Nashua Telegraph editorial on the FSP

[Ruger Mason]

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070131/OPINION01/201310354/-1/opinion

Free State Project bumps into reality
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007

So the Free Staters are off their relocation goal by 11,500 people. As we said in 2003, the libertarians are a utopian group.

Their plan was to have 20,000 like-minded folks pledged by 2006 to move to New Hampshire. Once that goal was reached, those who pledged to relocate would begin their move to New Hampshire. So far, 1,000 have relocated to the Granite State and only 7,500 have pledged to arrive later, according to their project director. The pledge is non-binding so some of the 7,500 may opt out at their discretion.

It?s apparent the plan has bumped headlong into reality such as the unsettling aspects of uprooting families, finding new jobs and moving from predominantly Western climates to northern New England.

Varrin Swearingen, Free State Project director, said in a Telegraph article on Sunday, ?It should go without saying no one has done anything like this before, so we?re inventing the wheel. It?s not an easy task.? Still Swearingen, who moved to New Hampshire from California, and other Free State Project leaders aren?t giving up on their dream.

The goal of the Free State Project is to influence New Hampshire?s future by playing a pivotal role in politics at both the state and local levels. To that end, attracting 20,000 libertarians to give the group political clout was a necessity.

The Free Staters picked New Hampshire for their experiment because of its reputation for low taxes, aversion to big government, its live free-or-die attitude and its preponderance of small towns whose direction could be shaped by the infusion of a large number of new voters.

One of the towns eyed for relocation was Grafton, a small community two towns over from Lebanon. Residents who enjoy their laid-back lifestyle weren?t enthused about the Free Staters planned ?invasion.?

Libertarians believe in the most minimal form of government. Some advocate home schooling and other forms of private education instead of public schools. Others advocate decriminalizing marijuana use, prostitution and other ?victimless? crimes. They?re also ardent supporters of gun rights. However, ours is a complex society, even in New Hampshire, and the go-it-alone philosophy of the libertarians is unrealistic.

Time may have tempered the Free State Project since it was first announced in 2003. The political ?revolution? the Free Staters had enthusiastically hoped to start in New Hampshire looks like it has stalled big time. It was a plan easier said than done.

[KBCraig]

LTE time! 

[error]

The letter they likely won't print:

It seems there's a crisis in New Hampshire education when the staff of one of the state's daily newspapers has trouble with elementary addition and subtraction. The Telegraph says (Free State Project bumps into reality, Jan. 31) that the Free State Project has only convinced 7,500 people to move, leaving them 11,500 short of their 20,000 goal. If you missed the math error, there are now calculators to help with this.

In the opinion of the newspaper, the project "has stalled big time." Let's hope this is not so, for the sake of our children's education.

The Telegraph failed to mention that over 1,000 of those members have committed to move to New Hampshire by the end of 2008, over 150 of them have already arrived and gotten to work, and one is already in the State House.

Right now many Free State Project members are going to town meetings, scouring town budget details for unnecessary line items, and arguing to hold down property taxes and wasteful spending. Others are making trips to Concord, testifying before committees and performing triage on every LSR to determine the impact on our liberty. Still others are engaging in attention-grabbing civil disobedience, such as the Outlaw Manicurist, the silent protester, the mock Nazi checkpoint in Concord opposing REAL ID, and those who are lending support to Ed Brown in his battle with the IRS.

All this with only 150 people having moved. I suspect the thought of 1,000 liberty lovers in the state gives the Telegraph editorial staff nightmares.

The newspaper's opinion is also that "ours is a complex society, even in New Hampshire, and the go-it-alone philosophy of the libertarians is unrealistic." It is indeed a complex society, yet people should be free to go it alone if they wish. But Free State Project members haven't gone it alone. In all of their work they have become integral parts of our communities, and in many cases, the driving forces behind keeping small government small and the New Hampshire advantage advantageous.

Only the Communists coming up from, and being influenced by, Massachusetts need be concerned with Free State Project members, whose staunch defense of liberty is anathema to their socialist designs.

[d_goddard]

The letter they likely won't print:

Did you submit it as an an LTE?
letters@nashuatelegraph.com

[error]

The letter they likely won't print:

Did you submit it as an an LTE?
letters@nashuatelegraph.com

Of course I did! It wouldn't do much good merely posted here.

[Russell Kanning]

In their thinking
7500 pledged .... but might not move
1000 moved
11500 short
20000 goal

They don't quite get how the FSP is set up or how our numbers are done
7500 total signed up .... who knows how many will move
200+ moved .... who knows how many really .... and it will only get worse to track
1000+ pledged to be here in a year or 2 .... I guess around 800 more than the 200 already. Most of these guys will move pretty soon.
12500 needed to reach goal .... who knows when
20,000,000 needed to join the nonviolent revolution and let social force overcome political.

[Lloyd Danforth]

20,000,000 would send NH over the FSP's maximum population criteria, thus making it inneligable for consideration

[Russell Kanning]

We are too simple ... we don't understand complex societies and how they need to be centrally planned.

None of us are praxologists I guess.

[error]

Russell, they didn't even MENTION the First 1000. That's why I suspect they simply weren't properly taught math in school.

[Russell Kanning]

actually they just thought the 1000 had already moved.

[error]

actually they just thought the 1000 had already moved.

Wow, they're even dumber than I first thought!

[Lloyd Danforth]

Russell must have killed his cow.

Praxeology

[CNHT]

You can always post it on their forum...there are some people on there who need to be bitch-slapped IMHO.
That way, too bad if they won't print it.

[mvpel]

Right now many Free State Project members are going to town meetings, scouring town budget details for unnecessary line items, and arguing to hold down property taxes and wasteful spending. Others are making trips to Concord, testifying before committees and performing triage on every LSR to determine the impact on our liberty. Still others are engaging in attention-grabbing civil disobedience, such as the Outlaw Manicurist, the silent protester, the mock Nazi checkpoint in Concord opposing REAL ID, and those who are lending support to Ed Brown in his battle with the IRS.

Don't forget the one who was the first to move from out of state (California) after the selection of New Hampshire, who presently serves on the Board of Directors of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, and as the organization's treasurer.

Not to toot my own horn, or anything. 

[CNHT]

Don't forget the one who was the first to move from out of state (California) after the selection of New Hampshire, who presently serves on the Board of Directors of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, and as the organization's treasurer.

Not to toot my own horn, or anything. 

There have been no less than 6 articles about this issue with none of them getting it right.....what did we expect?