What’s the Free State Project, you ask?
The Free State Project is a plan in which 20,000 or more liberty-oriented people will move to a single state of the U.S., where they may work within the political system to reduce the size and scope of government.
Why’s Liberty so Important?
Liberty is the prerequisite for me to be able to enjoy my life to the fullest. Liberty is the freedom to do what you want, as long as you don’t infringe on the rights of others. Liberty is the ability to keep the fruits of your labor – and not hand over 50 per cent or more to the government so they can subvert the value of the 50 per cent they let you keep.
But I’m politically active for my son. We face a dangerous predicament today. Our nation, not just our government, is insolvent. We send our youth overseas to kill and be killed for nothing. We can’t purchase a good eduction, health care or housing at a reasonable price. Our republic is morphing into a fascist police state. This is not the world I plan to bequeath to my son.
Why New Hampshire
After years of debating where to move to in the US, we’ve decided on New Hampshire.
Nora and I looked at Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Fort Collins and Wyoming in detail but decided to go with New Hampshire for the following reasons:
- The Free State Project is very active and has met with noteworthy success in New Hampshire. I am just dying for an opportunity to be part of an organized liberty project, not to mention one that actually has a favorable outlook for significant success.
- It’s easy to travel between there and Colombia, where most of Nora’s family is. We will be visiting them and vice versa, so we need to stay close.
- The cost of living in NH is reasonable. Housing prices appear to be reasonable.
- New Hampshire boasts a strong and diverse economy. This is a plus not only for Nora and I, directly, but also because it should facilitate other FSPers moving to the state.
This page also has a lot of very convincing reasons. See especially the “101 Reasons to Move to New Hampshire” document.
Seriously Considered Wyoming
We also considered Wyoming very carefully but decided that New Hampshire’s pros outweigh those of Wyoming. We also had these issues in mind:
- Wyoming may not be an option for people who have invested years in building expertise in advanced jobs. For example, IT jobs are scarce in WY.
- While I’m convinced that Wyoming is an excellent state for a libertarian, it seems to be heading in the wrong direction in some aspects.
- The Free State Wyoming project is smaller and apparently still in the start up stages.
Liberty Forum 2009
So I’m flying up for the Liberty Forum in March (and to look for a rental house) and look forward to meeting as many FSPers as possible and seeing how I can fit into their our ongoing projects. See you there. :)
And thanks to Seth and Chris for the hand holding. :)
Photo credit: kla4067. Photo license.
6 replies on “Why I’m Joining the Free State Project”
Hey, cool, another libertarian linux user coming to join us in NH :)
Bear in mind that the FSP serves only to move liberty-lovers to NH; it doesn’t organize any in-state activism. Be sure and join the NH Liberty Alliance *now*, before you move, so you’ll be able to hit the ground running when you get here:
http://www.nhliberty.org
Denis, will do, thanks.
How about Ron Paul’s district?
FLC, good point, he did run unopposed and get 100% of the vote and all, but that is still under the jurisdiction of the large state govt of TX.
I agree with the FSP that as a first step it will be more manageable to influence a small state government that is already far far along the continuum to liberty.
If you care about keeping what you earn, like me, you might like to know that NH has the #1 lowest overall tax burden of any state in the US at around 4.5%.
Also, IIRC, gun control laws in TX are stricter than in NH.
This document has some good info:
http://www.freestateproject.org/files/101-Reasons-to-Move-to-NH.pdf
Ron Paul fan? Check this:
http://www.freestateproject.org/intro/ron_paul
Gun Rights kinda guy? Here ya go:
http://www.freestateproject.org/intro/gun_rights
War on Drugs your issue? Mine, too!
http://www.freestateproject.org/intro/drug_freedom
“Real-ID” national ID card got you concerned? Us, too:
http://www.freestateproject.org/intro/real-id
We also have EXTREMELY active groups working on education issues, taxation, and more that I can’t remember off the top of my head.
There’s absolutely no guarantee we’ll succeed. I can 100% guarantee we’ll suffer terrible losses to our freedoms in NH — I’ve seen it happen, like when we lost the fight against the ban on smoking in bars. But I can also guarantee, in no other state is there anywhere NEAR the intensity and concentration of pro-liberty activism going on.
How many libertarians were elected to any other state legislature on November 4th?
http://www.freestateproject.org/intro/2008_election
Right on, George. Welcome!