Haters Gonna Hate
In a letter to the editor of the Seacoast Online, the chairman of the Hampton Democratic Committee, Dick Desrosiers, goes on the attack against the Free State Project, claiming we are “destroying our government”. I’ll post the full text below.
The important thing to takeaway from this, is that Dick at no point cites the varied, supposedly offensive activism done in Keene over the years. All of his objections to the FSP are purely political. This goes to the point that I’ve been making to the critics within the libertarian community for years:
Any activism that jeopardizes the status quo will result in hatred of those activists, by those who support the status quo. (Usually the government agents, their family, friends, and sycophants.)
For many years, libertarian critics in and outside of New Hampshire have wrung their hands about “Keene activism”, claiming we’re ruining the movement, poisoning the well, and other blame-placing. We’ve been told we’re doing it wrong and that we should do more political action, because that’s somehow not going to be as upsetting to people. (Of course, this ignores that many in Keene have done and continue to do political action.)
The reality is that political action takes longer to foment change and it’s not as visible or newsworthy as say, civil disobedience. However, this hate letter and the constant attacks on political activist and FSPer Aaron Day are just two more recent examples that those on the political scene will also find themselves under fire from the haters. In fact, as Free State Project participants win more seats and begin repealing bad laws, you can expect the attacks to increase in frequency and vitriol. Already the Aaron Day opponents have spent untold thousands on their full-color hitpiece mailers.
The people in power know that the Free State Project is a threat (peaceful) to their control over others, and they hate us for it. While much of Keene activism is a threat to the ideas that back the status quo, the political activism by FSP participants is an actual threat to the structure of power. It’s therefore arguable that eventually the political activists will bear the majority of the brunt of the haters’ anger.
Despite keyboard libertarian warriors’ beliefs, there is no way to foment change to a more free society without creating enemies. Most people outside NH in the larger libertarian movement don’t understand this, because the libertarian movement has virtually never been a threat to the status quo anywhere outside of New Hampshire, with the exception of Ron Paul. If you care about liberty, move to New Hampshire if you want to win. But prepare yourself for the anger and derision that will come with the success.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Gandhi
Here’s the letter to Seacoast Online by hater Dick Desrosiers:
You, my friends, have rights. You have the same rights as anybody else. You have the same rights as any member of the Free State Project (FSP), or legislators sympathetic to that cause. The only difference between you and them is that you care about, and strive to protect, the rights of others. The FSP is only concerned with those who believe as they do.
The goal of the Free State organizers is to change New Hampshire and its government. Did they ask you if you felt the same way? They sure didn’t ask me! Since their arrival in New Hampshire they have been trying to destroy our government, hoping that volunteerism and free enterprise will fill the void. They have come here to make New Hampshire freer so that they can live with more freedom but, they are the ones stomping on the freedom of others.
As a result of the 2010 election, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA), a main organization for carrying out the strategies of the FSP, orchestrated the election of Representative Bill O’Brien to the position of House speaker. As speaker, Mr. O’Brien employed strong arm tactics to oust long-term Republicans and replace them with Free Stators. He used such tactics to introduce and pass legislation to remove any and all government impacts on liberty and property rights and diminished the importance of protecting and promoting the common good.
It appears that Representative O’Brien is working hard to “stack the deck” for the November election thus ensuring that the Republicans regain control of the house and he regains the speaker’s position. If that happens, your rights as a non-Free State, Libertarian, and citizen will be lost.
Your right to be safe from accidental or deliberate gun violence will be lost. Bill O’Brien will again ensure that all citizens, including convicted felons, will be allowed to open carry weapons anywhere they go and use them at will. Have we not learned anything from all of the senseless killings in the past two years?
Your right to be safe on the highways will be lost because he will prohibit the police from conducting sobriety checkpoints.
Your right to ensure the health and wellbeing of your family will be lost because they will again eliminate essential health services for the most vulnerable, the elderly and disabled. They will eliminate the N.H. Healthy Kids program, they will repeal the prevention program for at-risk child program, and they will eliminate the Children in Need of Services program.
Your right to ensure a good education for your children, regardless of your financial status, will be lost because they will abolish the state Department of Education, permit parent instructed education instead of public education, and will divert public taxpayer monies to private and religious schools. They will repeal public kindergarten and will allow teens to drop out of school before they are 18.
Your right to affordable health care was delayed, and the state lost millions of dollars in government funding to establish a health care exchange program managed by the state. Ironically the program we now have is managed by the government because O’Brien refused to accept the ACA.
On and on it goes. The bottom line is this; a vote for a Republican state representative candidate is a vote to return Bill O’Brien to the speakership. If you are not a Free State supporter, your rights and freedom will be lost.
Dick Desrosiers
Chairman of the Hampton Democratic Committee
