RPR: A Speed Bump on the Road to Paulville

[RSDavis]

A Speed Bump on the Road to Paulville
by RS Davis
The Freedom Files

Hello Freedomphiles! Remember the Freedom File I wrote about Paulville? I reported that some Ron Paul supporters have purchased some land in Texas, and are creating contract-driven gated communities where the ideologically pure can share utopia in leave me alone bliss.

Now, I like the idea of creating communities in the Free State Project/Paulville mold, but I think I much prefer, as I wrote before, the "Seasteading" idea being pushed by PayPal and Facebook founder Peter Thiel (right), because it allows for competing models of social organization.

That's the beauty of federalism, and it is missing from FSP and Paulville. They may show the rest of the country what a libertarian state may look like, but Theil's vision can show the world what the competing ideas of several libertarian communities might bring forth. It allows for greater competition in the realm of spontaneous order, and therefore I think has a much higher probability of success.

There is also the thought that Paulville might be more than a little annoying. There are a lot of Ron Paul supporters, passionate and dedicated, and many would hate each other if they were neighbors.

The beauty of a libertarian campaign is in the fact that a lot of disparate people can come together and vow to leave each other alone to find their own happiness. Throw em all in a gated community, and it could make it difficult. As reason's Jesse Walker commented, "I don't want to live in a town filled with ideologues, even (or especially) if they're ideologues I agree with."

Well, today the Paulville.org page is gone, nowhere to be found. A search of the internet led me to the linked reason piece above and to the article it references, from Politico.

Apparently, it has just disappeared. Politico has sent emails and made calls, but there has been no answer. Maybe they went all Jim Jones when they found out their messiah didn't want to be roomies:

• One man who won't be moving there anytime soon: Ron Paul.
  
  "I don't think that's the solution," says the still-running Republican presidential candidate. "You want to spread out and be as pervasive as possible."
  
  (...)
  
  But dropping out and creating an isolated community isn't the answer, says Paul, a congressman from Texas. "You don't want the ideas to be centered in one place," he says. "But it shows how desperate people are for freedom."
  
  Consistent with his beliefs in liberty, however, he doesn't outright oppose Paulville. "I don't see that as a solution, but it can't hurt anything either," he says.

I'll keep you updated as the story develops.

[Oyate]

Very entertaining piece. Good point about living in an intentional community: you want to try before you buy.

But to some extent, these types of projects together with other Utopian such as the agrarian communal model of the 60's are the beginning of competitive, alternative social organization. There's also the voluntary simplicity movement and all kinds of eco-sustainable experiments happening. On an intellectual level at least, this concept is alive and kicking.

[constituent]

Originally Posted by Oyate

Very entertaining piece. Good point about living in an intentional community: you want to try before you buy.

But to some extent, these types of projects together with other Utopian such as the agrarian communal model of the 60's are the beginning of competitive, alternative social organization. There's also the voluntary simplicity movement and all kinds of eco-sustainable experiments happening. On an intellectual level at least, this concept is alive and kicking.

but it's a natural progression. this shift can't be forced. that line has been tried.


ever read Lake Wobegon Days?