Commies slander the Free State Project

[sailor]

"Anarcho Capitalists" Backed by $25 Billion Corporate Giant

The Far Right's Plot to Capture New Hampshire

By PAM MARTENS

One of the most audacious and cynical corporate-backed social experiments in living memory, the Free State Project in New Hampshire, has now shifted into damage control mode. Free State operatives learned this past week of my article that appears in the current subscription edition of CounterPunch, taking the first in-depth look at their plan to entice 20,000 out-of-state ultra libertarians and anarchists to move to New Hampshire and implant an extremist brand of free market capitalism: a brand the corporate backers hope will lead to a gutting of business regulations, environmental laws, and return the state to the right wing of the Republican fold. (Currently, all three branches in New Hampshire, known for its pivotal first primary status, are controlled by Democrats.)

An effort at damage control is playing out in the Free Staters’ internet pummeling of this author and a reporter at the Keene Sentinel newspaper in southern New Hampshire, Phillip Bantz, who made reference to the revelations in the CounterPunch piece along with an eyebrow raising quote from a Free Stater on legalizing cannibalism, a demand of some fringe Free Staters.

The attacks have not gone as planned. Over 128 reader responses are now registered in the Keene Sentinel, founded in 1799, which typically receives less than 20 responses to an article. Area residents, known for tolerance, are displaying pent-up fatigue and anger with the agenda of the Free Staters.

Some of the Free State participants call themselves anarcho capitalists, promoting an embrace of free markets and individual freedoms unencumbered by authority of the state. Free State members must formally agree to the premise that “government exists at most to protect people's rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish them for activities that interfere with no one else.” [1] This premise is widely interpreted by Free Staters to mean all tax supported social welfare programs must go, along with zoning and planning and building inspectors. Public education would be replaced with home schooling or private schools.

What has been able to fly completely under the radar for the last seven years, is the role of shadowy think tanks and their corporate money backers in the Free State Project strategy.

Read More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/martens04272009.html

 

[Minarchy4Sale]

The part quoted is amazingly accurate, even if it is biased.

 

[Athan]

Goddamn. They own all of America and the world. But damned to they get pissy of some real Americans try to practice the freedom they were promised when this nation was formed in a SMALL region.

 

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

Pam Sorens is a fucking air-headed twat.

Notice what just happened here: unfettered capitalism has been conflated with “stronger individual liberties.” Are we not currently living the economic nightmare that proves the opposite is true?

No you stupid bitch, we're not living in a time of unfettered capitalism. Corporatism isn't capitalism!

 

[silverhawks]

I want to point this out.

If they can take the time out of their day to write about it and debase the idea, they fear this approach.

And just to clarify:

An effort at damage control is playing out in the Free Staters’ internet pummeling of this author and a reporter at the Keene Sentinel newspaper in southern New Hampshire, Phillip Bantz, who made reference to the revelations in the CounterPunch piece along with an eyebrow raising quote from a Free Stater on legalizing cannibalism, a demand of some fringe Free Staters.

I hope that means legalising cannabis?

 

[Elwar]

Wow...the old guilt by association thing again. They're worse conspiracy theorists than us.

So Jason works at a University where he gets grants and one of those grants is from an organization that is owned by another organization that would like to get around environmental laws? Wow...that's only 2 degrees of seperation....clearly Jason is on the take.

Oh...and they bring out the old Zack Bass thing...the guy created a website...he got pissy with people who weren't in 100% agreement. If a whole movement is to be tossed aside because of what is written on a website, then I suggest the author stop by http://www.theobamaforum.com and back up every Obama supporter's opinions on there or else treat the Obama movement in the exact same manner.

 

[MsDoodahs]

Wow, why am I not shocked to see the Kochtopus is involved.

 

[NMCB3]

Notice how they equate the free state project with the "extreme right wing of the republican party" nothing could be farther from the truth, although its use is effective in turning liberty into a republican vs democrat issue and thus turning many off...just like the tea partys.

 

[weslinder]

So the big, bad RLC gave a little money to the Free State Project. How awful.

 

[ChristopherJ]

Goddamn. They own all of America and the world. But damned to they get pissy of some real Americans try to practice the freedom they were promised when this nation was formed in a SMALL region.

But what if it succeeded? Then others might try

 

[silverhawks]

But what if it succeeded? Then others might try

That's the real reason to oppose it. They oppose the idea of true freedom being right there for everyone to see. Until then, they can demonise it, misrepresent it, twist words to mean something else, tell us that free market capitalism ruins society, or that anarchy is chaos in the streets.

That's all impossible to do if they can't hide the truth any more.

 

[IPSecure]

Those comments made me sick.

 

[LibertyEagle]

An effort at damage control is playing out in the Free Staters’ internet pummeling of this author and a reporter at the Keene Sentinel newspaper in southern New Hampshire, Phillip Bantz, who made reference to the revelations in the CounterPunch piece along with an eyebrow raising quote from a Free Stater on legalizing cannibalism, a demand of some fringe Free Staters.

WTH? Is this true?

 

[Andrew-Austin]

Gotta love the mindless sensationalist rhetoric liberals so often employ. I mean it sure beats looking in to the issues at hand more closely...

 

[gls]

WTH? Is this true?

Six years ago a guy named Larry Pendarvis made some outlandish statements on a message board, which some anti-FSP elements took and ran with. Considering that Pendarvis was actually expelled by the Free State Project Board of Directors, it's hardly fair to paint him as representative of the activists in New Hampshire.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Six years ago a guy named Larry Pendarvis made some outlandish statements on a message board, which some anti-FSP elements took and ran with. Considering that Pendarvis was actually expelled by the Free State Project Board of Directors, it's hardly fair to paint him as representative of the activists in New Hampshire.

Agreed. Thanks.

 

[He Who Pawns]

Why on earth Free State chose a communist state like NH to try this is beyond me.

 

[angelatc]

Why on earth Free State chose a communist state like NH to try this is beyond me.

I don't know either, but I do know that they did a lot of research before they made their decisions.

Here's what their site says:

In a vote that ended in September 2003, FSP participants chose New Hampshire because it has the lowest state and local tax burden in the continental U.S., the second-lowest level of dependence on federal spending in the U.S., a citizen legislature where state house representatives have not raised their $100 per year salary since 1889, the lowest crime levels in the U.S., a dynamic economy with plenty of jobs and investment, and a culture of individual responsibility indicated by, for example, an absence of seatbelt and helmet requirements for adults.

 

[FSP-Rebel]

As someone who's moving to NH via the FSP next month, I feel I need to address the whole allegation of NH being a commie state. There's no general state income nor sales tax, no mandatory car insurance, you can carry a gun anywhere but in a courtroom, no seatbelt/helmet laws for adults, the 3rd largest representative body in the world (which allows for greater representation), has the lowest unemployment in the country (so less competition for jobs), beautiful scenery, was rated by Morgan Quitno Press as the "Most Livable state in the union" for the last 5 years in a row plus the "safest state in the union" by the same and the state constitution specifically allows the right to revolution. Southern states were deliberately avoided in the original decision since they are crime ridden and too populous to make corrections for liberty.

While I'm at it, I mise well address the NH primary vote. NH offered RP the highest % of votes while there were still many candidates in the race. The only reason he didn't do better was because of the immigration commercial that turned alot of independents off. Plus, our 'boy' Tucker Carlson brought out the racist thing the night before the primary.

I presume the commie talk comes from NH voting for Obama and the fact that the democrats are currently in charge of the state legislature. Problem was, it was a vote backlash against Bush and the war not so much a vote in favor of Obama and the democrats. Even though the dems got voted in in '06, in '08 the GOP got back 17 seats that they lost from the prior election--so progress is being made. RPers pretty much have control of most county GOP parties as well. There were ~90ish reps elected that were supported by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance - a pro-liberty org that reads all bills before they reach committee hearings, pass out a gold standard of how reps should vote and then scores reps based on how they voted. Furthermore, the NHLA is responsible for activists turning out at the state house to promote freedom on the specific issues at hand. 6 libertarian Free Staters got elected last time plus many other native reps are libertarians as well. All I know is that where I'm from, there are no libertarians in the state legislature. How bout you?

There's also plenty of libertarian media in NH: Free Talk Live, Free Minds TV/Radio, Liberty Conspiracy w/ Gardner Goldsmith, NH Capitol Access show, Ridley Report, plus many other local radio shows. I know I'm forgetting plenty but that's a good lineup.

Any questions some of you may have can have them addressed in detail over at http://forum.freestateproject.org. Or simply cruise around and you may find that some of your concerns/questions have already been discussed. Reading the front page of the website won't give you the real picture, just a brief overview to get ya started. Keep in mind that the project is still in its formidable stages, but plenty is happening. Getting our Founder on Freedom Watch tomorrow is a great thing for us, it should clarify some things.

 

[Knightskye]

Lawl. If it's a threat to them, it's "right-wing" or "corporate-backed."

How many times have you heard those phrases when the media talked about the Tea Party protests last week?