Free State Project nears 20,000 signers, setting stage for libertarian influx

[jct74]

Free State Project ‘Triggers the Move’: 20,000 Libertarians to Move to New Hampshire in Next 5 Years

What kind of impact will 20,000 liberty-loving people make when they move to a small state, like New Hampshire? The country will soon find out.

MANCHESTER, NH (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 03, 2016: As of today, The Free State Project is the most successful intentional migration movement in American history. This is because today the organization has announced that 20,000 participants have signed the Statement of Intent to move to New Hampshire, where they will “exert their fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of individuals’ rights to life, liberty and property.”

The 20,000 mark is significant, because it ‘triggers the move’ – the mass migration of the Free State Project participants who have all agreed to move to New Hampshire within the next five years. So far, almost 2,000 have already relocated to the state.

“In the last few months, using various social media targeting tools, we expanded our audience and a significant number of new people signed the pledge,” says Carla Gericke, President of the Free State Project. “Early movers have already made their mark on the Granite State by passing life-saving drug reform legislation, expanding school choice and protecting first amendment rights – this has drawn in a whole new crowd of participants. Just imagine what can be accomplished with 10 times as many people.”

Since the first early movers flocked to New Hampshire, Free State Project participants have followed their individual passions to the center of some of the state’s most contentious political fights. They were instrumental in organizing resistance to Real ID in 2008, legalizing same-sex marriage through the legislature in 2009, and establishing a medical cannabis program in 2013.

The Free State Project started in 2001 with an essay by Jason Sorens, who was then a graduate student at Yale. Sorens, who is now a lecturer at Dartmouth College, theorized that if 20,000 committed activists moved to a single state with a small enough population, they could push policy and culture in a more free, open direction. In 2003, early participants chose New Hampshire as the state to migrate to. Now that the move has been triggered, the Free State Project will continue the effort to attract more participants, and inspire signers to move to the Live Free or Die state sooner rather than later.

"I'm thrilled by how far the Free State Project has come since the essay I wrote 15 years ago. Freedom lovers from around the country have turned concept into reality by moving to New Hampshire and building all kinds of exciting efforts to secure liberty and prosperity for all--efforts I could never have imagined back in 2001. Good ideas are powerful, and the idea of freedom is spurring many thousands of Americans to commit to move to the Granite State for a better life."

This news comes on the heels of the announcement that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden will be the headline speaker at the Free State Project’s 9th annual Liberty Forum, held in Manchester, New Hampshire from February 18-21.

“This is the culmination of over a decade of grassroots and volunteer work, and I am thrilled to be announcing that the Free State Project has surpassed the 20,000 signer mark,” says Gericke. “Early movers are bringing their businesses, families and charities with them to New Hampshire – not to mention disposable income. So far we’ve purchased more than $30 million in real estate alone, and I can’t wait to see what kind of larger impact will be made as a result of individual efforts within this growing and thriving community.”

The Free State Project will hold a press conference to announce this news at 11AM on February 3 in the Frost Room of the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH. If you’d like to reserve a media pass for the press conference, or want to interview Carla Gericke or Jason Sorens, please contact Brinck Slattery at brinck(at)contentfac(dot)com or at (603) 703-2846.

https://freestateproject.org/blogs/p...mpshire-next-5

[TheTexan]

Free State Project ‘Triggers the Move’: 20,000 Libertarians to Move to New Hampshire in Next 5 Years

Yep, I'm gonna get right on that

[jct74]

Yep, I'm gonna get right on that

Well you have 5 years to fulfill the pledge if you signed it, so no hurry really.

Serious question (seeking non-sarcastic answer) - Isn't the Free State Project something that anarchists such as yourself enthusiastically support? I would think so with all the civil disobedience and other non-voting political activism that the Free Staters engage in.

[TheTexan]

Well you have 5 years to fulfill the pledge if you signed it, so no hurry really.

Serious question (seeking non-sarcastic answer) - Isn't the Free State Project something that anarchists such as yourself enthusiastically support? I would think so with all the civil disobedience and other non-voting political activities that the Free Staters engage in.

When a project has failed, it's best to learn your lessons from it and move on.

Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive.

[jct74]

When a project has failed, it's best to learn your lessons from it and move on.

I wasn't aware it failed and you're the first person I've heard make that claim.

[jct74]

VIDEO: Free State Project Officially Announces 20,000 Signers – 100% Reached

by Ian
Feb 3, 2016

Nearly one hundred liberty-loving early movers were in attendance for the press conference this morning held by the Free State Project at the Radisson in Manchester. FSP founder Jason Sorens spoke on the creation of the FSP and why the first 5,000 participants chose New Hampshire as the destination. Jason said,

“The free state project is working because it gives people hope”

That’s definitely true for me. When I moved here as an early mover for the FSP in 2006 I was pretty angry about the government. I felt very lonely in Florida, with little more than a handful of libertarians in the area. Now there are more liberty-minded people living at my intersection in Keene than there were in the entire city where I’m from.

With over 1,600 having moved across NH from all around the globe as early movers, (the official FSP move begins today) and having a major impact, it’s clear that there is hope for liberty here in the Shire. I’m not angry anymore and haven’t been for many years. I expect other libertarians who feel isolated or cornered where they live will have a similar transition when they are surrounded by people who actually care about liberty and are willing to do something about it. It’s quite encouraging to be here. Here’s the full video of the press conference:




After Jason Sorens’ speech, FSP president Carla Gericke got up to address the crowd and journalists in the room, officially announcing that the FSP has reached its goal of 20,000 liberty-minded folks signing and promising to move to New Hampshire within five years of today, Feb 3rd, 2016. It’s now been dubbed “Porcupine Day”, and happens right after Groundhog Day. (The porcupine is the mascot of the FSP.) Once here, the FSP movers are to put forth the maximum practical effort to achieve liberty in our lifetime. Carla explained to the audience what it took to get the project to completion, including a sustained, expensive ad campaign on Facebook, for which much credit was given to Vince Perfetto who is well known in the NH liberty community as the producer of the excellent documentary, “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire“.

All the speakers touched on various successes of early movers, especially within the political system. It’s clear that the FSP’s early movers have had more political successes in a decade than the libertarian party has ever had, nationwide, in forty years.

To the surprise of some in the crowd, Carla did announce that the FSP would continue to accept signers, as their goal now is to ensure 20,000 libertarians make the move here. She promised that more on the future of the Free State Project as an organization will be announced at the upcoming convention thrown yearly by the FSP, “Liberty Forum“, happening 2/18-2/21 (also held at the Radisson in Manchester).

The speakers answered several questions from the audience, including on the common objections to the FSP from libertarians considering a move. Of course, one of the most popular being that, “it’s cold in NH”. Ultimately, the panel of speakers, which included Porcfest organizer Matt Philips, agreed that the cold temperatures keep away the fairweather activists and the talkers. We get the best activists here in NH as a result of this natural filtering process. Plus, the weather also keeps out statists, though it was pointed out that it was in the 50s today in February, historically the coldest of all twelve months in NH.

With nearly 10% here for the FSP already (1600+ movers plus nearly 300 FSPers who were here at the time of the vote), it’s clear to anyone paying attention that New Hampshire is the best destination for libertarians and voluntarists who are willing to get active rather than just complain. Start making your plans to move – the fun’s just getting started. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest from across the Shire!

http://freekeene.com/2016/02/03/vide...s-100-reached/

[jct74]

Free State Project reaches milestone
20,000 'liberty' people pledge to move to NH

By Brian Early
Feb. 3, 2016 at 8:01 PM

MANCHESTER — The Free State Project, the political migration organization that seeks liberty-minded people to relocate to New Hampshire, reached its goal Tuesday of gathering 20,000 signers who pledge to move to the state within five years of reaching the 20,000 milestone.

Free State Project President Carla Gericke announced the 20,000th signer at a press conference at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester Wednesday morning, as many Free Staters traveled to the city to celebrate the event, which is to "trigger the move."

The pledge that 20,000 people have signed states, “I hereby state my solemn intent to move to New Hampshire within five years of the Free State Project reaching 20,000 participants. Once there, I will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of individuals' rights to life, liberty and property.”

Gericke said in an impromptu speech Tuesday evening at an FSP moving party, “We believe in peace, we believe in prosperity, we believe in making everyone’s lives better, we just don’t agree with the way it’s being done." Moving parties are among the various support networks FSP participants have created to assist others with moving into the state. It serves as a sort of welcome wagon to new participants into a new community.

“It’s really an exciting time for me personally,” Gericke said in an interview after the press conference. “I feel proud to have accomplished this historic thing.”

...

read more:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl...NEWS/160209706

[jct74]

20,000 Libertarians Pledge To Move to the 'Free State' of New Hampshire


DANIEL OBERHAUS
February 7, 2016

The Free State Project, a Libertarian organization that wants to spark an exodus to New Hampshire, announced Wednesday that it had collected 20,000 signatories who pledged to move to the state within five years. The announcement comes nearly two years after the organization began a Trigger the Move campaign, which sought to get 20,000 people to move to the community.

...

In the 13 years since its founding, the group has made large strides toward establishing its libertarian utopia. This is most noticeable in the group’s widespread adoption of Bitcoin, which has earned the state the unofficial moniker of “Bitcoin Capital of America.” Self-identified Free Staters in New Hampshire launched Lamassu, one of the most popular Bitcoin ATMs, in 2013. SatoshiDice, the Bitcoin gambling website, was also launched out of New Hampshire in 2012 by Bitcoin mogul and Free Stater Erik Vorhees.

Although both of these Bitcoin businesses have been forced out of the US by various regulatory agencies, the Free State Project hopes to garner enough influence in New Hampshire politics to make the state more friendly to liberty-minded businesses. They seem to be well on their way to this goal, with 16 Free State Project members now serving in the state’s House of Representatives.

“Only 3,000 to 4,000 movers would be enough of an activist base to match anything that any of the other ideological factions in the state can muster, maybe even all of them put together,” said Jason Sorens, a professor of government at Dartmouth College and the founder of the Free State Project. “20,000 movers could turn New Hampshire into the Switzerland of North America.“

The group has attracted the attention of high profile politicians and activists, including Edward Snowden who is scheduled for a live video conference at the group’s Liberty Forum to be held later this month. Unsurprisingly, not everyone in New Hampshire is happy with the Free Stater’s plans to turn the state into a libertarian utopia.

...

read more:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/200...-new-hampshire

[jct74]

A group of libertarians has been plotting to take over New Hampshire for years—and now they’re closer than ever

by Kashmir Hill
February 8, 2016 5:52 p.m.

Fifteen years ago, a 24-year-old Yale graduate student proposed a radical experiment for those who are not huge fans of the government. He suggested that a large group of libertarians in the U.S. all move to a single small state and, essentially, take over that state’s culture and government to make it friendlier toward the free market. He named this plan the “Free State Project.”

The state the project chose was New Hampshire. Rather than just hoping libertarians would slowly move there over time, the FSP decided they’d have a pledge process. Those devoted to a more-limited government would promise to move to New Hampshire once their pledge reached 20,000 signatures. The signatures came trickling in over the years, but in the last four months, the number of people signing up for the move accelerated rapidly. It took 15 years for the movement to attract 18,000 signers, but it got 2,500 just in the last few months.

“We started doing Facebook ads,” explained Free State Project president Carla Gericke by phone. She says they A/B tested different ads and found that this one, targeted at people who supported Ron Paul, who looked like people who liked their Facebook page, or who self-identified as libertarians, had a strong conversion rate:

...

read more:
http://fusion.net/story/265808/free-...-20000-people/

[jct74]

Free State Project - Is It Happening?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrykyhuCtTc

The Free State Project announced today that it has achieved the threshold of 20,000 pledges to move to New Hampshire in hopes of creating a more libertarian society. What's the project all about and does it have a chance of succeeding?

[jct74]

New Hampshire's Free State Project Eschews Presidential Primaries While Changing State Politics

Anthony L. Fisher
Feb. 9, 2016 11:34 am

This past weekend, a group of about 100 members of the Free State Project (FSP) gathered for one of their regular meetings in Manchester, New Hampshire. But this particular confab was different, because it was held just days after FSP hit its more-than-a-decade-in-the-making target to get 20,000 liberty-inclined citizens to pledge to move to New Hampshire in the hopes of creating a significant political force in the Live Free or Die State. While over 2,000 Free Staters have already moved to New Hampshire, the rest of the signers will begin migrating over the next few years.

As Brian Doherty noted after the milestone was reached last week, FSP already has a long list of accomplishments in the state, including "getting 15 of their brethren in the state House, challenging anti-ridehail laws, fighting in court for outre religious liberty, winning legal battles over taping cops, being mocked by Colbert for heroically paying off people's parking meters, hosting cool anything goes festivals for libertarians, nullifying pot juries, and inducing occasional pants-wetting absurd paranoia in local statists."

Though the first-in-the-nation presidential primaries were just days away and hundreds of journalists had been hovering for weeks around the mostly quiet northern New England communities, few of the Free Staters I spoke with had a preferred presidential candidate, if they even were interested in voting at all.

One Free Stater who moved from Dallas in 2009, Rep. Amanda Bouldin, is now a state legislator (and a registered Democrat to boot), representing 3,300 people in the Manchester area. She says she's voting for Vermin Supreme, the black boot-headed performance artist who is also a presidential candidate on the Democratic ballot.

Like most of the Free Staters we spoke with, Bouldin is disinterested in the dog-and-pony show of the presidential pageant, but as legislator, she's not at all cynical about the political process. She was one of the driving forces behind a bill that made Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of a heroin overdose, legally available to anyone with a prescription. Previously, Narcan was only available to EMTs and police officers in New Hampshire.

...

read more:
http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/09/ne...s-presidential

[osan]

read more:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/2...rtarian-influx

Well, I hope they succeed, but I remain doubtful. I was one of the early signers and life has taken its turns since that day. I am vested in my life in WV and will not be moving to NH, a bastion of liberalism.
R fif
I would also point out that the liberal flakes in NH appear to hate the free-staters with some venom. Given this, 20k people will have quite the uphill battle, and likely for a very long time in an environment of strident liberalism that will do everything to stop them. I would further point out the significant likelihood that the status of America will be settled long before and by means very different from that envisioned by these well intending sorts. I doubt that we will have twenty or fifty years to correct that which needs correction.

The likelihood I see is that FSP is too little, WAY too late. Hope I am mistaken.

[brandon]

Yeah... I signed this pledge 9 years ago when I was a young guy not tied down anywhere. Now I'm married and own a house - no chance I can still go to NH (Or even really want to) at this point. I wonder how many of the 20k signatures are in the same place as me.

[NoOneButPaul]

Well, I hope they succeed, but I remain doubtful. I was one of the early signers and life has taken its turns since that day. I am vested in my life in WV and will not be moving to NH, a bastion of liberalism.
R fif
I would also point out that the liberal flakes in NH appear to hate the free-staters with some venom. Given this, 20k people will have quite the uphill battle, and likely for a very long time in an environment of strident liberalism that will do everything to stop them. I would further point out the significant likelihood that the status of America will be settled long before and by means very different from that envisioned by these well intending sorts. I doubt that we will have twenty or fifty years to correct that which needs correction.

The likelihood I see is that FSP is too little, WAY too late. Hope I am mistaken.

Like I said on the other page I love my job and Denver. If the FSP wants to get me a job making at least 36k a year and a place to move into right away I suppose i'd consider it but the bottom line is many of us signed this when we were young (I was 22) and the idea we're all going to uproot now is absurd. I'm glad they hit 20k but knowing i'm one of those people, and many others in the same position are as well, tells me this wont amount to much.

I also feel like as awesome as New Hampshire is Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming would have made the better pick for this idea. The FSP has been doing nothing but fighting the socialists there since they emerged. There's a lot more space in the Northwest and not very many people...

[IDefendThePlatform]

Well, I hope they succeed, but I remain doubtful. I was one of the early signers and life has taken its turns since that day. I am vested in my life in WV and will not be moving to NH, a bastion of liberalism.
R fif
I would also point out that the liberal flakes in NH appear to hate the free-staters with some venom. Given this, 20k people will have quite the uphill battle, and likely for a very long time in an environment of strident liberalism that will do everything to stop them. I would further point out the significant likelihood that the status of America will be settled long before and by means very different from that envisioned by these well intending sorts. I doubt that we will have twenty or fifty years to correct that which needs correction.

The likelihood I see is that FSP is too little, WAY too late. Hope I am mistaken.

Currently seccession seems unlikely but if the federal government goes bankrupt or the dollar collapses and state governments become more prominent it certainly seems possible Libertarianism could be positioned to thrive in New Hampshire. Especially if it's inhabited by an extra 8-10k liberty activists.

[Thor]

Like I said on the other page I love my job and Denver. If the FSP wants to get me a job making at least 36k a year and a place to move into right away I suppose i'd consider it but the bottom line is many of us signed this when we were young (I was 22) and the idea we're all going to uproot now is absurd. I'm glad they hit 20k but knowing i'm one of those people, and many others in the same position are as well, tells me this wont amount to much.

I also feel like as awesome as New Hampshire is Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming would have made the better pick for this idea. The FSP has been doing nothing but fighting the socialists there since they emerged. There's a lot more space in the Northwest and not very many people...

Well, I hope they succeed, but I remain doubtful. I was one of the early signers and life has taken its turns since that day. I am vested in my life in WV and will not be moving to NH, a bastion of liberalism.
R fif
I would also point out that the liberal flakes in NH appear to hate the free-staters with some venom. Given this, 20k people will have quite the uphill battle, and likely for a very long time in an environment of strident liberalism that will do everything to stop them. I would further point out the significant likelihood that the status of America will be settled long before and by means very different from that envisioned by these well intending sorts. I doubt that we will have twenty or fifty years to correct that which needs correction.

The likelihood I see is that FSP is too little, WAY too late. Hope I am mistaken.

I always thought... Wyoming for the win...

[Uriel999]

I signed to join the FSP I guess now 8 years ago...I am finally moving to NH probably next month...and the FSP has nothing to do with it....lol, life and stuff....

[osan]

Currently seccession seems unlikely but if the federal government goes bankrupt or the dollar collapses and state governments become more prominent it certainly seems possible Libertarianism could be positioned to thrive in New Hampshire. Especially if it's inhabited by an extra 8-10k liberty activists.

NH has almost 1.4 million people in it. 10K activists are not going to do squat.

If the dollar collapses, we will either retreat into feudalism or the vast hordes of liberals will be so $#@!-scared that they will jump to virtually any order issued by government in exchange for food. I hold little doubt that, given the choice of getting on board with the agenda or remaining impassive, they would take up arms and kill every free-stater without hesitation when ordered. The average man has no sand.

I maintain that nary an American is even remotely aware of just how precarious is our position in the scheme of political things.

[Uriel999]

NH has almost 1.4 million people in it. 10K activists are not going to do squat.

If the dollar collapses, we will either retreat into feudalism or the vast hordes of liberals will be so $#@!-scared that they will jump to virtually any order issued by government in exchange for food. I hold little doubt that, given the choice of getting on board with the agenda or remaining impassive, they would take up arms and kill every free-stater without hesitation when ordered. The average man has no sand.

I maintain that nary an American is even remotely aware of just how precarious is our position in the scheme of political things.

There is a problem with that line of thought though...the liberals don't have guns, and even if they all got one tomorrow have no training with them because they think they are icky.

[CaptUSA]

So, they are saying today in the media that the FSP went for Trump.

Please tell me this isn't true.

If it is, then I question the whole premise.

[Todd]

So, they are saying today in the media that the FSP went for Trump.

Please tell me this isn't true.

If it is, then I question the whole premise.

Yep. How free can a state be where Trump trounced? Even if the state has a million libertarians, apparently they don't vote or are not very involved.

Go to Montana

[Badger Paul]

It's not just those who officially signed up. It's those liberty-minded people who didn't sign up but move there anyways because it's the place to go for what they want to be, that's what makes the transformation.

[Peace&Freedom]

About 230,000 voted in NH yesterday on both the GOP and Democratic side. If 15,000 or so of those libertarians, who are already activist minded to the point of relocating, regularly vote once there, they add a 5% presence that can swing a close primary more libertarian. If a NH (or MA, ME, VT) liberty candidate runs we could win the first major Presidential primary based on the favorite son factor alone.

[brandon]

About 230,000 voted in NH yesterday on both the GOP and Democratic side. If 15,000 or so of those libertarians, who are already activist minded to the point of relocating, regularly vote once there, they add a 5% presence that can swing a close primary more libertarian. If a NH (or MA, ME, VT) liberty candidate runs we could win the first major Presidential primary based on the favorite son factor alone.

So Rand would have got like 8% instead of 3%? I'm pretty sure a large portion of free staters are ideologically opposed to voting anyway.

[Seraphim]

I may actually move to NH at some point.

[jct74]

Live free, or try
New Hampshire’s Free State Project reaches critical mass

From the print edition
Feb 13th 2016

AFTER successful careers in engineering, Dan and Carol McGuire could have pursued retirements of highbrow ease—the couple’s interests range from American history to collecting modern art. Instead they moved across the country from Washington state in response to an essay by a young libertarian, Jason Sorens, arguing that if enough believers in limited government moved to a single state (ideally one with a small population and a “live and let live” ethos), they could exert real influence.

That essay spawned the “Free State Project” (FSP), whose early members voted to make New Hampshire their testbed. This was a nod to the state’s modest scale, its culture of Yankee self-reliance and low taxes, and its unusually accessible political system, starting with the state’s House of Representatives, whose 400 members answer to a few thousand constituents each, and are paid $100 a year. The FSP devised a pledge for activists to sign, by which they agreed to move to New Hampshire if 19,999 other libertarians made the same commitment. Once that critical mass was reached, FSP members pledged to make their own trek within five years. The FSP announced on February 3rd that the 20,000 target has been reached.

In the past decade 2,000 pioneers could not wait and moved anyway. A total of about 40 Free Staters have been elected to New Hampshire’s statehouse at various points, among them the McGuires, husband-and-wife Republican legislators who represent overlapping districts. Free Staters have helped to legalise gay marriage and ease rules on everything from home schooling to selling unpasteurised milk.

...

read more:
http://www.economist.com/news/united...ve-free-or-try

[Anti Federalist]

So Rand would have got like 8% instead of 3%? I'm pretty sure a large portion of free staters are ideologically opposed to voting anyway.

Had Rand been more like his dad, he would have won NH.

And no, a critical plank of the FSP idea is to vote fellow FSP folks into office, which we have.

[jct74]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjD5Fu-X_rE

[ChristianAnarchist]

I signed at least 5 years back but I don't know if I can make the move in 5 years due to our ties to the community we are in. I am going to try to get moved in the next five...

[Anti Federalist]

I signed at least 5 years back but I don't know if I can make the move in 5 years due to our ties to the community we are in. I am going to try to get moved in the next five...

I've been here (in NH) almost 15 years now, and have no plans on ever leaving.

If there is any advice, tips, info or help I can give to assist, let me know.