This time, due to the general election the turnout was much bigger – we talked to twice as many people, but still a solid 64% told us government was “too big” in response to the question, “Do you think government is too big, too small, or just the right size?”.
Of the 150 people who answered our question over two hours, 96 (64%) said government was “too big”, 8 (5%) said it was “too small” and 46 (31%( said it was “just right”.
Join other Shire Society members inside and outside the Shire on the Forums.
Before the behemoth that is Facebook, there were forums. On these forums, people in communities were able to communicate about various things, and with the right amount of moderation, it worked well. Then Facebook came along and sucked up all the people and gave them terrible forums called “groups” where the only moderation tool is to delete discussion threads.
With forums, moderators can move threads between the forum’s subforums, meaning off-topic posts could be moved to more appropriate places in the overall forum. This cannot be done on facebook. There, one group is not connected with another group. An off-topic post will either be allowed to clutter the group, or it will be destroyed. There is no move option. That’s only one reason why Facebook groups suck, but it’s a major one.
All three forums still exist, but have nowhere near the popularity they once had. Many new people to the movement don’t even know they exist.
Have you signed the Shire Society Declaration yet?
In order to stay as relevant as possible and compete as much as possible with the evil Facebook, last year the Shire Society Forum was upgraded to a more “modern” forum software, “Vanilla Forum”. It was better than the old software, “SMF”, in some ways, but lacking in others. Now, the Shire Society Forum is modernizing further for 2017 with the switch to the “Discourse” forum software.
So far my experience with Discourse has been very good. It’s snappy – posts appear instantly without having to reload an entire webpage. It’s got a modern feel and allows logins via a bunch of major accounts, including Google, Yahoo, GitHub, Facebook, and Twitter, and sharing of posts via Facebook and Twitter.
The Shire Society Forum has, despite its decline in popularity, still attracted new users over the years. Each month, there are new potential movers to the Shire who arrive and post an introduction, which is a requirement in order to enter the forum. Would you be willing to come welcome them? The forum has subforums for all the regions and major cities in New Hampshire and we’d welcome your input.
Please give the new Shire Society Forum a try. I hope you like it. Death to Facebook!
Libertarians Had Major Successes in NH 2016 Elections
The national election is just a sideshow. Nothing of substance in DC will change in the next four years and I predict Trump will ultimately disappoint those who think he’s somehow an “outsider” or “anti-establishment”. Meanwhile, the left is MAD and secession will grow into a serious idea for many of them as they begin to see the value in breaking away from the United States. Indeed, Californians already held a #CalExit rally on the Sacramento statehouse grounds today!
Many watching the libertarian migrations to New Hampshire are probably wondering how the libertarians did here in the Shire, specifically both the Libertarian Party candidates and those libertarians running as Republicans and Democrats for state house and senate.
First, Libertarian candidate for NH governor Max Abramson got a higher vote percentage than every other Libertarian Party candidate for governor across the United States in 2016’s election. He did better than Gary Johnson did in NH, in fact. Beyond the feather in his cap, the 4.3% of the vote he received is significant because it qualifies the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire for equal ballot access with the Republicans and Democrats for the first time in 20 years! That means Libertarian candidates no longer have to worry about petitioning to gain ballot access – a costly and time-consuming process. Now we can pay the same affordable filing fees ($2 for state rep) that the Rs and Ds pay.
Why has it been twenty years since we’ve had this status? In 1990, the LP gained official party recognition for the first time. They held it until 1997 when the state legislature (specifically a group of Republicans) decided to raise the vote threshold from 3% to 4%, disqualifying the LP from official party status. Their candidates for governor since that time were unable to reach the new, raised bar.
Darryl W Perry, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of NH
Until now. Riding on a national wave of frustration with the big parties, Libertarian candidate for governor Max Abramson managed to score 4.3%, (30,959 votes). This despite being excluded from the debates and also after making headlines for being a peaceful felon for defending his property with a gun.
The news couldn’t come at a better time for the LP of NH, which for many years has been languishing under a do-nothing chairman. That chair was replaced at a special convention called just weeks beforehand, where Free Keene blogger Darryl W Perry was unanimously elected chairman by those attending the convention. In addition, principled former Arkansas LP chair Rodger Paxton was elected vice-chair along with former independent candidate for governor Jilletta Jarvis taking the secretary position – much-needed new blood was transfused into the NH Libertarian Party, just in time for this epic win by Abramson. The gates are now open for libertarians to storm the ballots in 2018 with candidates statewide.
Q: Why would private police forces be better than a monopoly police force?
A: A private police force is better than a public police force because if it does a bad job, you can fire them tomorrow and hire another one, just as you can fire Brinks Home Security and hire Guardian Protective Services, tomorrow, without asking permission of anybody. Your neighbor’s don’t have to agree with you. They can continue to use whatever service they use now. But if you turn out to be happier with Guardian than with Brinks, you can also let your neighbors know that they provide a better value for the money.
A public police force always ends up doing things you don’t want done. They shoot unarmed people in the streets, especially minorities. They arrest more people for smoking weed in America than for all violent crimes combined. Including the government as a whole, they murder people abroad on flimsy pretexts to make money for Big Oil. These are services that no sane person wants. But because they are “public”, they are permitted to force you at gunpoint to buy their service, even if you want nothing in the world more than to be free of it. That makes it, not a Protective Service, but a Protection Racket. They promise to protect you if you buy their service. They promise to harm you themselves if you don’t buy their service. That’s exactly what the mafia does. Except that the Mafia doesn’t have little nannies who follow you around after they extort you telling you what to do. They are not that presumptuous.
Ferguson, MO, for example, might want to get the New Black Panthers or the Huey Newton Gun Club to patrol their streets, instead of their current racist, violent, murderous police force. It would probably be much safer to be black in Ferguson if they did so.
City Council recap. 3 hot issues laid to rest. More on the bio fuel generator • Local political group uses auditory conditioning in their radio ad • Concord man shot over a piece of fabric • http://CitizenCain.org
This Summer, the board of the Shire Free Church Monadnock, which owns the property at River and Leverett opted to end the activist experiment and we parted ways with Rich Paul, converting the property back into a home for rent. It quickly filled up with liberty-friendly New Hampshire natives. Plus liberty-minded folks now occupy another house on the street as the Free Streets Project has officially begun in Keene and Manchester.
While some have mourned the loss of the historic center for Keene activism, ultimately the movement in Keene is now more diverse, with even more regular real-life activist meetups than has ever happened in Keene:
Social Sundays – The longest running social gathering of liberty-minded folks in New Hampshire continues at 6pm each Sunday at Local Burger (they accept bitcoin!)
Taco Tuesdays – This super-popular gathering was created in Spring of 2016 and happens each Tuesday at Mi Jalisco at 7pm.
Bacon Breakfast Buffet – Early risers meet up at Keene State College’s Zorn Dining Commons at 8:30am every Wednesday when school is in session.
The Keene Bitcoin Network “Floating Meetup” Visits Lindy’s Diner
Keene Bitcoin Network – Twice monthly real-life meetups happen on the first Sunday of every month before Social Sundays and also on the 21st of each month at 3pm at a new location each month.
For a handy calendar listing many of the public meetups we have each month, check out the Keene Activist Calendar here.
In addition to the regular meetups, Keene activists are pushing forward in the area of online organization. While many libertarians are stuck on Facebook and are suffering from it, Keene activists have been successfully using Telegram and two-way radios for years for instant communications, plus we’re now experimenting with Trello for project organization. (more…)
Choosing the lesser of evils, whether in voting or in philosophical decision making, is a point of contention. Do you stick to your principles? Or do you stray from them for the sake of persuasion?
There is no right or wrong answer. But research shows that we must compromise on our own ideas if we want to convince people of our ideas. It’s a counter-intuitive way of thinking, but once you start to understand it, it becomes natural.
