Free State Project FAQ
Some answers for the haters
I often see questions / comments from people who are dismayed at the growth of the Free State movement in New Hampshire. In order to save time, I’ve decided to gather them in one place. This is a living document that will grow over time.
"Why are libertarians moving to New Hampshire?"
For the same reasons that gay men moved to San Francisco: to escape from oppressive laws that are used to attack libertarians everywhere else in the US.
Like the gay men of San Francisco, NH libertarians want to create a legal and cultural sanctuary, governed by laws that are compatible with libertarian values.
When gay men began began concentrating in San Francisco, almost every city outside San Francisco was controlled by violent, aggressive homophobes.
The homophobes would:
* Put gay men in a cage if they caught them having sex.
* Assault them on the street.
* Force them into mental institutions and subject them to electroshock “therapy”. (1)
It was only by concentrating in San Francisco (and a few other gay enclaves) that gay men began to have some political power.
So, of course, they used that power to repeal anti-gay laws.
Similarly, libertarians want "liberty in our lifetime".
Despite 50 years of effort, libertarians have almost no power anywhere outside of New Hampshire.
Authoritarians impose onerous barriers to libertarians getting on the ballot, (9) and openly try force libertarians off the ballot. (8)
Even if libertarians make it onto the ballot, they almost always lose, as they only make up ~5% of the population.
By concentrating our forces in New Hampshire, libertarians will have sufficient numbers to win elections, which in turn allows us to implement our policies.
"How are libertarians being oppressed?"
Almost every state has many anti-libertarian laws on the books. And they are vigorously enforced, with harsh punishments for the libertarians caught violating them.
For example:
Ian Freeman is serving 8 years for unwittingly selling no-KYC Bitcoin to romance scammers. (3)
Dexter Taylor is serving a ten year sentence for 3d printing guns. (4)
Ross Ulbricht is serving two life sentences for running a web site (which mostly sold weed). (2)
Duncan Lemp was murdered by police while enforcing an anti-gun 'red flag' law. (5)
As I write this, 74 year old Backpage founder Michael Lacey was just been sentenced to 5 years (nominally for money laundering, but actually for publishing escort ads). (6) His business partner, Jim Larkin, committed suicide rather than face trial. (7)
In a libertarian state, none of those people would be in prison.
"I was born in NH! My family has lived here for generations! How dare you suggest that I moved to another state?!?"
When gay men concentrated in San Francisco, I'm sure that the homophobic natives were quite dismayed. If someone hates gay men, do you think they'd be happy living in San Francisco? Would you advise they stay?
How else could gay men have created a sanctuary where they could live in peace?
How much empathy do you think gays should've had for the homophobic SF natives who didn't like the changes the gay newcomers were making around them?
Should SF gays have been friendly and welcoming to the openly homophobic who threatened to re-impose anti-gay laws on them?
After all, the homophobes could've moved almost anywhere else in the US and found laws and culture welcoming to homophobes.
"Our state is not your playground to test new forms of governance on a wide scale, upsetting the daily lives of others, for your own ends."
I'm sympathetic to your plight!! It's quite irritating to be politically dominated by people who don't share your values.
In a world where people have widely varying values, what's the best you can do to try to peacefully accommodate them all?
IMO, the best method is to:
Establish private property rights
Decentralize power to the lowest practical level (ideally, the individual)
Ceate many different jurisdictions with many different baskets of laws.
Then let people peacefully vote with their feet and sort themselves into like minded groups.
Love guns, God, and homeschooling, but hate druggies, escorts, and gays?
Maybe Idaho or Tennessee is best for you.
Love taxes, gays, and government schools, but hate guns, landlords, and cops?
California, Vermont, or Illinois is your bag.
Love guns, gays, and homeschooling, but hate taxes, regulations, and zoning?
Come to New Hampshire!
If people are allowed to move freely, they'll eventually self-assort into jurisdictions that roughly match their preferences.
Is this a perfect mechanism?
No. It's costly to move from one state to another.
Does this mean that people whose preferences don't match their current location will have to move?
Probably, yes.
Does this mean that sometimes people will find that the culture changes around them in undesirable ways?
Yes.
But I don't see a better, more peaceful method of accommodating people with different beliefs.
(1) https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/history-getting-gay-out
(2) https://freeross.org/case-overview/
(3) https://justice.gov/usao-nh/pr/ian-freeman-sentenced-8-years-prison-operating-bitcoin-money-laundering-scheme
(4) https://reason.com/2024/05/15/he-was-sentenced-to-a-decade-in-prison-for-having-unlicensed-weapons/
(5) https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/03/01/biden-and-the-ghost-of-duncan-lemp/
(6) https://x.com/ENBrown/status/1828544136586359170
(7) https://reason.com/2023/08/02/backpage-publisher-alt-weekly-entrepreneur-and-free-speech-warrior-james-larkin-has-died/
(8) https://opb.org/article/2024/08/23/oregon-libertarians-ballot/
(9) https://ocregister.com/2024/05/12/the-ballot-access-protection-racket/
I was following the FSP since it's early days but i understand it went nowhere. In any case, you have to be successful in non-free systems in order to gather the resources to be able to viably move anywhere or live there so it's not as real option for many or most who need that option.