Freedom in Our Lifetime: A New Strategy

Those of us who admire and advocate the ideas expressed in Ayn Rand’s works have a problem: There are not enough of us.

The critical mass of people needed to turn the tides, politically and socially, is just not there.

Consequently, we end up with the current state of affairs in the United States — of growing taxes, regulations, intervention, collectivism, and relativism.

But what if a new strategy were employed, one that brought both immediate and long-term benefits? Such a strategy exists today, and it's called the Free State Project.

The Free State Project (FSP) is an organization whose purpose is to persuade 20,000 pro-liberty activists to migrate to New Hampshire. By “pro-liberty,” it means participants believe the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.

But why New Hampshire?

New Hampshire is the freest state in the country and offers immediate benefits to those who move there.

New Hampshire has no general income or sales tax.

In 2008 New Hampshire was rated the safest and most livable state in America — and the second healthiest as well.

It has constitutional protections against redistributing private property through eminent domain. It has beaches, mountains, farmland, and cities, all within short driving distances.

New Hampshire is not a nanny state, and does not require adults to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets.  It also offers one of the most friendly environments for doing business.

The state is governed by an accessible citizen legislature of 400 members, whose annual salary is a mere $100 each.

Philosophically, New Hampshire has the state motto — and attitude — of “Live Free or Die (for death is not the worst of evils).”

There are plenty of other reasons to love New Hampshire as well. Overall, by simply moving to New Hampshire, you will enjoy having more of your rights respected than you could find anywhere else in the country.

The Free State Project’s strategy, however, is not merely to get people to move to New Hampshire, but also for these people to become part of a larger community of activists working to protect and advance liberty even further within the state. To wit, the project’s own motto is “Liberty in our Lifetime.”

In only a few short years, participants in the FSP have already been elected to state and local office, started television shows, newspapers, and radio programs, developed new successful businesses, been critical in the defeat and passage of numerous laws, created voluntary alternatives to government systems, and built the most vibrant, successful pro-liberty community in the country.

It is through these united efforts, in a state already receptive to such strategies, that true liberty in our lifetime will be implemented, lived, and demonstrated — to the United States and to the world.

That, in a nutshell, is the Free State Project. It is a simple strategy that already is successfully achieving real, positive change.

For more information, there are plenty of resources on the internet, but the best way to learn about New Hampshire and the FSP community is by coming and seeing it for yourself.

Towards this end, each summer the FSP hosts a festival known as the Porcupine Freedom Festival, or “PorcFest,” for short.

This year's PorcFest will be held the week of June 9th at Gunstock Mountain Resort and Campground in Gilford, New Hampshire. Whether you can attend the whole week or only part of it, you'll have a great time.

The festival offers tours around the state, outdoor concerts, panel discussions with participants, trips to indoor and outdoor shooting ranges, exhibitor tables from many different organizations, group hikes, evening bonfires, team sporting events, and many other fun, social, and informative activities.

By the end of the week, you'll have an excellent idea whether New Hampshire and the Free State Project are a good fit for you.

So far over 8,300 people have joined the Free State Project and, by the end of 2008, more than 1,000 of them will have relocated to New Hampshire.

As you can see, the Free State Project is no utopian, pie-in-the-sky endeavor, but rather a sound, pragmatic strategy that is already paying real dividends, both immediate and long-term, for its participants.

Even if you can’t be a part of this exciting project, keep your eye on The Granite State — for it is there that the tide will be turned back in liberty’s favor.

Rich Goldman is the head organizer of the Free State Project's Porcupine Freedom Festival and a Ph.D. student in Information Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). His favorite Ayn Rand novel is The Fountainhead.