The Keene Divide?

June 13, 2010 by Ian
Filed under: Essay, Response

Some of the local critics seem to think that the “free staters” in NH are organized from the top down, with Free State Project founder Jason Sorens at the top, issuing commands as our dear leader. It doesn’t work like that. The FSP is just an organization designed to bring liberty-lovers to NH. What they do when they arrive is up-to-them. Perhaps to Sorens’ chagrin, he is definitely not in charge. No one is. Sorens has always been openly critical of the Keene brand of outside-the-system activism and recently posted a link to the recent anonymous Sentinel editorial attacking Free Keene on the FSP forum with the subject, “Keene residents tiring of Free Keeners”. While that may be a true statement, it ignores the people in Keene who appreciate the liberty activists, of which there are many. The newspaper’s editorial and echo chamber comments section is not necessarily representative of how things really are. Now, why would that be?

Perhaps it’s because once they move to NH, liberty activists and get involved in their community in whatever way they think is best. Many volunteered for Project Graduation this weekend. Lots of activists helped repaint a local church when it was vandalized by a supposed anarchist. Some have volunteered for organizations like the Community Kitchen and Hundred Nights shelter, while others have contributed financially to those organizations and the United Way. There have been many food drives for the Kitchen as well as a book drive for the new jail. Certainly there are many charitable things that activists have done on their own that I am not aware of.

Activists also get to work. They are young, single, and don’t have a lot of free time or money to spend, so they are working more-than-full time, building wealth, and becoming integral parts of their workplaces, continually building relationships and in many cases, taking managerial roles.

Families are beginning to arrive. The Monadnock Families for Liberty has been formed and has recently had an awesome get-together involving nearly two dozen adults and six kids.

Fact is though, we’re still only talking about a few dozen movers here. This is still the ground floor, and yet there has been so much attention given to the activism here. All of the local news coverage (not to mention national and international coverage by Cannabis Culture, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, Boston newspapers, the AP, and others) is just evidence of the effectiveness of this movement.

Of course, as it should be expected, the local newspaper keeps getting it wrong. They really misreported the School Sucks Project outreach, among other things. Is anyone really shocked that the mainstream press is attacking us? It’s because the activism here has been effective. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” I’ll let you decide what stage the Keeniacs are in.

For each of the haters there are others who love us. What are the ratios? No one knows. The negative experiences happen almost exclusively online and specifically at the Sentinel comments section. From the stories I hear, liberty activists are widely appreciated by their non-activist associates. If they have heard nasty rumors, they are quickly wiped away by the renown of the liberty activist they know. We’re winning hearts and minds, but it’s tough to get through to the black-hearted statists that read the Sentinel. You can’t please everyone and shouldn’t bother trying.

The same people that complain (in this case the Sentinel editors) would have been upset no matter what we did. Liberty activists are here to change the status quo to a peaceful, consensual society, and the supporters of the coercive status quo will be upset, period. Rumors will fly and the best way to eliminate the rumors is to touch people’s lives personally and positively so they no longer believe what they are hearing around town and in the Sentinel. All is well.

http://www.copblock.org Adam Mueller

Couldn't agree more. I would also encourage those who have ill feelings for 'Free Staters' to approach them. Talk constructively with them, get an idea of what that PERSON is about. Then if you still don't support them fine, but remember that single person isn't a rep for everyone in the Free State. Just like anything else there are some people you like and agree with; others you will not. And it doesn't matter if they're a free staters or not.
http://soundclick.com/thinkliberty thinkliberty

I like the title of the editors article. "Recent protests in Keene fail to make much of a mark"

If the protests didn't make a mark, why would they write a big article about nothing?

They can't ignore you, because what you are doing is being noticed.

The logical fallacies at the end of the editorial are funny, they've got nothing. A gross misrepresentation of the truth is the best they can do.

Good work in Keene guys, liberty is winning.

Keep Keene Free.
SocialistSleepover

Talking about alleged anarchists becoming managers and the like is cutting out your epistemic legs from beneath you. You can't talk about an opposition to authority while at the same time promoting the gains in authority those in your circle have made and expect to remain coherent.
bil

Just remember to read the Sentinel.Don't buy it,find a free copy and read it.If you don't know what they are up to,how can you counter it? Just remember,it doesn't mean you are making an effect if the Sentinal is against you,it just may be a slow day and controversy sells. —bil
Bradley Jardis

"Talking about alleged anarchists becoming managers and the like is cutting out your epistemic legs from beneath you. "

Anarchism/Voluntaryism would most defiantly allow for private rules.
http://peteeyre.com Pete Eyre

Thanks for teasing out the important point in this discussion – that we each are responsible for our own actions.

Since I've been in NH all but two of literally dozens of spontaneous conversations I've had with others about activism in Keene and the FSP in general have been positive. And after finding some common ground, one of those two ended amicably.

Needless to say, I'm definitely optimistic about the impact activism in Keene will continue to have thanks to the caliber and principled-nature of the activists who choose to call the area home.
http://www.nolanchart.com/author677.html Chaz Munro

@ Socialist Sleepover: I really don't see where there was any "gains in authority" that you had mentioned. I believe that may have been an error in perception on your part.

@ Ian: The reporters at the Keene Sentinel tend to live in a bubble insulating them from how things really are. Their "news feeds" come from sources that are not pro-freedom so they will obviously error and error quite often in favor of the state.

They don't get the force inherent in every action of gooberment. If you want to make dealing with them much less of a chore, why not make it easy on yourself? Send to their key reporters, separate "press packets" of sorts explaining exactly what "Free Staters" & other liberty activists in the area stand for. Position sheets on just about everything you feel important from firearm ownership to the "tragedy of the commons" and all kinds of goodies in between.

Wouldn't hurt to also send them out to the Union Leader, WKBK, & WMUR as well as any other news sources in the state.

When they do a story they can then refer to their packet and what YOU have to say rather than some control freak politico has to chime in on the subject. Eventually being able to change hearts and minds makes for a beautiful day in the Monadnock Region, IMHO.
SocialistSleepover

@Brad Jardis: 1.) Anarchism and "Voluntaryism" are not the same, no matter how often diehard Voluntaryists might tell you otherwise. When you get down to the nuts and bolts of each one, you'll find that anarchism is an refusal to recongize any authority as legitimate, whereas voluntaryism is apologism for authority because it is "voluntary".

2.) Whether or not people will make "private" rules is besides the point, because people will invariably break them. The point here is that one can't talk about leveling the playingfield and at the same time talk about the advances up hierarchy certain members have made.

@Chaz Munro: I view it as philosophical cherry-picking to oppose authority in one facet of life, but not the next. If you oppose the authoritarianism of the bureaucrat, it must logically follow that you would oppose the authoritarianism of the boss as well. Denying this means that your objections aren't predicated on the issue of authoritarianism, which is the underlying basis of libertarianism: an opposition to authority.

I view this as a sort of litmus test for discerning who is genuinely an anarchist when interacting with "libertarians". Do you oppose SOME authority, or do you oppose ALL authority? Of course, given the pro-capital anti-labor rhetoric fueling the larger portion of "libertarian" discourse, you end up with people mewling about "voluntaryism" in order to evade the question of whether or not they oppose authority.
Bradley Jardis

I don't believe society can function without rules.

I just don't believe in rulers.
Chase Banks

@SocialistSleepover:

The idea that you're advocating is essentially "class war" anarchism.

In a free market, people will choose to run their private businesses the way they see fit. That's all there is to it.

That may be a "hierarchical" dynamic, or it could be a collectively owned operation- the latter sounds like it would be better suited to your "anti-authoritarian" tastes. There's nothing ethically wrong with either situation, it's just a question of economic efficiency and personal preference.

If you don't like having a manager telling you what to do at work, you're free to leave! You can even start your own commie coffee shop, and if you're offering your goods at a cost that the market is willing to pay, you can compete with the evil boss-man shop for their customers.

You have a distorted view of authority. You characterize a business owner's relationship to the folks who work in the business as being "authoritarian". It's not. It's people exchanging goods and services on terms that all parties involved agree to.

A coercive government's relationship to it's "citizens", can't be accurately characterized as "authority". It's just violence. Violence is the problem.

True authority is legitimate. I work at a Mercedes repair facility. I'm a technician, and I work alongside a master technician with 30 years experience. He has a vast amount of knowledge that I don't yet. So, he is often in the position of telling me what to do; he's my "boss". And I'm fine with that, otherwise I wouldn't be there. Am I being exploited?
RWW

And this is why it's best, if you really believe in freedom, to distance yourself from the label "anarchist." That word has been hijacked by sick philosophies like SocialistSleepover's.
http://www.nolanchart.com/author677.html Chaz Munro

Under socialism, gooberment is the boss and you can't back out of the deal even if you didn't agree to it, you are stuck, dude.

It is just illogical, wrong & very weird to say that a voluntary relationship that much more often than not, helps everyone involved, instead "benefits only the boss". The boss owns the job. You contributed nothing to him to create it. If the boss gave you a job, he kept you from digging through trash cans for a meal. If you have a job, he made it possible for you to be able to buy a computer that you instead use to badmouth him. You should thank your boss instead of cowardly giving him the finger behind his back for making your life better. Such ingratitude for the person who saved you from ruin.

You have no legitimate claim to it for the same reason as you have no real claim to the livelihood of others if you contributed nothing to their betterment.

Whining and throwing a fit that "others have goodies and you don't, so they should give things to you" is the credo of a bum. I'd like to think that you are better than that. Be better than that if you want anything you say on this site to be taken seriously.

If intelligent freedom loving anarchists won't fall for the ignorant rot that the "conservatives" sling at us, what makes you think that they will swallow the hook of clearly obvious disingenuous rhetoric belched forth from the communist/socialist element?

Yeah, I thought so.

You offer me slavery very poorly disguised as freedom. Spin your wheels on this site if it gives you your jollies, yet you'll not find converts to your philosophy here as they see through you. It really *is* that obvious.
Paul

Voluntaryists oppose aggressive violence — that is the basis of their belief system. They support people being able to trade goods and services in the way they choose. That means an employer-employee relationship in some cases.

It's not about opposition to all forms of authority, or the notion that anyone should be able to do anything at any time with anyone's property. It's not about one "class" stealing a bunch of stuff from other "classes" until everyone's circumstances are equal, regardless of their ability or work ethic.

I have worked for a number of bosses. If I found the relationship less than beneficial, I would have quit. I would not have whined about some imaginary claim on the property of the employer.

In any case, I believe this is the flaw in your thinking, SS. The movement is anti aggression, not anti authority. It is only authority that is illegitimate — that which is derived from threats of aggressive violence, rather than from property ownership, or mutual agreement, which must be opposed.

I'm glad you oppose the state, but neither I, nor I believe many here, are your philosophical kin. As Chaz said, stick around if you want, but your philosophy of wealth redistribution is thinly veiled slavery.
bob

I think the only folks who don't want you here are bureaucrats and maybe a few people who are actually on the same page, just not bright enough to get it yet.

I've been here all my life and I unreservedly say that I'm honored to know you chose to come live here, to stop people from ruining the little bit of sanity remaining in the area.
Anonymous

Education is simply a series of acts of outing balderdash fears one has accumulated since one's birth. If people are articulating their fears, they have begun to think about your actions.
Paul

Yep, I'm a Keene native too. As I say, while I don't agree with every action of every activist, I absolutely am glad for the freedom movement in keene, and hope it continues to grow.
http://anarchyinyourhead.com Dale Everett

"If the protests didn’t make a mark, why would they write a big article about nothing?"

That made me laugh too. This is the most glaring distraction about that Sentinel editorial. It absolutely reeks of anonymous desperation.
http://www.keenesentinel.com/classifieds/ Keith

It is understandable that parents will be upset when you yell at their 11 year old child with a bullhorn as they get on the school bus. Messing with people's children just doesn't go over well. Talk about crossing a line…
Bradley Jardis

The real line that is crossed is the violence and threats of violence that are used to fund the school in the first place.

Activists offering children alternative ideas to those which advocate the violence taught and justified by the teachings in public school is hardly hurting anything.
mackler

Am I the only one who is terribly annoyed by the use by otherwise cogent people of the false public-private paradigm. Why do people feel the need to say "public" or "private" when they really mean "coercive" or "consensual." I encourage people who use these words–"public" vs "private" to pause and try to define what they mean. Are those words really accurately communicating your thoughts?
free keene of YOU

Hey…Before you reserve that Uhaul and move the family up to NH, take a moment to learn a little more about your beloved "project" and its origins here…

http://www.counterpunch.org/martens04272009.html
theKINGofKEENE

YO! "Socialist sleepover"!: "Do you have any personal authority over yourself? Do you oppose that authority? C'mon, simple Q's???…what's your answer???…I'm waiting…
theKINGofKEENE

Good discussion, so far. keep up the good thinking & writing, people! Blessings!…(Yes, as a keene native, I'd say : Most Keene residents are either neutral, or supportive of "freekeeners/staters&etc"…As for the Sentinel, that's all CIA dis- & mis- information, anyway! They don't have "regular reporters" as you might imagine…OH? Name one…See?…****EIN MAPLED LANE****…..(one little path, not oak….See?…plan ella……tKoK…
http://www.counterviolence.info Shepard

I am a voluntaryist that loves organization, hierarchy, order and peace. I just don't want to force my preferences on others and don't want them to force theirs on me.