A few months ago, after more than a decade of promoting the Free State Project on my radio program Free Talk Live, I was unceremoniously kicked to the curb by a unanimous decision of the board of directors. They also decided to prohibit my show from broadcasting live from the Porcupine Freedom Festival (Porcfest), their yearly camping gathering.
I never asked anyone to boycott the event, but they did anyway. Many Porcfest regulars were not in attendance this year, which apparently was exactly what some of the NBC crowd were hoping for. “NBC” are the group of squares that formed years ago – they gathered at Porcfest and all bought identical t-shirts that said “Normal By Comparison”. The following year they had new shirts that said “Not Batshit Crazy”. The shirts were their way of attacking those wacky civil disobedience and outside-the-system activists in Keene as well as the libertines and hedonists who had been attending Porcfest.
Every year the “NBC” people would complain about something they didn’t like about Porcfest, like women being topless, open cannabis use, and parties at night. Ultimately, they got what they wanted, according to those who attended this year. (Here’s a video and an article by two longtime attendees.) Many longtime attendees said Porcfest 2016 was smaller, targeted to square families, and did not have the same vibe as previous years.
It’s not the first schism that has affected the NH liberty community – there have been a bunch over the last decade. The Porcfest schism however was one of the most publicized as it involved the FSP and their biggest recruiter, my radio show. For newer movers and people taking an interest in the FSP, it’s their first schism, so the first one can be the most shocking. Given that the beloved Porcfest was involved, it felt like a big deal to a lot of people, many of whom attended the event anyway.
One of those folks was longtime Porcfest attendee and Philadelphia superactivist Jim Babb who took to the stage during “Soapbox Idol” and went on a fantastic rant that indicted the FSP board and defended me. Thank you for the kind words, Jim and thanks also to the supporters in the audience and to the person who recorded it:
The fun has just begun here in New Hampshire, and regardless what decisions the FSP’s board makes, they have zero impact on the activism that liberty-minded people are doing here. You don’t need to join the FSP to move here and be with the largest community of libertarians and voluntarists on earth. If you want join something, sign the Shire Society declaration. The Shire Society is a liberty migration to NH that has no board of directors, no centralized power, and no membership rolls. You just sign the declaration and start planning your move to the Shire.
Also, if you’re looking for a good camping party this Summer, try NH Hempfest! It’s happening at Rogers Campground August 25th-28th. Free Talk Live will be broadcasting live! Rumors abound about another liberty camping festival being formed to cater to those who feel excluded by the FSP. If it actually materializes, you’ll see the news here on Free Keene, so stay tuned!
The past few weeks as a Free Stater has been some of the most heart breaking moments of my life. I’ve witnessed the witch hunt by OG Free Staters and FSP Inc supporters to label Ian Freeman as a pedophile. There was even a petition that was circulating which has since been removed demanding the FSP to remove FTL/LRN from all business partnerships based off the acusations of Ian supporting pedophelia. These haters have been ferocious and with out mercy. I have also witnessed FSP Inc cut all business ties with FTL/LRN.FM which I may disagree with but business is business. However, in a blog posted by the president of the Free State Project Matt Phillips, they also banned Ian from all future FSP Inc events including Porcfest and Liberty Forum.
Ian Freeman may be wrong on some issues and I am not hundred percent behind his position of age of consent. That being said Ian is one of the most peaceful/pacifist people I have ever met. He has also done more for the Free State Project and liberty than all of his haters combined. Furthermore, with so much hate coming from FSP Inc and their supporters, myself and my fiance Ann Leverette in good conscience could not bare to share our love at Porcfest with our wedding. We have announced that going forward we will be boycotting all future FSP Inc events and we will not be attending Porcfest. The Rebel Love Wedding will also not be held at Porcfest but instead NH Hempfest instead. This all happened relatively quickly and we took to the LRN.FM airwaves Friday night on Anarchy After Dark to go into detail about what has happened and what led us to this heart breaking decision. Never fear though, there is light and love on the other side. Plus the Shire is still an amazing place to live. Listen to this episode to understand why.
podcast:
With the banning, I became the latest inducted in the elite club of people like Christopher Cantwell and Zack Bass who have been similarly politically excised from the FSP organization.
It was a good run, but all things come to an end. I’m grateful for my more than a decade of helping to promote the Free State Project, and look forward to 20,000+ liberty-loving people coming here to New Hampshire and working toward freedom.
I know people have said they won’t be attending Porcfest this year due to the FSP’s decision, and I appreciate their sentiment, but to anyone who doesn’t feel as strongly, you should still attend the Porcupine Freedom Festival this June. (more…)
The main hosts of New Hampshire-based syndicated talk program (heard on over 170 radio stations coast-to-coast), Free Talk Live made a major decision tonight. On the FTL blog we announced our release of the Free State Project from our long-standing broadcast agreement. It was a long time coming. Over the years, Mark and I have been a loving thorn-in-the-side of the FSP. While we were its most successful recruiter, we were also never afraid to criticize the organization publicly. It was a relationship that came close to ending a few times over the years.
Recently a group of FSP early movers have been putting social pressure on the FSP board to disassociate from Free Talk Live, LRN.FM, and Free Keene. While a petition by the in-crowd of haters struggled to reach 100 signatures over several days, including fraudulent signatures, the anger and social pressure is real. We at FTL no longer wanted to play any role in making the FSP board choose one side over the other yet again. I am grateful we were able to work together for so long in promoting the best idea for liberty in generations, the Free State Project.
Schisms are healthy, even if the people who stoke them aren’t. In my experience, it’s always best to embrace the schism rather than fight it.
There are no hard feelings on my side. I have not revoked my membership in the FSP and I still think that libertarians, voluntarists, and liberty-loving anarchists should move to New Hampshire, ASAP.
Free Talk Live would like to formally congratulate the Free State Project on reaching 20,000 signers. Until February 3rd, 2016, the FSP was an organization primarily focused on getting 20,000 liberty-minded people to pledge to move to New Hampshire and get active for freedom. Now the FSP is refocusing on encouraging those signers and other interested libertarians to make their move. This is a goal of Free Talk Live as well, but experience shows us that when any group gets large enough there will be schisms. There are some that feel that there is no place in the FSP for Free Talk Live and with the recent change in goals of the FSP, we at FTL can see their point of view. (more…)
Though Edward Snowden dominated FSP-related headlines in the last week, there have been more news stories both inside and outside of NH about the FSP or FSP early movers than I can keep track of. Here’s a quick rundown:
FSP Founder Jason Sorens and his wife Mary appeared on FOX Business’ “Stossel”. Video of the episode is not yet available online publicly, that I can find.
