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Free State Project finds home
By Jon Gibbons
Collegian Freelancer
After two years
of deliberation, the Free State Project has set its sight on
New Hampshire.
Founded in 2001, the FSP is a
group of 4,960 people-almost one-fourth of its desired total-dedicated
to reversing what they see as a trend towards interventionist
government.
According to a FSP press release,
their "goal is to concentrate 20,000 liberty-oriented voters
in one state. There, it is hoped, they will work to enhance
and extend its existing culture of liberty."
New Hampshire, chosen via mail-in
ballot, won with a 10 percent margin as first choice for the
group.
According to the same press release,
"the membership election…allowed voters to rank all
states and selected the state that received a higher ranking
than each other state from a majority of voters. The runner-up
state was Wyoming, which defeated every other state but fell
to New Hampshire by the decisive margin of 55 percent to 45
percent."
New Hampshire defeated Wyoming
and the eight other states under consideration: Montana, Delaware,
Vermont, Maine, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alaska.
The group shares ideals with political
libertarians and has captured the attention of many Hillsdale
students whose political ideals follow a more laissez-faire
approach.
"They reminded me of what
I liked about [Ayn Rand's] Atlas Shrugged, they keep saying,
'We're fed up with the system and [now] were going to put our
money where our mouth is and change the system,'" junior
Mary Leet said.
The project also drew the attention
of the Hillsdale College Liberals, a classical liberal organization
on campus.
"I personally think it's
an interesting idea, but I'm unsure whether or not it will actually
work," said junior Dan Greene, president of the College
Liberals.
Junior Ben Kuipers signed up with
the project but opted out after New Hampshire was chosen.
Kuipers said he believed New Hampshire
would be an ineffective location because of its close proximity
to "socialist" New England and high population, and
he didn't think the central government would accept the project's
proposed radical changes. Kuipers
said he thought Wyoming would be a better choice.
"It is far more difficult
to relocate to Wyoming than New Hampshire, something which apparently
worked against the western faction of the FSP," he said.
"However, I believe that Wyoming is the better choice for
that reason. The FSP was designed to be a long-term project,
and only in a state with relatively low immigration can one
expect it to have genuine success."
Sophomore Dave Frank signed up
with the program during his senior year of high school, and
intends to go through with the move to New Hampshire.
"You have to have a lot of
confidence in the organization, it seems important, something
to be a part of," Frank said. "A
lot of people are always saying, 'How do you know it's going
to happen?' but it seems like it's running pretty seriously."
Frank said he did not understand
people's reasons for opting out of the project.
"I don't understand why everyone
hates New Hampshire," he said. "I've never been there,
but I have an affinity for the East Coast and I wouldn't have
a problem with any of the 50 states. It seems to make sense,
[New Hampshire's] motto is 'Live Free or Die.' It seems like
a state where such a movement could actually work."
Vice President of the FSP, Elizabeth
Mckinstry, said the reasons for the state's election were fairly
clear.
"It's not difficult to see
the reasons for New Hampshire's victory," she said, "The
state boasts the lowest state and local tax burden in the continental
U.S., the leanest state government in the country in terms of
government spending and employment, a citizen legislature, a
healthy job market, and perhaps most important, local support
for our movement."
While the movement isn't ready
to plan the mass move just yet, Frank said he isn't worried
about missing his opportunity.
"There's 5,000 [participants]
and there's supposed to be 20,000, so it's not going to happen
for a while," Frank said. "It's probably not going
to happen, but if it does I want to be a part of it."
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