Thursday, July 24, 2014

I already have my outfit picked out

"...LANCASTER, N.H.— Like any good bonfire, the evening ritual at the Porcupine Festival deep in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, includes a drum circle, plumes of marijuana smoke, shared bottles of whiskey and spirited debate.

There are also guns. Lots of guns.

Colt .45s, Smith & Wessons, and Rugers hang on hips. A bearded man clings to an AK-47; a guy with a Mohawk has a shotgun with flowers coming out of the barrel strapped to his back. For this isn’t your typical bacchanal in the woods...

......Porcfest — as it’s known here — is put on by the Free State Project, a group dedicated to recruiting at least 20,000 libertarians to move to New Hampshire. The idea — that a group of this size can make a difference in a state with a low population — came from an essay in 2001 by then-Yale doctoral student and current Dartmouth lecturer Jason Sorens. Thirteen years later, the FSP has had nearly 16,000 people sign a “statement of intent” to move. The plan is that when 20,000 people sign the list, it will “trigger” a large migration. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 people have moved already.

...By most counts, more than 20 Free Staters have been elected to the state House of Representatives (about 10 of whom currently serve), with many others serving in municipal government. In 2012, state Rep. Cynthia Chase (D) called them “the single biggest threat the state is facing today.”

It’s certainly an overstatement, but the Free Staters have been active in the political arena. They have helped repeal New Hampshire’s knife laws, blocked implementation of a national ID system in the state and helped allow jurors to acquit defendants not because they think they are innocent but because they believe the law at issue is unjust."

-WaPo

11 comments:

The Dude said...

There is nothing they could offer that would induce me to move to the land of winter and black flies.

But good luck with that plan - I am sure there are some who think NH is a nice place to live.

deborah said...

The final vote came down between Wyoming and NH, but Alaska was in the running. I think they made the most logical choice.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I piss on anyone who offers criticism toward these brave warriors. I have seen the future, and it is because of Deborah.

ricpic said...

"The single biggest threat the state is facing today" says some Dem legislator. Yes, liberty's a bitch.

Unknown said...

"The state" must not be threatened.

deborah said...

I'm imagining a novel set in the semi-near future where the Libertarians have made quite a bit of progress in NH, and the reactions of the locals.

Scott said...

Having lived in that wonderful state for 37 years, I am sorry to say the idiot migration from Massachusetts is overwhelming the Free Staters. The choice of "Live free or die" is fast becoming the former rather than the latter.

Paddy O said...

The opposite is what happened to California. A red state with liberal migration as people were drawn to LA and the Bay area, after the state was doing well. Then they mess things up and keep going elsewhere.

#liberalsarelikelocusts

Michael Haz said...

Isn't New Hampshire where that coffee company is located? You know, the one that sells ground coffee in one-plastic-cup-servings that go into an overly expensive coffee maker for 15 seconds, than into the landfill forever?

Michael Haz said...

Isn't New Hampshire that state where thee are no income taxes? You know, that state where Bostonians who vote for every damn tax imaginable move to when taxes in Boston become too high, and then the try to get a lot of new stuff voted in so the New Hampshire taxes can go up?

Bostonians are slow learners that way. Just like Californians who migrate to Texas for lower taxes, then want a bunch of new government programs.

deborah said...

Not forever, Haz. When the sun expands to the Red Giant stage, earth will be incinerated. You're welcome.