Free State Project nears 20,000 signers, setting stage for libertarian influx

[Southron]

People move all the time for a bigger paycheck. I don't see why moving for something like this would be so difficult for most.

 

[Mani]

I'm surprised the free staters haven't made more headway with this.

I didn't know NH was the only state in the New England that had jail time for simple possession of any amount.

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/51378/new-hampshire-marijuana-legalization-bill-filed-for-2016/

CONCORD, NH — A bill to allow adults 21 or older to legally possess up to two ounces of marijuana in New Hampshire has been pre-filed for the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

House Bill 1610 is sponsored by Reps. Michael Sylvia (R-Belknap) and Robert Hull (R-Grafton).

If passed, the bill would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, grow up to six cannabis plants (three of which may be mature), and give up to one ounce of marijuana to another adult without financial compensation.

As written, the bill does not authorize retail marijuana sales, similar to a law passed in Washington DC in 2014.

Despite the lack of establishing a retail marijuana industry, this bill is an important piece of legislation in a state who’s motto is “Live Free or Die” but is the only New England state where simple possession of marijuana remains a crime. Police in New Hampshire arrest some 2,900 individuals annually for simple marijuana possession offenses, according to NORML.

Possession of any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. Recent attempts to decriminalize marijuana possession, replacing criminal penalties with a fine-only violation, have passed in the House but were defeated in the Senate, including measures in 2014 and 2015.

Recent polls have found strong support for legalizing marijuana in New Hampshire, including a July 2015 poll that found 60% of Granite State voters in favor of legalization.

New Hampshire residents are urged to contact their state representatives in advance of the 2016 legislative session and ask them to support this legislation. If you are a registered New Hampshire voter, you can contact your representatives via NORML’s website.

 

[bunklocoempire]

Resist the best way that you can.

 

[timosman]

Resist the best way that you can.

Resist we much - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CifYWxJXaI

 

[JenH88]

Do they give you the ability to rescind the pledge BTW? You should probably do that if you now think there is only a 1% chance you will follow through.

The few times i helped gather signatures for the FSP we were encouraged to get people to sign "even if they werent sure" because the pledges would get us closer to our goal and encourage others to make the leap. From what i understood the pledge was always more of an "i intend to move to NH if possible" instead of an "im absolutely moving" type thing.

I love part of the FSP crowd and have some dear friends up there.. i just wish more of them were serious about being involved politically instead of arguing that any voting is an endorsement for statism.

 

[IDefendThePlatform]

This is really great news. It also makes it more worthwhile for libertarian type presidential candidates to be more bold. The first in the nation primary is in a state with a high concentration of fairly hardcore liberty types. And yes some of them don't do politics, but Ron got a solid 2nd place and 21% in 2012, versus Rands poll numbers being in the single digits before he withdrew.

New Hampshire hope for liberty. I won't be moving but I've donated to the FSP in the past and I'm sure I will in the future as well.

 

[Suzanimal]

If NH weren't so cold, I would move in next to donna and get her hooked on Franzia.

 

[Anti Federalist]

If NH weren't so cold, I would move in next to donna and get her hooked on Franzia.

She'll drink To-Kill-Ya Sunrises and Moscow Mules.

Cold? Pffft...that's what sex and warm clothes are for.

NH is a beautiful state, been here almost 15 years and over 20 in northern New England, and I encourage anybody that even is remotely considering the FSP to come on up.

Carve yourself a little piece of freedom in an unfree world.

 

[fr33]

I'd rather move to Wyoming or Montana. Away from all the people rather than towards them.

 

[TheTexan]

People move all the time for a bigger paycheck. I don't see why moving for something like this would be so difficult for most.

the best way for FSP to work is to focus on a small town first and work your way out from there, but any town small enough to take over would be too shitty for anyone to want to move there to begin with.

 

[jct74]

Free State Project ‘Triggers the Move’: 20,000 Libertarians to Move to New Hampshire in Next 5 Years

What kind of impact will 20,000 liberty-loving people make when they move to a small state, like New Hampshire? The country will soon find out.

MANCHESTER, NH (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 03, 2016: As of today, The Free State Project is the most successful intentional migration movement in American history. This is because today the organization has announced that 20,000 participants have signed the Statement of Intent to move to New Hampshire, where they will “exert their fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of individuals’ rights to life, liberty and property.”

The 20,000 mark is significant, because it ‘triggers the move’ – the mass migration of the Free State Project participants who have all agreed to move to New Hampshire within the next five years. So far, almost 2,000 have already relocated to the state.

“In the last few months, using various social media targeting tools, we expanded our audience and a significant number of new people signed the pledge,” says Carla Gericke, President of the Free State Project. “Early movers have already made their mark on the Granite State by passing life-saving drug reform legislation, expanding school choice and protecting first amendment rights – this has drawn in a whole new crowd of participants. Just imagine what can be accomplished with 10 times as many people.”

Since the first early movers flocked to New Hampshire, Free State Project participants have followed their individual passions to the center of some of the state’s most contentious political fights. They were instrumental in organizing resistance to Real ID in 2008, legalizing same-sex marriage through the legislature in 2009, and establishing a medical cannabis program in 2013.

The Free State Project started in 2001 with an essay by Jason Sorens, who was then a graduate student at Yale. Sorens, who is now a lecturer at Dartmouth College, theorized that if 20,000 committed activists moved to a single state with a small enough population, they could push policy and culture in a more free, open direction. In 2003, early participants chose New Hampshire as the state to migrate to. Now that the move has been triggered, the Free State Project will continue the effort to attract more participants, and inspire signers to move to the Live Free or Die state sooner rather than later.

"I'm thrilled by how far the Free State Project has come since the essay I wrote 15 years ago. Freedom lovers from around the country have turned concept into reality by moving to New Hampshire and building all kinds of exciting efforts to secure liberty and prosperity for all--efforts I could never have imagined back in 2001. Good ideas are powerful, and the idea of freedom is spurring many thousands of Americans to commit to move to the Granite State for a better life."

This news comes on the heels of the announcement that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden will be the headline speaker at the Free State Project’s 9th annual Liberty Forum, held in Manchester, New Hampshire from February 18-21.

“This is the culmination of over a decade of grassroots and volunteer work, and I am thrilled to be announcing that the Free State Project has surpassed the 20,000 signer mark,” says Gericke. “Early movers are bringing their businesses, families and charities with them to New Hampshire – not to mention disposable income. So far we’ve purchased more than $30 million in real estate alone, and I can’t wait to see what kind of larger impact will be made as a result of individual efforts within this growing and thriving community.”

The Free State Project will hold a press conference to announce this news at 11AM on February 3 in the Frost Room of the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH. If you’d like to reserve a media pass for the press conference, or want to interview Carla Gericke or Jason Sorens, please contact Brinck Slattery at brinck(at)contentfac(dot)com or at (603) 703-2846.

https://freestateproject.org/blogs/...-20000-libertarians-move-new-hampshire-next-5

 

[TheTexan]

Free State Project ‘Triggers the Move’: 20,000 Libertarians to Move to New Hampshire in Next 5 Years

Yep, I'm gonna get right on that

 

[jct74]

Yep, I'm gonna get right on that

Well you have 5 years to fulfill the pledge if you signed it, so no hurry really.

Serious question (seeking non-sarcastic answer) - Isn't the Free State Project something that anarchists such as yourself enthusiastically support? I would think so with all the civil disobedience and other non-voting political activism that the Free Staters engage in.

 

[TheTexan]

Well you have 5 years to fulfill the pledge if you signed it, so no hurry really.

Serious question (seeking non-sarcastic answer) - Isn't the Free State Project something that anarchists such as yourself enthusiastically support? I would think so with all the civil disobedience and other non-voting political activities that the Free Staters engage in.

When a project has failed, it's best to learn your lessons from it and move on.

Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive.

 

[jct74]

When a project has failed, it's best to learn your lessons from it and move on.

I wasn't aware it failed and you're the first person I've heard make that claim.

 

[jct74]

VIDEO: Free State Project Officially Announces 20,000 Signers – 100% Reached

by Ian
Feb 3, 2016

Nearly one hundred liberty-loving early movers were in attendance for the press conference this morning held by the Free State Project at the Radisson in Manchester. FSP founder Jason Sorens spoke on the creation of the FSP and why the first 5,000 participants chose New Hampshire as the destination. Jason said,

“The free state project is working because it gives people hope”

That’s definitely true for me. When I moved here as an early mover for the FSP in 2006 I was pretty angry about the government. I felt very lonely in Florida, with little more than a handful of libertarians in the area. Now there are more liberty-minded people living at my intersection in Keene than there were in the entire city where I’m from.

With over 1,600 having moved across NH from all around the globe as early movers, (the official FSP move begins today) and having a major impact, it’s clear that there is hope for liberty here in the Shire. I’m not angry anymore and haven’t been for many years. I expect other libertarians who feel isolated or cornered where they live will have a similar transition when they are surrounded by people who actually care about liberty and are willing to do something about it. It’s quite encouraging to be here. Here’s the full video of the press conference:




After Jason Sorens’ speech, FSP president Carla Gericke got up to address the crowd and journalists in the room, officially announcing that the FSP has reached its goal of 20,000 liberty-minded folks signing and promising to move to New Hampshire within five years of today, Feb 3rd, 2016. It’s now been dubbed “Porcupine Day”, and happens right after Groundhog Day. (The porcupine is the mascot of the FSP.) Once here, the FSP movers are to put forth the maximum practical effort to achieve liberty in our lifetime. Carla explained to the audience what it took to get the project to completion, including a sustained, expensive ad campaign on Facebook, for which much credit was given to Vince Perfetto who is well known in the NH liberty community as the producer of the excellent documentary, “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire“.

All the speakers touched on various successes of early movers, especially within the political system. It’s clear that the FSP’s early movers have had more political successes in a decade than the libertarian party has ever had, nationwide, in forty years.

To the surprise of some in the crowd, Carla did announce that the FSP would continue to accept signers, as their goal now is to ensure 20,000 libertarians make the move here. She promised that more on the future of the Free State Project as an organization will be announced at the upcoming convention thrown yearly by the FSP, “Liberty Forum“, happening 2/18-2/21 (also held at the Radisson in Manchester).

The speakers answered several questions from the audience, including on the common objections to the FSP from libertarians considering a move. Of course, one of the most popular being that, “it’s cold in NH”. Ultimately, the panel of speakers, which included Porcfest organizer Matt Philips, agreed that the cold temperatures keep away the fairweather activists and the talkers. We get the best activists here in NH as a result of this natural filtering process. Plus, the weather also keeps out statists, though it was pointed out that it was in the 50s today in February, historically the coldest of all twelve months in NH.

With nearly 10% here for the FSP already (1600+ movers plus nearly 300 FSPers who were here at the time of the vote), it’s clear to anyone paying attention that New Hampshire is the best destination for libertarians and voluntarists who are willing to get active rather than just complain. Start making your plans to move – the fun’s just getting started. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest from across the Shire!

http://freekeene.com/2016/02/03/vid...ficially-announces-20000-signers-100-reached/

 

[jct74]

Free State Project reaches milestone
20,000 'liberty' people pledge to move to NH

By Brian Early
Feb. 3, 2016 at 8:01 PM

MANCHESTER — The Free State Project, the political migration organization that seeks liberty-minded people to relocate to New Hampshire, reached its goal Tuesday of gathering 20,000 signers who pledge to move to the state within five years of reaching the 20,000 milestone.

Free State Project President Carla Gericke announced the 20,000th signer at a press conference at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester Wednesday morning, as many Free Staters traveled to the city to celebrate the event, which is to "trigger the move."

The pledge that 20,000 people have signed states, “I hereby state my solemn intent to move to New Hampshire within five years of the Free State Project reaching 20,000 participants. Once there, I will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of individuals' rights to life, liberty and property.”

Gericke said in an impromptu speech Tuesday evening at an FSP moving party, “We believe in peace, we believe in prosperity, we believe in making everyone’s lives better, we just don’t agree with the way it’s being done." Moving parties are among the various support networks FSP participants have created to assist others with moving into the state. It serves as a sort of welcome wagon to new participants into a new community.

“It’s really an exciting time for me personally,” Gericke said in an interview after the press conference. “I feel proud to have accomplished this historic thing.”

...

read more:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20160203/NEWS/160209706

 

[jct74]

20,000 Libertarians Pledge To Move to the 'Free State' of New Hampshire


DANIEL OBERHAUS
February 7, 2016

The Free State Project, a Libertarian organization that wants to spark an exodus to New Hampshire, announced Wednesday that it had collected 20,000 signatories who pledged to move to the state within five years. The announcement comes nearly two years after the organization began a Trigger the Move campaign, which sought to get 20,000 people to move to the community.

...

In the 13 years since its founding, the group has made large strides toward establishing its libertarian utopia. This is most noticeable in the group’s widespread adoption of Bitcoin, which has earned the state the unofficial moniker of “Bitcoin Capital of America.” Self-identified Free Staters in New Hampshire launched Lamassu, one of the most popular Bitcoin ATMs, in 2013. SatoshiDice, the Bitcoin gambling website, was also launched out of New Hampshire in 2012 by Bitcoin mogul and Free Stater Erik Vorhees.

Although both of these Bitcoin businesses have been forced out of the US by various regulatory agencies, the Free State Project hopes to garner enough influence in New Hampshire politics to make the state more friendly to liberty-minded businesses. They seem to be well on their way to this goal, with 16 Free State Project members now serving in the state’s House of Representatives.

“Only 3,000 to 4,000 movers would be enough of an activist base to match anything that any of the other ideological factions in the state can muster, maybe even all of them put together,” said Jason Sorens, a professor of government at Dartmouth College and the founder of the Free State Project. “20,000 movers could turn New Hampshire into the Switzerland of North America.“

The group has attracted the attention of high profile politicians and activists, including Edward Snowden who is scheduled for a live video conference at the group’s Liberty Forum to be held later this month. Unsurprisingly, not everyone in New Hampshire is happy with the Free Stater’s plans to turn the state into a libertarian utopia.

...

read more:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/20...ge-to-move-to-the-free-state-of-new-hampshire

 

[jct74]

A group of libertarians has been plotting to take over New Hampshire for years—and now they’re closer than ever

by Kashmir Hill
February 8, 2016 5:52 p.m.

Fifteen years ago, a 24-year-old Yale graduate student proposed a radical experiment for those who are not huge fans of the government. He suggested that a large group of libertarians in the U.S. all move to a single small state and, essentially, take over that state’s culture and government to make it friendlier toward the free market. He named this plan the “Free State Project.”

The state the project chose was New Hampshire. Rather than just hoping libertarians would slowly move there over time, the FSP decided they’d have a pledge process. Those devoted to a more-limited government would promise to move to New Hampshire once their pledge reached 20,000 signatures. The signatures came trickling in over the years, but in the last four months, the number of people signing up for the move accelerated rapidly. It took 15 years for the movement to attract 18,000 signers, but it got 2,500 just in the last few months.

“We started doing Facebook ads,” explained Free State Project president Carla Gericke by phone. She says they A/B tested different ads and found that this one, targeted at people who supported Ron Paul, who looked like people who liked their Facebook page, or who self-identified as libertarians, had a strong conversion rate:

...

read more:
http://fusion.net/story/265808/free-state-project-move-trigger-20000-people/

 

[jct74]

Free State Project - Is It Happening?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrykyhuCtTc

The Free State Project announced today that it has achieved the threshold of 20,000 pledges to move to New Hampshire in hopes of creating a more libertarian society. What's the project all about and does it have a chance of succeeding?