I think it's a great movement. I would just note Ron Paul is not a 'spiritual' leader. I don't know anyone who got interested in him for religious reasons. It's true he is a Christian, but he leads in accordance with the Constitution.

As far as Gary Johnson FSP has no official position on him and I think most hardcore activists who have been around since 2007 campaigning for Ron Paul know that working to make change in the federal elections is a waste of time and energy. All you have to do is look at how the media and political establishment treated him while he was campaigning. It's a disgrace.

That's why we have to come together under one state and work towards the effort of "the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property"

www.freestateproject.org

Carol, thank you for the coverage. I fixed the Weirs error. But a D for one error? Youch!

Hey, we all make mistakes, but tough love for the language is the only way! ;)

Good article/discussion topic!

I want to note that this video is not officially from the FSP, but rather Keene activists.

Though it gets less press, most FSPers I know are focused on "inside the system" political reform, educational efforts, and/or entrepreneurism. It's actually a relatively small minority of FSPers who live in Keene. While brave, sometimes I find the methods used by activists in Keene to be less than advisable. To be honest, I wince sometimes when watching certain activist videos.

I'm a NH native, and I'm a big fan of the FSP in general. I just think it's important to note that it's about more than Keene, or civil disobedience.

Oh, there's so much more to know about the FSP. They aim to recreate NH into a place where nothing is "public". Everything is simply voluntary and any rule that impinges on your liberty is wrong. Anything... There are young men who strap their guns to their legs and wander downtown Concord... Frightening shopkeepers and their customers and daring the police to confront them, and getting ugly when they have in the past. Why? Because they can...

This is just one thing... They have taken over at least one small town, getting elected by trusting folks...

Carol, there is so much to learn about these extreme activists. So much damage they have done and more they want to do, we could use a good journalist right about now.

Jan, I think everyone should be polite and considerate. It sounds like you have a problem with open carry itself, though, which is perfectly reasonable, and perfectly legal in NH.

Of course if any shopkeeper wants to prohibit guns in their establishment, it's their right to do so, and their wishes should be respected.

I think you're fear-mongering, to be frank, because your political views tend towards bigger, rather than smaller government, and these people don't share your opinion.

Mike, "progressives" didn't build NH, nor is more liberty a "Utopian" idea.

I was home-educated, and I plan to home-educate my kids. I'm happy to contribute to help fund education for kids whose parents are poor, but I don't think government schools are doing a good job. I think they're overpriced (upwards of 15K per year per student), and they under-perform. I think most private schools do a much better job for far less. I even find some of what government schools teach to be objectionable.

Suppose I decide to create a scholarship for poor kids to attend a private school, rather than send money to the government school. Do you think I should be thrown in jail, or have my house taken from me, for this?

If you do support government schools, feel free to contribute. My problem comes when you advocate threatening people who do not share your opinions about which programs/causes are worthy of support, to force them to contribute anyway. I don't think that's appropriate behavior.

There's no way to go start a free society in the woods, because the state and the federal government would immediately impose themselves anyway.

Roads are about the last thing I'd worry about. With all the wars, bailouts, prohibitions, civil liberties violations, etc ... I'd be quite happy if we could eliminate these things, and have liberty in other areas, but keep government roads for the rest of my life. To me, it's a distraction.

cntd ...

That said, it's ironic that you talk about building roads in the woods on a voluntary basis, because that's exactly what happened in early NH.

http://northernnewenglandvillages.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NH-Road-Marker-First-New-Hampshire-Turnpike.jpg

In fact, as a percentage of GDP, the amount invested in these roads from 1790 to 1830 was greater than the total amount invested by all levels of government in the interstate highway system between 1956 and 1995. These investments produced at least 40,000 to 50,000 miles of road, and built many of the covered bridges we see today, without any government involvement. In fact, in New Hampshire, there were 51 turnpike incorporations, representing more than 1/6 of all incorporations at the time.

These were not wealthy investors, for the most part -- they were much more community oriented, and middle class. Local people got together, to contribute towards the effort.

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Klein.Majewski.Turnpikes

Any effort to transition at this point would have to be taken very slowly, with great care, because of the way things have built up -- but since you brought up the subject, there's absolutely no reason roads somehow require the forcible extraction of money from everyone in a geographic region.

They can, and have been, funded via tolls, memberships, investments, etc.

As De Tocqueville put it, observing the phenomenon at the time:

"If it is a question of taking a road past his property, [a man] sees at once that this small public matter has a bearing on his greatest private interests, and there is no need to point out to him the close connection between his private profit and the general interest. ... Local liberties, then, which induce a great number of citizens to value the affection of their kindred and neighbors, bring men constantly into contact, despite the instincts which separate them, and force them to help one another. ... The free institutions of the United States and the political rights enjoyed there provide a thousand continual reminders to every citizen that he lives in society. ... Having no particular reason to hate others, since he is neither their slave nor their master, the American’s heart easily inclines toward benevolence. At first it is of necessity that men attend to the public interest, afterward by choice. What had been calculation becomes instinct. By dint of working for the good of his fellow citizens, he in the end acquires a habit and taste for serving them. ... I maintain that there is only one effective remedy against the evils which equality may cause, and that is political liberty" (511-13, Lawrence/Mayer edition).

As I say, roads aren't a big issue for me -- but I think the idea that good things can only be accomplished in society via force/coercion is false, and the cause of a great many ills.

Its like the FSP would like to live in a book - like Little House on the Prairie.

Our society is complex and mobile, this is the 21st century, and there is no hope for a society to thrive based on volunteerism - Unless you move to a totally rural country with few citizens and lots of natural resources you are living off the work of our parents yet not leaving anything for our children.

It's not just about volunteerism -- though I am a big supporter of volunteering to help friends and charity. It's simply about interacting with one another on a non-coersive basis.

Trade's a big part of that. We don't always have to be helping each other out only out of the goodness of our hearts -- though I think that should occur sometimes in any healthy society.

I'm perfectly happy to pay for the things I use, and also to contribute to causes I believe to be worthy of support. I don't believe I have a right to say, "My cause/program/product is so great, that you must contribute to/buy it Jan Schmidt, or I'm going to throw you in jail!"

That's where the line is crossed.

We build wealth by building goods, art, and technology. I want to leave more for my children than we have currently. Coercion doesn't become ok or necessary because the world is complex -- and its use opens up a pandora's box of abuse and corruption.

For example, I believe it's wrong to impose sanctions on civilian populations. US sanctions killed ~500,000 Iraqi children in the 90s. I think it's evil. Yet, if many people hadn't paid to fund what they considered to be murder, they'd be locked in a jail cell.

This is not how civilized society operates.

Without the constraints of having to offer a service/good/charity people want or want to support on a voluntary basis, all sorts of abuse becomes possible.

In fact, I've experienced the boondoggles firsthand.

The FSP will likely influence NH politics for a long time to come.

Free Keene, though... I doubt it will ever have much impact, beyond annoying the other Keene residents. Most people involved are so extreme that they can't see straight, much less influence local policy. They'd rather be getting arrested.

And I used to blog there, so I'm speaking from plenty of frustrating experience!

Some libertarian ideas make a lot of sense. Some are worth experimenting with. And some are totally insane. But most FSP activists I've talked to support all of them ideas willy nilly, without making any effort to test them for insanity.

So far, the FSP seems to be a mixed bag. Jury nullification and the push for medical marijuana and decrim are big pluses. Casting the decisive votes for Speaker Bill O'Brien, and resisting health care reform, are big minuses. I'll do my part to keep things from spiraling out of control, but there's no telling how this will turn out.

Any group that's for William O'Brien, needs to take a hard look in the mirror, it's one thing to effect change that benefits the common good and then it's another of simply making noise, STRIDENT VOICES are held in contempt.
These groups are similar to the John Birch society and the only difference is they call themselves free staters.
In all Fairness many of them are well-educated courteous
hard-working people and it's interesting when the police confront them and they armed to the teeth.
Where is the last time you tried to pat a porcupine ?

I encourage everyone to do the research. FSP is not nice liberty loving Americans come to NH to make a better life, they are doing their best to dismantle anything not directly beneficial to their goals - and many of their goals are straight from ALEC.

Have some truth...
"Dr. Sorens was funded by two Koch funded organizations: the Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies. When he was ready to launch his audacious plan to convert New Hampshire into a free markets stronghold, he was assisted on the morning of February 27, 2004 with a big-wig press conference at the Washington D.C. headquarters of the wealthy and well connected American Enterprise Institute, also funded with Koch money as well as the rest of the A-list of conservative foundations. According to its most recent 990 tax filing, available to the public at www.guidestar.org, the American Enterprise Institute had assets of $104 million in 2008 and received grants and contributions of $59 million that year."

NH is under siege, our only hope is that many of the people enticed to come here will understand that NH was a pretty nice place and it doesn't need to be handed over to chaos.

Even here in liberty oriented (Live Free or Die) New Hampshire, there are many with their lives funded by the coercion of the state. Some of their Jobs are important and would likely be employed in the private sector, but certainly not as many. Those folks that there would be no need for in a truly free society (drug warriors for instance) are naturally fearful of an effective change of direction. I believe that the results of the FSP are effective and mostly sensible, there for raising much concern in many currently employed by all levels of government. I wish to say to those so afflicted, that the freeing up of resources that the shrinking of governments would enable would likely more than replace you jobs. Though in the private sector your ability to produce as an employee may become more important than it has bee in your government jobs. As the coercion that had produced your funding would be ending.