Inspired by Ron Paul 1,000 People Have Now Moved for the Free State Project!
The day Ron Paul announced his run for US President, I met him and thanked him for being the spark of the inspiration for me to move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. I then explained with Dr. Paul's full attention that I moved to New Hampshire with the an intention to help start agorist businesses. Surprisingly, he was unaware of what agorism was about, and I explained to him that agorism is simply a way of promoting more liberty through business and trading practices. I told him that in specific I am promoting using silver as currency in New Hampshire, to which he replied with words of caution in the shadow of the Liberty Dollar trial in which the founder is set to be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for what can be described as attempting to offer an alterative to US dollars.
People like Dr. Paul and I believe that using value-backed currency like silver and gold is important because it limits corruption while saving money for the poor and the middle class, most notably by limiting inflation. After explaining that I've learned from the mistakes of Liberty Dollar and will be much more cautious and regulations prudent, Ron Paul recommended a good lawyer to help me along. Working for liberty is truly dangerous work, because the US is (to the ignorance of many) controlled to a large degree by a banking elite class, and if you compete with that class you may end up dead or in prison just like Bernard van Nothaus.
A few days ago, the 1,000th member of the Free State Project moved into New Hampshire. The United States is considered by many to be losing its status as a free country, and the Free State Project is an effort to move a large number of people on a single place to restore the lost liberties and then some, partly in response to ineffectiveness by the Libertarian party to accomplish that, and mostly in response to provisions within bills like NDAA, SOPA, the Patriot Act, and Obamacare that erode basic freedoms found in the US constitution.
The FSP membership has wildly varying opinions on a variety of topics, but all of its members agree that the end goal is "the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property". (Source: http://freestateproject.org/soi ) The project's original intention was for 20,000 people to all move to New Hampshire after the 20,000th member joined. Currently 11,000 have joined. But, many have grown impatient of waiting as the 20,000 figure is not expected to be met until 2020 and have just gone ahead and moved any way, earlier than expected.
A recent Free State Project accomplishment was in November 2011 when its members secured a total of 12 seats in the state house of representatives, a body of 400 seats which are relatively easy to obtain because they are unpaid positions. (Source: http://www.nationaljournal.com/polit...oman--20110510 ) The announcement prompted one "Blue Hampshire" Democrat to publish the hyperbolic headline: "The Free State Takeover of the Republican Party" (Source: http://www.bluehampshire.com/diary/1...publican-party )
Of course it isn't the Free State Project's goal to take over anything, but rather to undo the take-over by the authoritarians who are believed by the FSP to be the majority of politicians in the USA. Since the Free State Project has taken root, a large number of accomplishments have been made by lawmakers. Accomplishments attributed in part to Free State Project members include as examples of their efforts:
1. The 2012 New Hampshire budget is shrinking by 11%.
"Republican legislators heralded the budget as a victory for smaller government, shaving more than $1 billion, or 11 percent, off the prior spending plan."
(Source: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/...es-health.html )
2. Passing a resolution to nullify unconstitutional federal laws titled "N.H. House Asserts State's Right to Nullify Federal Laws"
(Source: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...y-federal-laws )
3. Eliminating the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed gun. (See "3 great NH gun bills pass NH House in 2012" *subject to veto, Source: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-House-in-2012 )
FSP members have accomplished more than just legal changes. They have also created a vast support network for people considered to be bullied by authoritarian laws or rouge police officers.
A New Hampshire focused service called Porc411 enables people in all sorts of situations to get help using a phone helpline. Grafton, NH resident Mike Barskey gave a review of the service saying "I can think of numerous situations where an activist needed/wanted help immediately (needed bodies at a confrontation with "authority," needed people to call a jail to assure a newly-kidnapped activist's well-being, etc.). Immediate, unplanned response can be a great result of Porc411."
People who are stranded at the side of the road have on several occassions called Porc411 for help and received rides home from good samaritans who follow the calls. That is not a service provided by most local governments. A number of members have been bailed out of jail as a result of the service after unexpected arrests, most of which were arrested for political reasons, and none of which have been arrested for violent crimes.
The much higher than expected success rate is a result of the higher rate of activism. It was expected that the movers would simply be slightly more involved than most people are in the political process, but many or even most people who have made the move have involved their self in politics, agorist business, civil disobedience, and other forms of activism at a very high rate, so the project is making a much bigger impact than otherwise expected.
Most members of the Free State Project believe the next 1,000 liberty-loving individuals moving to New Hampshire will cause things to start changing dramatically and causing even more more repeal of legislation considered unfriendly, and an exceptionally strong and resilient network of activism across the state that was only really expected with 20,000 participants. If 20,000 people end up moving, there is little question the state would be changed in a very big way. It's very exciting to experience the progress!
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Originally Posted by Salvial
