porcupine
04-14-2008, 10:17 AM
An interesting discussion (http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=15077.msg183134#msg183134)on the FSP forum. It started when a European questioned us on why we couldn't have multiple Free State Projects. Free State Wyoming is also discussed.
Exerpt:
Do you have any idea how many other projects have already been tried and all failed? They fail from inertia. They tend to attract a number of people, most of whom do nothing but sit on their computers and whine to one another about how things ought to be. Eventually people get bored with the whole thing and move on to the next great idea.
You are right, this project will set an example for the rest of the world. Other activists will be needed later to spread the lessons learned here. But the lessons are just starting to be learned by those who are already in NH. The whole point of this project was to concentrate enough activists in one place to really make a difference this time. If everyone were to go to NH the project would not fail, it would succeed wildly and much more quickly. Then those who wanted to spread the lessons elsewhere certainly could.
Look at it this way, a martial arts student who wishes to break a board does not tap gently in many spots on the board and hope one of them breaks it somehow. The student focuses all his/her energy on the weakest spot of the board and breaks it there. New Hampshire is the weakest part of the Authoritarians' board. We can either tap gently around that board the way that has been done for years and continue to fail, or concentrate our energy in NH and break the board.
Hell I would love to stay here in NJ and slug it out with the government here. My friends are here. My family is all here. I am very familiar with the state and the politics. I have a house on six acres of land, and a good job, plus a side business. I am very comfortable here. I could start a separate project for NJ, but what would be the point? All I would achieve is once again keeping us separated and reducing the effectiveness of all of us. It is better for me to make my way to NH and join the fight there.
There are simply not enough people to engage in multiple projects with any real chance of success. My cousin lives in Wyoming, is very up to date on news and politics, and has never heard of the project in Wyoming. Setting up a commune in Texas isn't going to change much either. Sure, you could have the local rules you might like, just like any planned community, but what would be achieved as far as improving your freedoms otherwise? There are far too many people in that state for a small group to have much effect. A free anything in the EU? I wish my European brethren luck breaking the much heavier Socialist chains there. I wish it were easier for them to come here. If I had a bigger business I would sponsor the lot.
The point of any project is success. NH was chosen because it offered the best opportunity for success. There are people there already working very hard and making an impact. They will be joined by more and more as time goes on. This project is already getting media attention and has for years, both locally and nationally. I was originally made aware of this project by a national news article and that was six years ago.
I don't pretend to fully understand your situation and why you feel you can't make the move to NH. I would love to have 20 acres in northern NH. I can't afford it right now, so I will probably end up renting a place in southern NH and saving up until I can get some land somewhere. I would be there right now except I am tied here by some personal obligations for another year or so. And then I will be on my way. In the meantime I will be recruiting here, helping educate the other folks here in NJ, writing to members of the NH legislature about the laws they are considering, and helping those in NH in any way I can from here. If I can't be there in body I can be there in spirit.
And no, not every one in this project is a libertarian. I don't know what I am as far as a label, or what most of these other folks would consider themselves. I've never worried about labels. What I do know is that the people dedicated to this project are united in the idea that things can be better than they are and that we aren't going to let the inconvenience of uprooting our lives to move to New Hampshire stop us from having a better life for ourselves, our families, and our posterity.
George
Exerpt:
Do you have any idea how many other projects have already been tried and all failed? They fail from inertia. They tend to attract a number of people, most of whom do nothing but sit on their computers and whine to one another about how things ought to be. Eventually people get bored with the whole thing and move on to the next great idea.
You are right, this project will set an example for the rest of the world. Other activists will be needed later to spread the lessons learned here. But the lessons are just starting to be learned by those who are already in NH. The whole point of this project was to concentrate enough activists in one place to really make a difference this time. If everyone were to go to NH the project would not fail, it would succeed wildly and much more quickly. Then those who wanted to spread the lessons elsewhere certainly could.
Look at it this way, a martial arts student who wishes to break a board does not tap gently in many spots on the board and hope one of them breaks it somehow. The student focuses all his/her energy on the weakest spot of the board and breaks it there. New Hampshire is the weakest part of the Authoritarians' board. We can either tap gently around that board the way that has been done for years and continue to fail, or concentrate our energy in NH and break the board.
Hell I would love to stay here in NJ and slug it out with the government here. My friends are here. My family is all here. I am very familiar with the state and the politics. I have a house on six acres of land, and a good job, plus a side business. I am very comfortable here. I could start a separate project for NJ, but what would be the point? All I would achieve is once again keeping us separated and reducing the effectiveness of all of us. It is better for me to make my way to NH and join the fight there.
There are simply not enough people to engage in multiple projects with any real chance of success. My cousin lives in Wyoming, is very up to date on news and politics, and has never heard of the project in Wyoming. Setting up a commune in Texas isn't going to change much either. Sure, you could have the local rules you might like, just like any planned community, but what would be achieved as far as improving your freedoms otherwise? There are far too many people in that state for a small group to have much effect. A free anything in the EU? I wish my European brethren luck breaking the much heavier Socialist chains there. I wish it were easier for them to come here. If I had a bigger business I would sponsor the lot.
The point of any project is success. NH was chosen because it offered the best opportunity for success. There are people there already working very hard and making an impact. They will be joined by more and more as time goes on. This project is already getting media attention and has for years, both locally and nationally. I was originally made aware of this project by a national news article and that was six years ago.
I don't pretend to fully understand your situation and why you feel you can't make the move to NH. I would love to have 20 acres in northern NH. I can't afford it right now, so I will probably end up renting a place in southern NH and saving up until I can get some land somewhere. I would be there right now except I am tied here by some personal obligations for another year or so. And then I will be on my way. In the meantime I will be recruiting here, helping educate the other folks here in NJ, writing to members of the NH legislature about the laws they are considering, and helping those in NH in any way I can from here. If I can't be there in body I can be there in spirit.
And no, not every one in this project is a libertarian. I don't know what I am as far as a label, or what most of these other folks would consider themselves. I've never worried about labels. What I do know is that the people dedicated to this project are united in the idea that things can be better than they are and that we aren't going to let the inconvenience of uprooting our lives to move to New Hampshire stop us from having a better life for ourselves, our families, and our posterity.
George