Free State Project

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The Free State Project is a libertarian initiative that tried to convince around 20,000 libertarians to move to New Hampshire, with the goal of achieving enough influence to make state a “model libertarian society”. In February 2016, the group announced that the target number had been reached, thus starting the next phase of the plan — moving all those people to New Hampshire within the next 5 years (starting in 2016).[1] However, the intiative largely went nowhere. In 2012, only 1,827 were actually living in New Hampshire and there were 2,550 in-state "friends" (people who could not move to New Hampshire because they already lived there).[2] Even as of May 2022, this number had only climbed to a measly 6,232- only about three-tenths of the planned 20,000 participants had actually moved to New Hampshire.[3][note 1] It also doesn’t help that as of 2023, they appear to have shifted their focus to events and guest speakers for the small handful of libertarians who actually followed through.[4]

Their mascot is "Porc" the porcupine, which is also the symbol of the US Libertarian Party.

Libertarian writer Kenneth "Boston T. Party" Royce disagreed with their choice of New Hampshire on the grounds that it was on the East Coast and therefore far too close to the pernicious liberal influence of New York (to say nothing of socialist Massachusetts, and — gasp — Canada), so he started his own rival "Free State Wyoming."

The Free State Project, as with libertarianism in general, has many opponents. New Hampshire’s politics are far from libertarian (at least in its alcohol laws), and the effect of 20,000 on the state's population of 1,316,000 is yet to be seen, but it is indeed one of the few hopes there is for a libertarian short of moving to Somalia or some random patch of woods.

The Free State Project has convinced about 6,232 libertarians to preemptively move to New Hampshire. However, since the start of the project, these few people have still had a significant impact on the politics of the state because, in the words of one commentator, they are all "obsessed with politics".[5] Several bills have been introduced by Free Staters, and at least one (opting out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) has been passed. It just goes to show the occasional power of even a small organized concentration of individuals.

To be absolutely fair[edit]

The United States does have a tradition of freedom advocates using the power of emigration and geographical demographics to tilt the scales of political power. See Popular Sovereignty; people deliberately moved to the Missouri/Kansas territories (a.k.a. 'Bleeding Kansas'Wikipedia) to vote in anti-slavery legislatures. Thankfully, the libertarians wouldn't face anywhere near the same amount of violence that those immigrants did.

Most of the derision stems from the impracticality rather than the underlying idea; the United States is much, much larger in the 21st century in both area and population than it was during the times in which visionaries like Joseph Smith or Stephen F. Austin could build a political demographic from scratch, and it would require a larger human wave these days to do so now. Libertarians would be better served trying to grow their numbers first rather than wasting members' resources in projects like this. Assuming that they wouldn't have moved to New Hampshire or Wyoming otherwise.

Cop killer controversy[edit]

Cantwell after being pepper-sprayed at the Unite the Right rally

One controversy that the Free State Project has faced is that when you invite a whole load of libertarians to come to one state, some of them tend to be nuts. When convicted felon "Crying Nazi" Christopher Cantwell,Wikipedia[6][7]:164-165 a free stater activist who has advocated killing police officers as "self-defence" (because they are going around engaging in "violence" by arresting people for breaking the law), the leadership of the Free State Project decided to eject him from their movement, causing some counter-reaction from libertarians who don't see anything particularly wrong with shooting cops.[8] Cantwell has since distanced himself from mainstream libertarianism and embraced the alt-right, racialism, white supremacy, and aspects of fascism. His own website describes himself using the tagline "Anarchist, Atheist, Asshole". Cantwell attended the Charlottesville, Virginia "Unite the Right" rally and gave a boastful interview to Vice for their documentary on the riot. Cantwell would later be arrested (eventually earning a 2 year suspended sentence) for dispersing pepper spray during the riot. [9][10] Cantwell was a scheduled speaker at the rally.[11] Later in September 2020, Cantwell was sentenced to 41 months in prison for extortion and rape threats made over Telegram against a leader of another online group called the "Bowl Patrol", a group of white supremacists dedicated to supporting the racist mass murderer Dylann Roof.Wikipedia[12][13][14] Sounds like a pleasant guy to have at a party.[15] Free State Project claims that Cantwell was kicked out of the movement for advocating violence, though Cantwell implausibly claims that it was because he was researching biological gender differences.[7]:165

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Their site’s move count is no longer even available. It’s almost as if they failed…

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Free State Project ‘Triggers the Move’: 20,000 Libertarians to Move to New Hampshire in Next 5 Years (Feb 3, 2016) Free State Project.
  2. ↑ Help the Free State Project and a First 1,000 Mover in one shot! (May 2012) Free State Project (archived from March 10, 2013).
  3. ↑ Free State ProjectWikipedia
  4. ↑ NH Liberty Forum
  5. ↑ Ron Paul's Long Tail: The Free State Project by David Weigel (May 10, 201111:33 AM) Slate.
  6. ↑ The 'Crying Nazi' from Charlottesville admits he is working with the Feds by Ryan Lenz (March 29, 2018) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics by Elle Reeve (2024) ISBN 1982198893.
  8. ↑ Why the Free State Project Expelled Christopher Cantwell (September 6, 2013) More Liberty Now (archived from October 16, 2014).
  9. ↑ White supremacist Christopher Cantwell surrenders to police by Darron Simon and Rosa Flores CNN.
  10. ↑ "‘Crying Nazi’ pleads guilty to assault committed during Charlottesville rally" by Justin Wm. Movar, Washington Post, 2018 July 20
  11. ↑ A Guide to Who’s Coming to the Largest White Nationalist Rally in a Decade by Spencer Sunshine (August 10, 2017) Political Research Associates.
  12. ↑ "‘Crying Nazi’ Christopher Cantwell Sentenced To 41 Months For Extortion" by Joe Walsh, Forbes, 2021 February 24
  13. ↑ "'Crying Nazi' Christopher Cantwell found guilty of extortion in rape threat case" by Doha Madani, NBC News, 202 September 28
  14. ↑ "Hardcore White Supremacists Elevate Dylann Roof to Cult Hero Status", Anti-Defamation League blog, 2019 February 6
  15. ↑ Capitalists Against Cops: Cop Block, Christopher Cantwell, and the Libertarian Paradox (December 15, 2015) Antifascist News.
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