Al Jazeera Reports on the FSP & Keene

January 10, 2012 by Ian · 25 Comments
Filed under: International, Introduction, News

One of the best news agencies in the world (since they aren’t necessarily biased in favor of the American state), Al-Jazeera, has reported on the Free State Project:

Loudon, New Hampshire – On Tuesday, Republicans in the state of New Hampshire vote for their presidential nominee in the first primary in the nation.

With all eyes on the horse race between the six major Republican candidates, some interesting political trends within the state of New Hampshire itself have gone unexamined. The state – with an official motto of “Live Free or Die” – has a political culture steeped in a small-government mindset. And partly for that reason, almost 1,000 political migrants have moved to New Hampshire over the past several years as part of the Free State Project. Read more

Over 100 Occupy Keene’s Railroad & Central Squares

October 15, 2011 by Ian · 49 Comments
Filed under: Introduction, Issues, National, Outreach, Personal Freedom, Photos, Social

Today was a major activism day in Keene as over 100 gathered at Railroad Square and after a meeting walked down to Central Square. During the walk, traffic was blocked for a few minutes (a tactic with which I don’t agree).

The occupation began at 12:15pm and was still active late this afternoon. A hardcore contingent of activists seems committed to camping out on the ground that is supposedly “public”. Will the aggressors called “the city of Keene” make a move against the peaceful demonstrators on the first night? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned here for more, but for the latest, drop into the Occupy Keene facebook page and discussion group. Read more

New Mover Ali: Keene is “better than I even expected”

October 14, 2011 by Ian · 80 Comments
Filed under: Introduction, Video

A new activist in Keene, Ali, talks about her move to Keene, courtesy Fr33Agents:

Talley.TV Shows Medea Benjamin of Code Pink the Violence Inherent in the System

June 17, 2011 by Ian · 5 Comments
Filed under: Economic Freedom, Introduction, Personal Freedom, Update, Video

The Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund‘s Jason Talley talks with Code Pink‘s Medea Benjamin. This video drips with cognitive dissonance, as a nice woman who is committed to peace around the world is shown the violence that is part-and-parcel of the system in which she believes. I hope she continues to think about what Talley.TV shares:

Meet LOT!

May 20, 2011 by Ian · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Introduction

Meet Pete, Ademo, and Beau from Liberty on Tour:

Free Concord’s Garret Ean on Talley.TV

May 19, 2011 by Ian · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Introduction, Video

An interview with superactivist Garret Ean, courtesy Talley.TV:

Liberty on Tour’s “Free State Friendship Tour” Launches!

May 16, 2011 by Ian · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Announcement, Introduction, Outreach, Update

Ademo, Pete, and the newest crew member, Beau have kicked off the “Free State Friendship Tour”! Today they left from Keene to begin a solid month of traveling in and around the Shire. Free Keene’s Ademo filed this first post on LibertyonTour.com. This morning they traveled to Greenfield, MA in an attempt to get accountability, as the people calling themselves the “commonwealth” are still aggressing against Ademo and Pete for recording bureaucrats in public. Stay tuned at LibertyonTour.com for the latest.

Welcome to our newest blogger, Heika!

April 21, 2011 by Ian · 1 Comment
Filed under: Announcement, Introduction

Heika met Ademo and Pete from Liberty on Tour last year at her workplace at the time. She ended up coming out to the summer Nightcap events in the park and getting to know many other liberty activists. She excitedly got involved in the movement and began learning about the ideas of liberty. Her road to liberty has been a particularly difficult one. When she was arrested for enjoying a beer in the park last summer, many of her family members and “friends” ostracized her for being associated with liberty lovers. Despite the setback, she continued down her path and has now become involved in the local homeless shelter and Keene’s government through council meetings and committees and is even planning a run for city council later this year. So, welcome Heika as our newest blogger. You can get full details on the rest of our bloggers here. Here’s her bio:

Heika Courser (“hcourser”) – Heika is a Keene native and friend to many FSP members. She is a big supporter of the phrase, “No victim, no crime.” Although she is not in support of many things the government does, she has recently become very interested in local politics, such as city council and other city committees. Heika also proudly partakes in many acts of civil disobedience as well as supports her liberty-oriented friends with vigils, protests, attending court hearings and trials, and more.

Welcome to our Newest Blogger, Lyndz “AnarchoMama” Stevens!

March 26, 2011 by Ian · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Announcement, Introduction

Free Keene welcomes our newest blogger, Lyndz “AnarchoMama” Stevens! She is an experienced blogger who is very into Unschooling and is also a member of the Monadnock Families for Liberty. To learn about our other bloggers, please visit our bloggers page. Here’s her bio:

Lyndz Stevens (“AnarchoMama”) – Lyndz Stevens (along with her partner and their two year old son) moved from Hawaii to New Hampshire as a member of the free-state project in February 2011. She was brought up, as most children are, to respect the State and accept its existence as a necessity. It took the birth of her son in December 2008 to truly open her eyes to the brutality of life under a government. These days, she believes that men are good in nature and fully capable of existing in a world based upon voluntary action. She believes that government of any form infringes upon the inherent nature of freedom, and hopes that her own child might someday live in a world where he is truly FREE.

Where I Stand, Structurally

December 17, 2010 by Skeptikos · 19 Comments
Filed under: Essay, Introduction

Summarizing my political views is hard. In the forums, I’ve been calling myself a “liberaltarian” — because I’m too libertarian to call myself a liberal, and too liberal to call myself a libertarian. (I posted an essay here, at Blue Hampshire, where I discuss particular policies and describe how I reached this position.)

But in this post I want to focus on a more interesting aspect of my views.

Beyond policy lies another level of politics. This is the structural, or institutional, level. Institutions determine, not individual policies, but how policies are chosen. When New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans fight to make it harder or easier for college students to vote, they are making crude forays into structural issues. Campaign finance reform would be a structural change.

While straightforward republican democracy has been working relatively well in America, it suffers from well-established flaws. Special interests and voter biases, in particular, create the most obvious problems. Anarchists (of whatever variety) and communists are unique in that they actually propose an alternate set of institutions to deal with these flaws. No other major political philosophies do this.

In opposition to anarchists and communists, however, I would like to see more structural experimentation: let a thousand nations bloom. Read more