT or shout in a crowd here.  I think NH has a much better chance of being far freer than VT because of that one fact alone.

[Russell Kanning]

Sometimes people from NEngland and especially Mass don't get it.

[KBCraig]

Sounds like the Boston T. Party of New England.

[Quantrill]

NH has far better gun laws than VT

This is true.  VT is a close second to NH in places I wouldn't mind calling home.  The fact it shares a border with NH might be important in the future. 

I had always heard that VT had the most gun-friendly laws in the country.  Guess that's not true?

[KBCraig]

I had always heard that VT had the most gun-friendly laws in the country.  Guess that's not true?

Lots of people say that, based only on the fact that there is no license required for either open or concealed carry.

But, VT doesn't have full preemption like NH does, and there are local restrictions on open carry.

VT also requires dealers to keep records that are more specific than the ATF 4473.

VT bans silencers (suppressors), although the fine is only $25.

VT limits sales and purchases to residents of contiguous states. Since NY and MA residents can't buy out of state, this means only NH residents can buy guns in VT.

Kevin