Look at the demographics. The town close to the MA border are the ones voting for less taxes and less regulation. There are 101 reasons why NH is absolutely the best possible state to try this (IMO, the only one with a prayer of it working)
It stopped being "my" country when it started keeping secrets in order to aggregate power. "My" country is run by the people, for the people, and of the people.
Many of us feel the same way, and are concentrating our efforts in one small geographic distribution. We've elected dozens into the State legislature and many more municipally across the state. Maybe you should vote with your feet. Free State Project
One of the most successful things that Free-Staters and local NH libertarians have done is to produce the Gold Standard a voting guide that is handed out every week to every member of the NH House and Senate, before floor votes. To produce the doc, a small army of volunteers reads and grades all the incoming legislation according to a standardized scale. The most important pro- or anti-liberty legislation is debated on a private list, and once we have solid bullet-points to clarify our position, we produce the doc. We then grade the legislators on their votes, and produce an annual legislative report card. We are the only group, other than the (R) and (D) parties, to produce a consistent voting recommendation for years on end. At first lots of legislators ignored us. Then we started targeting the lowest-ranked legislators in elections, and got some of the worst eliminated; and donated money to the best rated. Now some hate us, but all respect us.
Glen Aldrich is a carpenter with no more than a high school diploma.
I think having regular citizen legislators, with not much financial gain to be had from the job, is an excellent way to run a state house. It means you are more likely to get people involved for the right reasons, instead of career politicians looking for money and power.
I concur, and note that the first Free-Stater elected to the NH House was also a carpenter (technically, a contractor). Here's his victory speech; it's quite telling.
And I personally believe that they should spend as much time reviewing old laws for relevance, modification and possible repeal as they do making new ones.
So do I, but not even full-time legislatures do that.
Actually up until 2 years ago, NH had a standing House Committee whose whole purpose was to find unconstitutional laws, and submit them for elimination or alteration to be Constitutional. That changed when the Speaker of the House changed. But another nifty thing about NH: the entire government, from Governor to lowly State Rep, is up for re-election each and every 2 years:)
Actually if you look at the voting patterns, what you call the "Boston exurbs" like Salem NH are in fact some of the most libertarian. A lot of people move to NH and away from MA for a reason, you see...
I work at Oracle. The Oracle New England Development Center is located in Nashua. AutoCad is in NH, as are BAE systems, Liberty Mutual, DynDNS, and a bunch more. So yeah there's tech jobs
I first heard about the Free State Project from a slashdot story in October 2003, when they announced that New Hampshire was the target state. At the time I was on a 1-year work contract in Australia, and all I knew was that when I returned to the USA, I did not want to return to the high taxes, high population density and (comparatively) bad air quality of the Bay Area. As a libertarian myself, it was a no-brainer, especially after I read the "101 Reasons to choose New Hampshire" document (which has subsequently been turned into a video documentary). So I went back to California just long enough to make arrangements. I moved to NH in June 2005, making me mover #107.
In the time I have been here, some 1,900 other "early movers" have also come. We have gone from electing a few Free-Staters to local city councils and planning boards, to our first State Representative, to now having some two dozen Free-Stater State Reps, and having pulled many of the existing State Reps and Senators (especially the Republican ones) in a much more libertarian direction. I will never forget the ex-Marine State Rep who in 2006 told me he would "never, ever in his life" allow "legal dope", to that same Rep now voting for full marijuana legalization every single time it comes up. We were the first state to pass same-sex marriage via a legislative process (not popular referendum). We passed medical marijuana. We have no adult seat belt law, no helmet law, open carry and shall-issue concealed carry (and are likely to pass constitutional carry next session). We have eliminated all state knife laws, absolutely rejected Real-ID ("and any de-facto national identity system that may follow therefrom"), forbidden the State to use automated license plate scanners, and passed a law affirming a defendant's right to explain Nullification to the jury.
We don't need all 20,000 to show up. Another 4-5K people, if they do the same things as the first 2K, and NH will bear very little resemblance to the police-states/welfare-states of the rest of the USA... and much more resemblance to the society described in the New Hampshire Constitution, which is summed up well by Article 10:
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
This looks like a really good educational project to do with the kids. I googled all over for it but couldn't find schematics or how-to's. Seriously I presume an Arduino and a wifi card is more or less all one needs. What do I have to do, search on Silk Road? Anybody got the infos?
There was a time when I could expect to come to Slashdot and see either a description of the actual details of the attack mechanism, or at least a *really* insightful, plausible set of theories.
Now... not so much
You can get the health coverage *after* breaking the bones. You might have to pay for ambulance and the first day of treatment, but nothing after.
Statistically, people who sign up before needing the insurance are... innumerate.
The poor slobs now have to sell you health care EVEN IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN EXPENSIVE CONDITION
Now why, why would any more or less healthy person who is not expecting a baby sign up for health care? Pay the small fine, it's cheaper. Pay out-of-pocket for the one or two times you need to see a doctor or get a flu shot this year. It's still cheaper.
And if you find out that you have cancer, a heart condition, or (like myself) a chronic condition like ulcerative colitis which is going to require tens of thousands of dollars' worth of health care every year to manage... well, THEN sign up, and get the Gold option, and laugh at the clueless corporate fucks in the insurance industry who thought that getting into bed with the government and forcing everyone to buy their product, would actually result in moar profit...
If it ever did come to a point where an overthrow of the government was brewing, I suspect that recruiting would not be via posts on Slashdot.
You say this,. but it was a post on Slashdot 10 years ago that led me to move to New Hampshire.
Now I pay no income or sales tax, am not legally required to buckle myself up in the car, can own any knife I damn well please, don't need a "permit" for a gun, can marry another man if I wanted to, and soon will have access to medicinal marijuana.
Go down and click my sig. Real shit happens in the real world, and you bet your ass it sometimes happens as a result of a slashdot post.
There's no need to go this far off the deep end, just yet. Fortunately, thousands of people who are opposed to over-intrusive government are getting together and actually doing something about it... and getting results!
FWIW, I was born in Wisconsin. I lived lots of places, including Indiana, Adelaide Australia, London England, and California. My job is such that I can work pretty much anywhere on Earth where there is an internet connection. New Hampshire is my chosen home.
1) Infrastructure
At my house in rural Hopkinton, NH, I reliably get 8MB down/4MB up. I telecommute to work most days; I live and die by my fast and reliable internet connection. I have had no particular issues. Note that I choose to live in the woods; there are in fact cities (not metropileses, but places with tall buildings and hundreds of thousands of people) in NH: Manchester, Nashua, etc
2) "recording cops"
Yes, FSPers have been pushing legislation to clarify that people have the right to record on-duty civil servants (especially police). Separately, a number of court cases have been won (by FSPer lawyers) that have adjudicated that on-duty police have no reasonable expectation of privacy. So, it's an issue that a number of FSPers are pushing on hard.
3) Downside
Yes, it gets cold in winter. And butt-hot in the summer. And the closest Really Big City is Boston, which is about an hour away from the NH state capitol in Concord. Oh, and there's no income or sales tax, so if you really want to pay those, NH will suck for you.
Slashdot Mirror
Just yesterday Johnson said he *opposed* a Carbon Tax at a rally in Concord, NH
Look at the demographics. The town close to the MA border are the ones voting for less taxes and less regulation. There are 101 reasons why NH is absolutely the best possible state to try this (IMO, the only one with a prayer of it working)
It stopped being "my" country when it started keeping secrets in order to aggregate power. "My" country is run by the people, for the people, and of the people.
Many of us feel the same way, and are concentrating our efforts in one small geographic distribution. We've elected dozens into the State legislature and many more municipally across the state. Maybe you should vote with your feet. Free State Project
One of the most successful things that Free-Staters and local NH libertarians have done is to produce the Gold Standard a voting guide that is handed out every week to every member of the NH House and Senate, before floor votes. To produce the doc, a small army of volunteers reads and grades all the incoming legislation according to a standardized scale. The most important pro- or anti-liberty legislation is debated on a private list, and once we have solid bullet-points to clarify our position, we produce the doc. We then grade the legislators on their votes, and produce an annual legislative report card. We are the only group, other than the (R) and (D) parties, to produce a consistent voting recommendation for years on end. At first lots of legislators ignored us. Then we started targeting the lowest-ranked legislators in elections, and got some of the worst eliminated; and donated money to the best rated. Now some hate us, but all respect us.
Glen Aldrich is a carpenter with no more than a high school diploma.
I think having regular citizen legislators, with not much financial gain to be had from the job, is an excellent way to run a state house. It means you are more likely to get people involved for the right reasons, instead of career politicians looking for money and power.
I concur, and note that the first Free-Stater elected to the NH House was also a carpenter (technically, a contractor). Here's his victory speech; it's quite telling.
And I personally believe that they should spend as much time reviewing old laws for relevance, modification and possible repeal as they do making new ones.
So do I, but not even full-time legislatures do that.
Actually up until 2 years ago, NH had a standing House Committee whose whole purpose was to find unconstitutional laws, and submit them for elimination or alteration to be Constitutional. That changed when the Speaker of the House changed. But another nifty thing about NH: the entire government, from Governor to lowly State Rep, is up for re-election each and every 2 years :)
Actually if you look at the voting patterns, what you call the "Boston exurbs" like Salem NH are in fact some of the most libertarian. A lot of people move to NH and away from MA for a reason, you see...
I work at Oracle. The Oracle New England Development Center is located in Nashua. AutoCad is in NH, as are BAE systems, Liberty Mutual, DynDNS, and a bunch more. So yeah there's tech jobs
I first heard about the Free State Project from a slashdot story in October 2003, when they announced that New Hampshire was the target state. At the time I was on a 1-year work contract in Australia, and all I knew was that when I returned to the USA, I did not want to return to the high taxes, high population density and (comparatively) bad air quality of the Bay Area. As a libertarian myself, it was a no-brainer, especially after I read the "101 Reasons to choose New Hampshire" document (which has subsequently been turned into a video documentary). So I went back to California just long enough to make arrangements. I moved to NH in June 2005, making me mover #107.
In the time I have been here, some 1,900 other "early movers" have also come. We have gone from electing a few Free-Staters to local city councils and planning boards, to our first State Representative, to now having some two dozen Free-Stater State Reps, and having pulled many of the existing State Reps and Senators (especially the Republican ones) in a much more libertarian direction. I will never forget the ex-Marine State Rep who in 2006 told me he would "never, ever in his life" allow "legal dope", to that same Rep now voting for full marijuana legalization every single time it comes up. We were the first state to pass same-sex marriage via a legislative process (not popular referendum). We passed medical marijuana. We have no adult seat belt law, no helmet law, open carry and shall-issue concealed carry (and are likely to pass constitutional carry next session). We have eliminated all state knife laws, absolutely rejected Real-ID ("and any de-facto national identity system that may follow therefrom"), forbidden the State to use automated license plate scanners, and passed a law affirming a defendant's right to explain Nullification to the jury.
We don't need all 20,000 to show up. Another 4-5K people, if they do the same things as the first 2K, and NH will bear very little resemblance to the police-states/welfare-states of the rest of the USA... and much more resemblance to the society described in the New Hampshire Constitution, which is summed up well by Article 10:
This looks like a really good educational project to do with the kids. I googled all over for it but couldn't find schematics or how-to's. Seriously I presume an Arduino and a wifi card is more or less all one needs. What do I have to do, search on Silk Road? Anybody got the infos?
Wish I had mod points because parent post is dead-on
There was a time when I could expect to come to Slashdot and see either a description of the actual details of the attack mechanism, or at least a *really* insightful, plausible set of theories. Now... not so much
you should start browsing dice.com now It's escape-hatch time
Bingo. They could implement a Drupal site with the relevant module in a day or less.
You can get the health coverage *after* breaking the bones. You might have to pay for ambulance and the first day of treatment, but nothing after. Statistically, people who sign up before needing the insurance are ... innumerate.
The poor slobs now have to sell you health care EVEN IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN EXPENSIVE CONDITION
Now why, why would any more or less healthy person who is not expecting a baby sign up for health care? Pay the small fine, it's cheaper. Pay out-of-pocket for the one or two times you need to see a doctor or get a flu shot this year. It's still cheaper.
And if you find out that you have cancer, a heart condition, or (like myself) a chronic condition like ulcerative colitis which is going to require tens of thousands of dollars' worth of health care every year to manage... well, THEN sign up, and get the Gold option, and laugh at the clueless corporate fucks in the insurance industry who thought that getting into bed with the government and forcing everyone to buy their product, would actually result in moar profit...
Economic sanctions alone can and will bring the US to its knees
Sanctions? Hardly necessary. To bring the US to its knees, all that needs to happen is for the Chinese to stop buying US Treasury bonds. Whoops....
If it ever did come to a point where an overthrow of the government was brewing, I suspect that recruiting would not be via posts on Slashdot.
You say this,. but it was a post on Slashdot 10 years ago that led me to move to New Hampshire. Now I pay no income or sales tax, am not legally required to buckle myself up in the car, can own any knife I damn well please, don't need a "permit" for a gun, can marry another man if I wanted to, and soon will have access to medicinal marijuana.
Go down and click my sig. Real shit happens in the real world, and you bet your ass it sometimes happens as a result of a slashdot post.
There's no need to go this far off the deep end, just yet. Fortunately, thousands of people who are opposed to over-intrusive government are getting together and actually doing something about it ... and getting results!
There are a lot of Libertarians in Arizona. This can help motivate them to come HOME, to where they're actually wanted!
Yes. It is unacceptable that "our" government now spies on us. Just one more reason so many of us has moved to New Hampshire.
"You are nothing! The State is Everything!"
Simple. Vote with your feet. See my .sig
FWIW, I was born in Wisconsin. I lived lots of places, including Indiana, Adelaide Australia, London England, and California. My job is such that I can work pretty much anywhere on Earth where there is an internet connection. New Hampshire is my chosen home.
1) Infrastructure
At my house in rural Hopkinton, NH, I reliably get 8MB down/4MB up. I telecommute to work most days; I live and die by my fast and reliable internet connection. I have had no particular issues. Note that I choose to live in the woods; there are in fact cities (not metropileses, but places with tall buildings and hundreds of thousands of people) in NH: Manchester, Nashua, etc
2) "recording cops"
Yes, FSPers have been pushing legislation to clarify that people have the right to record on-duty civil servants (especially police). Separately, a number of court cases have been won (by FSPer lawyers) that have adjudicated that on-duty police have no reasonable expectation of privacy. So, it's an issue that a number of FSPers are pushing on hard.
3) Downside
Yes, it gets cold in winter. And butt-hot in the summer. And the closest Really Big City is Boston, which is about an hour away from the NH state capitol in Concord. Oh, and there's no income or sales tax, so if you really want to pay those, NH will suck for you.