Want to save the Constitution? Join the Free State Project.
It was August of 2007 when my uncle called me up with an offer to train me in his profession and eventually take over his business. I readily accepted, feeling good about the opportunity to help people in financial stress renegotiate their troubled mortgages with their banks.
Time passed and the government induced housing bubble popped. When the government voiced intentions to 'help people out', my uncle's business went from slow to almost nonexistent. I was in Guyana visiting family for a wedding/post-BYU-graduation-celebration when I received the news that my position at the family business no longer existed.
As I humiliatedly explained the situation to my wife and in-laws and searched for a job in Alabama where my parents live, I began to ruminate on the root causes of my predicament (other than not having an active plan B).
I came to the conclusion that the U.S. government should never have been given the right to create money in the first place – as evidenced by its abuse of this power. It unconstitutionally instituted a paper/paperless ticket system that is essentially, veiled aggression.
In a free market devoid of coercion, investment comes from those who save their money to earn interest. In our current system, the government-sponsored racket creates new tickets out of thin air, stealing buying power from the existing tickets and coercing holders of wealth to unknowingly transfer their wealth to bankers and borrowers. Most recently, the favorite target of this stolen wealth has been the housing market where it’s been channeled. By definition, the resulting bubble was a misallocation of wealth since the free market would never have channeled so much wealth in this direction. When the market finally started to correct itself and the government followed with ‘help’ in avoiding the correction, I was out of a job before I even had it.
This, on top of a long list of other governmental straying from constitutional limits and various general encroachments on liberty, made me consider not only my family's prosperity but also how to be part of a movement that has the BEST chance of success in the battle for liberty. Thus, I began to look more seriously at the Free State Project. What clinched the deal for me, other than the fact that New Hampshire has probably the best economy in the U.S., was this simple fact:
The Constitution doesn’t bind anyone who is likely reading this article. It is essentially a contract between the federal government and the states (albeit with provisions for individuals). If this document is to be saved (even with all it’s imperfections), it will be due to one or more of the 50 states standing toe-to-toe with the feds and saying, “What you’re doing isn’t in the contract. You can keep your highway funds because we don’t need them.”
National politics has been miserably unsuccessful at bringing this behemoth demon to subjection. The truth is that there aren’t nearly enough people in the U.S. who actually believe in the principles of liberty and are willing to DEMAND it at the ballot box.
The Free State Project is the gathering of liberty-minded people in one state in an effort to influence state politics so liberty is actually achieved in our lifetimes. Signers aren’t expected to move until 20,000 people have signed the pledge. Yet with less than 9,000 signers, over 600 “porcupines” now reside in the state and we already have some great progress to boast of.
‘Free Staters’ or ‘Porcs’ together with native New Hampshire liberty activists have formed the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. This organization currently boasts enough volunteers to actually read and score every piece of legislation as well as score each legislator based on their votes. The result is that every bill and legislator receives a liberty grade! Try getting this done in any other state.
Largely due to these efforts, NH still has no seat belt law, no requirement for auto insurance, no general state sales tax, no income tax, and they’ve also made it illegal for the state to comply with Real ID. In addition to this, some ‘extra-legislative’ progress that has been made as well. Some speeding-ticket recipients, who refused to pay their fines based upon the argument that driving 10 miles above the speed limit was not harming anyone, were found “Not Guilty” in local courts. More freedom from tyranny is to come.
As of this past November 95 out of 400+ NH legislators are either Free Staters or New Hampshire natives who score a B+ or better on their liberty scorecards! You don’t get this anywhere else.
Some of you may not welcome the idea of the Free State Project because you have yet to see the futility of national politics. I support the Campaign for Liberty, but I do it from New Hampshire where I actually have the option to vote for candidates who will not use the power of government to aggress against my neighbor. If you want liberty at the national level, a state has to stand up. For a state to stand up, you need to come live where things are already happening and your efforts will add to our best shot at getting liberty on both a local and national level.
I became mover #568 when I moved to New Hampshire in the beginning of September 2008. Now the counter at the Free State Project shows that there are 641 early movers. This means that about 1 person a day is moving to New Hampshire for liberty and a better life. Even if that rate doesn’t increase by much, we have already achieved so much and will yet achieve much more for liberty.
To those who are interested, but holding back due the lack of a job in the area, let me pose this - New Hampshire is one of the few states actually still increasing employment as of right now. All things being equal, you’re more likely to get a job here than where you stand at this very moment. I arrived in NH unemployed and am I writing this from a job where I just got promoted.
I believe that a critical mass of moral individuals (many of them from my faith), will eventually wake up and be instrumental in saving the U.S. Constitution, which has been hanging by a thread for far longer than a century.
As I read into the scriptures that I hold dear, I can see how far we’ve strayed from moral government and liberty. I’ve said before – I can no longer consent to evil by using the state as a weapon against my fellow man. Now I ask you to join me in honoring our neighbors’ choices instead of controlling our neighbors through governmental aggression. Join me in refusing to vote for thieves who would steal from others on our behalf. In my book, this is the height of Christianity. If your own ideals approach these, come and be one of many people arriving in New Hampshire every single week. Here you will see fellowship, support, and real measurable progress towards liberty year after year.
Who will stand with us?
