October 02, 2003
"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. The success of the Free State Project would likely entail reductions in burdensome taxation and regulation, reforms in state and local law, an end to federal mandates, and a restoration of constitutional federalism, demonstrating the benefits of liberty to the rest of the nation and the world."
As of today, they have over 5,000 members, and they announced that they have selected New Hampshire as the state where all members will agree to move and become politically involved in order to achieve the "free state" goal. It's a fascinating concept, I have to admit, though I'm not sure it will actually be effective. You can read their FAQs for more details on how they are planning to acheive the "free state" and what their ultimate goals are.
Posted by JohnH at October 2, 2003 02:03 PM | TrackBackIt sounds like a bunch of hippie/hipsters that want to go start their own utopia. I'm a skeptic though. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
Posted by: kposey at October 3, 2003 09:17 AMI'm all for it. I'm mostly libertarian (1, 2) and tired of bloated government. I think that we as Christians have gotten complacent and expect the government to take care of things that are our responsibility. Social programs and many other things. It's not the governments job to care for the homeless but the church/body of Christ. It's not the governments job to have any hand in education, but the citizens of America, Christian or not. On top of it the government does most of those things very poorly. I see this as really anti-hippy. When I think hippy I think liberal bloat style government taking care of everyone to an extent where they run our lives. The Free state movement seeks to do away with that.
Posted by: ColeSlaw at October 3, 2003 11:48 AMYeah, it's much more a libertarian thing than a hippie or modern liberal thing. I'm for it if it would actually work. I think part of their ultimate plan is to get US Reps and Senators in place and have Electoral College votes due to winning over the population of that one state.
Posted by: John at October 6, 2003 04:12 PM