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

[jct74]

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

By NICK REID
January 16, 2016

In about two weeks, the Free State Project expects its 20,000th signer to agree to move to New Hampshire. Then, a five-year countdown begins for its libertarian participants to hold up their end of the bargain.

The milestone will come nearly 15 years after the first signature was penned, following a 2001 manifesto written by founder Jason Sorens, a political theorist who has a doctorate in political science from Yale and lectures at Dartmouth College.

The nonprofit group envisions relocating thousands of people to the state who would become active in various ways to severely limit the government’s scope. Nearly 2,000 signers who have already moved are playing out the idea.

...

Carla Gericke, the president of the Free State Project, attributed the recent jolt in signers to an ad campaign on Facebook that targets people who like libertarian pages.

About 3 percent of the people who click on their ads go on to sign up for the Free State Project, she said. Meanwhile, 20 to 30 new movers are coming to the state each month, which is high for the winter, she said.

Next month the group will hold its annual conference in Manchester, called Liberty Forum, which will feature a video chat with National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden. Gericke said she expects this summer’s PorcFest, an annual gathering in the North Country, to see a boost after the 20,000th signature is attained.

...

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

[jct74]

Free State Project Reaches 99% of Goal, to Complete This Week!!

by Ian
Jan 31, 2016

It’s been fifteen years in the making – the official move for the Free State Project will be kicking off this week! With fewer than 150 signers to go, the FSP has reached 99% of its goal of convincing 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire and get active.

Once 20,000 is reached this week, the early mover phase ends and the official move begins. The 20k will have a five year window to get here and get active.

I’ve you wanted to wait until the last minute to see if we’d make the goal, it’s now the last minute. It’s clear now at around 50 signers per day, the FSP is happening! Don’t miss out on helping make history. If you love liberty, you should join the Free State Project now and start planning your move!

If you thought the activism here was awesome and record-setting, you are right, but just wait until thousands more join us! The fun has just gotten started. As shown clearly in the excellent documentary, “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire“, we have a liberty community unlike anywhere else in the world.

Questions still remain. What will happen to the FSP organization after the 20k goal is reached? Will they continue to recruit signers past the goal? Will the organization dissolve after five years? Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest on the coming mass migration of liberty activists to the Shire.

http://freekeene.com/2016/01/31/free...ete-this-week/

[TheTexan]

Big influx. Uh huh. Yep. Sure.

Pretty sure most people's plans have changed, it's been a decade since they signed up...

[jct74]

//

[Ronin Truth]

When does the influx bus arrive?

[Indy Vidual]

Libertarians are likely to keep their word and honor the pledge, so this is great news.

[phill4paul]

Then, a five-year countdown begins for its libertarian participants to hold up their end of the bargain.

Good luck with that.

[jct74]

Big influx. Uh huh. Yep. Sure.

Pretty sure most people's plans have changed, it's been a decade since they signed up...

Yes, it's been a decade since some of them have signed up. A lot of the pledges have come recently though when they started a new advertising campaign, and over the past few years. But yeah, not all of them will actually move. Perhaps not even a majority of the pledges. The FSP founder Jason Sorens says he expects one third of the 20,000 pledges to actually follow through.

When does the influx bus arrive?

Over the next five years.

[jct74]

Why Libertarians Are (Still) Plotting to Take Over New Hampshire
After 15 years, a plan to create a small-government utopia inches a little closer to reality.

By Madison Pauly
Feb. 1, 2016 6:00 AM EST

On February 18, hundreds of libertarians will flock to the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire, for the ninth annual Liberty Forum, a four-day conference featuring presentations on topics such as religious freedom, school choice, and "Anarchy: Dressing for Success." A big draw will be Edward Snowden's keynote speech, delivered over a live video stream. As the exiled NSA whistleblower speaks, conference goers may mull their own flight from government oppression—not to Russia, but to the haven of New Hampshire.

The Free State Project, which runs the Liberty Forum, has spent 15 years trying to recruit 20,000 libertarian-minded activists to take up residence in the Granite State. By accruing a critical mass of small-government advocates in a state with just 1.3 million people, the project seeks to exert substantial influence on state politics to create a utopia of social liberties and deregulated markets. Those who sign the Free State pledge promise to make the move to New Hampshire once 20,000 participants have signed up. Now, with 19,858 signers, the project's organizers say they are finally recruiting the last of those volunteers.

However, the organizers readily admit they don't know how many of the would-be Free Staters will actually come to New Hampshire. "That is the million-dollar question," says Free State Project president Carla Gericke. "It's all speculative at this stage." The most fervent believers are likely already in the state. Free State Project founder Jason Sorens says he expects about a third of the remaining signers to move. The group plans to track down those who may have forgotten and nudge them with direct mail, phone calls, and email reminders about their commitment.

...

read more:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...ire-free-state

[fcreature]

I really don't think anyone is going to do this. Hell, I pledged but it's been 8 years and I can tell you right now there is about a 1% chance I'll be able to hold myself true to that pledge. Circumstances change over a decade.

[jct74]

I really don't think anyone is going to do this. Hell, I pledged but it's been 8 years and I can tell you right now there is about a 1% chance I'll be able to hold myself true to that pledge. Circumstances change over a decade.

If they can get just 10%, or 2,000 of the people who pledged to follow through, that will double the number of Free Staters currently there. And the Free Staters there have already had a significant impact. Currently 20 to 30 new Free Staters are moving to NH every month according to the OP article, and they haven't even hit the pledge goal yet. The FSP founder says he expects one third of the 20,000 to follow through.

Do they give you the ability to rescind the pledge BTW? You should probably do that if you now think there is only a 1% chance you will follow through.

[phill4paul]

If they can get just 10%, or 2,000 of the people who pledged to follow through, that will double the number of Free Staters currently there. And the Free Staters there have already had a significant impact. Currently 20 to 30 new Free Staters are moving to NH every month according to the OP article, and they haven't even hit the pledge goal yet. The FSP founder says he expects one third of the 20,000 to follow through.

Do they give you the ability to rescind the pledge BTW? You should probably do that if you now think there is only a 1% chance you will follow through.

I'd say 10% is a reasonable expectation.

[Thor]

As more and more Free Staters show up, and more and more get elected locally and they start really changing things (they have already to some degree), more and more like minded people will probably follow to be where freedom and liberty are greater, and the momentum will grow and grow...

I remember when the project was launched. I had high hopes for it then, and still do today. Just not sure NH is where I want to be. Wyoming I think was second choice if I remember correctly.

[NoOneButPaul]

Big influx. Uh huh. Yep. Sure.

Pretty sure most people's plans have changed, it's been a decade since they signed up...

Ill be the first to admit I signed up about 4 years ago and since then I quit my terrible job, moved from Chicago to Denver, and now i'm growing Marijuana for a living.

Unless they're going to legalize it I don't see myself holding up my end of the bargain. Sorry, FSP.

[jct74]

Free State Project Participants: It's Time to Move to New Hampshire For Real!
The plan to relocate 20,000 libertarians to New Hampshire "triggers" its commitment, as 20,000 people have now pledged.

Brian Doherty
Feb. 2, 2016 8:40 pm

The Free State Project (FSP) is dedicated to moving 20,000 libertarian-minded folk to gather together in one small-ish state, New Hampshire, with the hope that they will shift the political culture of the place toward freedom. It has been gathering commitments to move since 2004.

Since the power of numbers thing only works if everyone can be encouraged to all do it more or less at once, the FSP "statement of intent," committed signers to all actually moving if 20,000 people all signed up, to avoid them having to waste their time if they came to the freedom party nearly alone. An interesting way to solve the "no, you go first" problem with these sort of group endeavors. It was a clever idea. And it worked.

That 20,000 signers goal has now been reached, as FSP founder Jason Sorens and current president Carla Gericke will be announcing at a press conference tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. eastern at the Radisson in Manchester, NH. (Just a month ago Nick Gillespie reported about them hitting the 90 percent mark.) This makes FSP "the most successful intentional migration movement in American history," as they stated in a press release this afternoon.

That release goes on to explain why this accomplishment should be of interest to those wanting to see even localized libertarian change in these here United States:

...

read more:
http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/02/fr...pants-its-time

[Thor]

Ill be the first to admit I signed up about 4 years ago and since then I quit my terrible job, moved from Chicago to Denver, and now i'm growing Marijuana for a living.

Unless they're going to legalize it I don't see myself holding up my end of the bargain. Sorry, FSP.

And as more and more move there and take office, it will be legalized...

[jct74]

Could the Free State project succeed after all?

Sentinel Editorial
January 22, 2016 12:00 pm

Fifteen years in the making, the Free State Project is close to getting its 20,000th pledge to move to the Granite State. The number is impressive, but that’s not its main significance. According to the plan, the brainchild of political scientist Jason Sorens, that 20,000-member threshold should trigger a mass migration of libertarians to the Granite State.

...

It may be that the project will never achieve enough influence to make much of a difference in turning New Hampshire — already an ill-funded, small-government operation — into a libertarian utopia. Granite State lawmakers, we suspect, would be somewhat reluctant to slash services voters have come to expect just to satisfy a small minority.

However, we wouldn’t count out the effort, either. Even the level of engagement the current Free Staters here have shown is impressive.

Sorens told the Monitor there are 18 Free Staters in the N.H. House — 5 percent of that body. That’s a hefty ratio for the size of the group, with roughly 1 in 100 Free Staters serving in the Legislature. Overall, about 1 in 2,830 Granite Staters serves in either the House or Senate.

The group has also attacked the status quo in other ways, protesting to call attention to instances in which members believe the state oversteps, and challenging state and local laws and tax levies. The results of those actions have been mixed, particularly in Keene, but every success brings the project closer to its goal.

...

read more:
http://www.sentinelsource.com/opinio...6b4f046d2.html

[BamaAla]

I'm cheering for them. Can't say that I would move to N.H., but I really do hope they're successful.

[Cabal]

As more and more Free Staters show up, and more and more get elected locally and they start really changing things (they have already to some degree), more and more like minded people will probably follow to be where freedom and liberty are greater, and the momentum will grow and grow...

I remember when the project was launched. I had high hopes for it then, and still do today. Just not sure NH is where I want to be. Wyoming I think was second choice if I remember correctly.

This sounds like a reasonable assumption to me. A lot of people are probably doubtful about whether or not it is actually worth it to uproot themselves, but if there is real, practical evidence of local success to show them, they will be much more likely to be willing. As well, as it becomes larger, and more influential, its broader appeal will inevitably grow, thus acquiring more, and more interest and movers. This all assumes it can produce the practical evidence of success though. Getting over that first hurdle will be the biggest obstacle, I suspect.

NH wouldn't be my first choice either, but the NE isn't all bad. I lived in Connecticut for a couple years as a kid, in a relatively small town. Fond memories, and the scenery was quite nice as well.

[PRB]

15 years later :

Ron Paul ran for President twice
Patriot groups grew under Obama for 8 years
Four states of legalized marijuana
All states are forced to recognize gay marriage
Liberty Dollar creator in prison
Not a single state seceded
3D printing, bitcoin, dark web expanding every day

So, good luck with a "free state project"

[Southron]

People move all the time for a bigger paycheck. I don't see why moving for something like this would be so difficult for most.

[Mani]

I'm surprised the free staters haven't made more headway with this.

I didn't know NH was the only state in the New England that had jail time for simple possession of any amount.

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/...iled-for-2016/

CONCORD, NH — A bill to allow adults 21 or older to legally possess up to two ounces of marijuana in New Hampshire has been pre-filed for the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

House Bill 1610 is sponsored by Reps. Michael Sylvia (R-Belknap) and Robert Hull (R-Grafton).

If passed, the bill would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, grow up to six cannabis plants (three of which may be mature), and give up to one ounce of marijuana to another adult without financial compensation.

As written, the bill does not authorize retail marijuana sales, similar to a law passed in Washington DC in 2014.

Despite the lack of establishing a retail marijuana industry, this bill is an important piece of legislation in a state who’s motto is “Live Free or Die” but is the only New England state where simple possession of marijuana remains a crime. Police in New Hampshire arrest some 2,900 individuals annually for simple marijuana possession offenses, according to NORML.

Possession of any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. Recent attempts to decriminalize marijuana possession, replacing criminal penalties with a fine-only violation, have passed in the House but were defeated in the Senate, including measures in 2014 and 2015.

Recent polls have found strong support for legalizing marijuana in New Hampshire, including a July 2015 poll that found 60% of Granite State voters in favor of legalization.

New Hampshire residents are urged to contact their state representatives in advance of the 2016 legislative session and ask them to support this legislation. If you are a registered New Hampshire voter, you can contact your representatives via NORML’s website.

[bunklocoempire]

Resist the best way that you can.

[timosman]

Resist the best way that you can.

Resist we much - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CifYWxJXaI

[JenH88]

Do they give you the ability to rescind the pledge BTW? You should probably do that if you now think there is only a 1% chance you will follow through.

The few times i helped gather signatures for the FSP we were encouraged to get people to sign "even if they werent sure" because the pledges would get us closer to our goal and encourage others to make the leap. From what i understood the pledge was always more of an "i intend to move to NH if possible" instead of an "im absolutely moving" type thing.

I love part of the FSP crowd and have some dear friends up there.. i just wish more of them were serious about being involved politically instead of arguing that any voting is an endorsement for statism.

[IDefendThePlatform]

This is really great news. It also makes it more worthwhile for libertarian type presidential candidates to be more bold. The first in the nation primary is in a state with a high concentration of fairly hardcore liberty types. And yes some of them don't do politics, but Ron got a solid 2nd place and 21% in 2012, versus Rands poll numbers being in the single digits before he withdrew.

New Hampshire hope for liberty. I won't be moving but I've donated to the FSP in the past and I'm sure I will in the future as well.

[Suzanimal]

If NH weren't so cold, I would move in next to donna and get her hooked on Franzia.

[Anti Federalist]

If NH weren't so cold, I would move in next to donna and get her hooked on Franzia.

She'll drink To-Kill-Ya Sunrises and Moscow Mules.

Cold? Pffft...that's what sex and warm clothes are for.

NH is a beautiful state, been here almost 15 years and over 20 in northern New England, and I encourage anybody that even is remotely considering the FSP to come on up.

Carve yourself a little piece of freedom in an unfree world.

[fr33]

I'd rather move to Wyoming or Montana. Away from all the people rather than towards them.

[TheTexan]

People move all the time for a bigger paycheck. I don't see why moving for something like this would be so difficult for most.

the best way for FSP to work is to focus on a small town first and work your way out from there, but any town small enough to take over would be too $#@!ty for anyone to want to move there to begin with.