Fleeing California for New Hampshire's relative liberty (anyone from NH skeptical?)

[ilaughatrightwingers]

Run time: 05:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5aYymQjqsw   Posted on YouTube: October 19, 2010 By YouTube Member: RidleyReport Views on YouTube: 587   Posted on DU: October 21, 2010 By DU Member: ilaughatrightwingers Views on DU: 1227

 
This right-wing libertarian moved to New Hampshire as part of the "free state project" from California. I thought us native New Hampshirites could discuss this video.

[Radical Activist]

1. They've been promoting moving to NH for a few years.

I forget what the other finalists were when they decided on which state to invade. It's scary to think they could influence future Presidential primaries. If too many of them actually move I don't know how anyone could justify letting New Hampshire be the first primary state.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

7. Other states

They also considered Idaho, Wyoming (which was almost the state they chose), North and South Dakota, Delaware, Alaska (?), and some others. They chose NH because it's on the east coast so the people moving from New York and Florida wouldn't have to move very far, even though NH didn't match all their criteria.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

10. Also, the FSP is going to fail

The whole right-wing libertarian movement in NH is going to fail, because there's no way they can sustain it. Having grown up in NH I can say that the state isn't necessarily the no man's land it was 17 years ago when we first moved there. Now, everywhere south of Concord-Dover is a giant suburb of Boston and there's lower-income immigrant communities who are dependent on government welfare to make up for the low wages they're paid at work. Since NH is facing all these "statists" who are voting for "big government", how does the FSP expect to preserve their low-government paradise exactly?

[ixion]

2. libertarians and progressives have many common goals, and should really try

and learn to work together and respect each other for their differences.

Of course, respecting each other for our differences would be something that would help everyone, not just these groups.

In any case, I'd like to see more cooperation between them. Thanks for posting.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

11. Easier said than done

These people are nutjobs. They want to take all the authority the government has and give it to private companies.

For example, take a look at this:

http://freekeene.com/2010/09/17/stopping-free-keene-activism-in-central-square/

Not cool in my book.

[berni_mccoy]

3. LOL, she lost all credibility by going after the NH State Liquor Stores

Everyone in NH knows the State Liquor Stores are one of the best assets of the state. The liquor is cheap, easy to get (even open on Sundays) and the profits go to the state, alleviating a tax burden on the people.

[dotymed]

4. I hope

she doesn't use the mail, the Fire Dept., the Public Library..etc..those are hallmarks of a "nanny state." Even the "one cop" (Hank?) that everyone knows, taxes pay for his job....get real. Anti-war, I can understand. Anti-street lights? Come on.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

8. She's delusional

It should also be said that two of the biggest companies in NH are (regrettably) Raytheon and BAE, both of which are funded by GOVERNMENT subsidies. I know this because I grew up in the Merrimack Valley region of NH and many people from my high school are (sadly) working for those companies.

[handmade34]

5. such ignorance!

[ilaughatrightwingers]

12. Yep

Pretty sad.

[gibby2433]

6. She obviously rents?

Sure, we residents of New Hampshire pay no income or sales tax, but we do pay taxes! If you own a home here you know property taxes in NH are VERY high (compared to say, Maine). I don't support the Libertarian agenda at all. They seem to me like just extremely far-right Republicans; wanting only to fend for themselves, and any "government" involvement is akin to a "nanny" state. Yes, New Hampshire is a great place to live, and we do feel like we're neither a red state nor blue state but a truly "independent" state, but we do pay taxes, and we do have a functioning government. We pay property taxes and trash pick-up is not entirely free (you have to purchase special bags or the trash guys won't take it), and we have libraries and police and fire departments and public schools that we pay for with our taxes. And that's the way I want it!

[ilaughatrightwingers]

9. Property tax is the reason for the "2 acres" requirement...

.... that she brings up in the video. Property taxes are pretty much the only way NH makes any money whatsoever.

Most of what she says (as a youtuber pointed out on the video comments) are simply a compare and contrast between a big California city (LA perhaps?) and rural NH. Oh sure, NH has cities like Nashua and Manchester and California has rural areas where less than 1,000 people live and there's only one cop. If I was living in Nashua (the Bronx of NH) and I moved to somewhere out in the middle of the Central Valley, I'd probably say California is more "free" than NH.

[stuckinarut]

13. I live in NH...these people are horrible.

I live in Keene, NH where the "Free Keene" movement has taken root. These people goat the police into arresting them and then cry abuse and blame the cops for enforcing what they consider to be "immoral laws". They pay their taxes in 1$ then empty their bus' sewage straight into the sewer (very illegal). Basically they have no regard for society, and live in the libertarian dream world where, left to their own devices, people will make the right decisions when it comes to reality b/c of the market. When we all know that people in the market make decisions based on profit incentive. They have made me want to leave my native state more than anything.

[activa8tr]

14. I used to live in Keene, I know where you got your name from then...

Actually, Keene was one of the more liberal towns in NH, up until these religious fanatics of "Free Keene" came to town.


I would suggest Portsmouth, if you need to stay in NH and can commute to work from there...(can't get to Keene from Portsmouth, no roads between those two places without going through Manchester or Massachusetts, I know), or move to Vermont, not a far commute, and live in "Socialist" Brattleboro, very nice change.

[stuckinarut]

17. I'm from Dover...

I'm from the seacoast originally, and got stuck here after graduating from the College. (You were right about that aspect of my name haha) Keene is definitley a black hole. I also like to see it as a representation of where I see the US right now as it makes that rough (but necessary) transition from raw capitalism to the more acceptable forms of mixed economy.

Me and my GF do plan on moving to Brattleboro in a few months. The thought of having socialist representation is to great to turn down. And you can always go shop in NH to avoid taxes....

[ilaughatrightwingers]

20. Good idea

I'd be getting out of NH too as fast as possible. Of course, most "free staters" seem to have huge delusions of grandeur.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

15. I feel you

I grew up in the Merrimack Valley area, near the Mass border. Not many "free staters" in that area, but I hear what goes on in Keene and I think it's ridiculous.

I'm in contact with some of these people via blogs and facebook since I adhere to a handful of their ideas. I ask them why they insist on pulling these stunts where they DELIBERATELY get arrested, and then videotape their arrests to show how "evil" the Keene police are. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of police, but their antics are not the way to deal with them. I am a member of a few anarchist and marxist collectives and despite our hatred of the State we would NEVER do what they're doing as a means of protest. Now, here's what the Free Keeniacs answer me with: they claim the more arrests that take place in Keene, the more the government will loose money, and upon loosing money they will want to change the laws. This notion is so far-fetched I don't know where to begin. If anything, the town government will keep raising taxes if more and more people are getting arrested before they think about changing the law.

I hate all the regulations too, but switching them over to capitalist market forces isn't going to work.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

16. For example...

.... They've been arrested enough so much so that their blog announces a "lack of arrests" during the Pumpkin Festival:

http://freekeene.com/2010/10/24/the-keene-equinox-reports-on-the-absence-of-activist-arrests-at-pumpkin-fest/

[stuckinarut]

18. I know a bunch of them too...

I used to be really good friends with Toby on the "Free minds TV" show...

These people are good enough people, and I do believe somewhere deep down they are well-intentioned. But they really picked a bad state to do this in. You know just like I do that we native NH people are hard to pin down. We are reluctant to share views w/people, and are often offended when people do it in this type of manner. I am the most liberal of liberal...I define as a Democratic Socialist, but I am very conservative when it comes to behavior in public etc. (PDA, kissing, holding hands etc.)as I think many people from the Puritanical states are. So I think they undermine any legitimacy their cause may hold by protesting in the manner they do. If anything it alienates the people who might agree with them ideologically, but do not approve of their brash methods/behavior.

I'm no Statist either, but I do have a respect for authority, especially that which is democratically elected/appointed.

I agree with them on the War on Drugs, the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

But they lose me because of their unadulterated infantile free-market fantasies and frankly their position on public education which is offensive to the necessitous nature for an informed public to be able to participate in their government.

[ilaughatrightwingers]

19. It's their tactics that bother me

Even though (like I said) the part of NH where I'm from is nowhere near Keene, I know that these groups are spreading throughout the region and I would hate to see them in NH. I hate the State and I do believe people can rule themselves. But the way I want to achieve that kind of society is nowhere near the way Free Keeniacs or Free Staters want to!

For one thing, they are not anarchists in the least bit. They just want to transfer all the authority the government/state has to individual private companies in a capitalist market. That's not anarchism at all. And running down the street naked whilst high on pot isn't exactly going to accomplish much. I agree that they are deliberately trying to get themselves arrested and it's not going to do anything. At this point they're just making dicks of themselves.