I never quite understood the logic of the Free State Project. An attempt to take over the entire state is just way, way to ambitious. The best way to elicit change is to start at the smallest unit, the individual, and work up from there. What the FSP really should have done was to try to all move into one small city, solidify their presence there, and work their way out. The way they have it today, there are plenty of free staters scattered all throughout NH. Wouldn’t it have been better if they were all located in close proximity to each other, ready to mobilize and educate their neighbors? Wouldn’t it have been more successful if it was a Free City Project?
Well, that got me thinking. What is to stop any of us from starting our own Free City Project? The question of what city to choose would seem to be pretty obvious to me as well: Auburn. The city itself has a small population, 56,000. It’s a beautiful place to move and raise a family. The Mises Institute and Auburn University are located there. Housing prices don’t seem to be too absurd. It would be a great city for us lovers of liberty to congregate, build synergy, and promote our ideas.
The project wouldn’t be exclusively political, since I know many of us here are AnCaps (myself included). A presence there could be used to educate the rest of the Auburn population about these ideas. We could, in effect, turn the city into a stronghold for the dissemination of libertarian and Austrian ideas. We could create a New Vienna in the heart of Alabama.
I’ve been thinking about moving to Auburn for a while, simply because it seems like a really beautiful, quiet place, away from the major cities that are going to be chaotic when TSHTF in the near future. I would be more willing move there if I knew that others would join me in the migration. So, what does everyone think? Is a Free City Project a good idea? Let me hear your thoughts.
I assume the people who organized the FSP had their own ideas as to the scale of the project. The biggest city in NH is about 100,000 people, and has many small towns and rural areas. I guess they just wanted to make a presence at the state level. The population of NH is at about 1.3 million, so if they get the 10,000 people they’re aiming for, it’ll make a difference.
Imagine if instead of a state, people were restricted to a city? There might be a lot less participation because people might not like a city.
These are just some thoughts. Haven’t been to Auburn yet, but I’d like to go some day.
I just think, in light of some Hoppean ideas on secession, that the city will become the dominant political entity after Statism destroys itself. We might as well pre-empt (and quite possibly instigate) that revolution with a free city of our own.
That is like saying California is a bastion of farmers. Yes, but Los Angeles is not the same as California. I doubt the farmers ever go to Los Angeles, and vice versa.
It would be hypocritical of me to say anything on this, as I myself can clearly not move in. but generally, its the best idea I’ve heard so far in here, with one change: chose a city in NH, as moving within cities of one state is easier that moving to another state entirely. And than again choosing Auburn would probably zero the gains made by the FSP until now. Who would come with credibility as such a low point? But I’m a foreigner: take this with a cup of salt.
Hey Joseph, where did Grace Kelly go? That was a nice illusion to see[:)]
Not very many decades ago, people thought that multinational corporations would become political entities. They have remained what they have always been, organizations for economic production.
There would be no point for you to abandon all your economic support networks and start over in some other place just so you can try to create a concentration of force to oppose the state. You will be able to create a much more powerful concentration of force by leveraging your economic network and joining up with people who are already close to you.
Well, my idea is that City secession and Business are the only realistic ways in which one can really help anarchism. It’s just a matter of personal choice on which one will work. I myself go strongly for the business approach.
Well, to be honest, my initial thoughts as to why specifically Auburn is because of the Mises Institute. It would be great to develop a community around it, expand it, etc. But if we were to choose a city in NH instead, there’s nothing to stop us from opening up a Rothbard Institute there.
As for Grace Kelly, well, she might be back someday, pending I find a picture of her wearing bow tie [;)]
I think he is saying that secession (at the level of the city) and private enterprise are the best means on the road towards anarchism. I agree. Also, imagine the impact that even one successful city secession could have on a population. Even if the state reasserts its dominance, it would create a lot of discussion, especially if we do it in a peaceful way and advertise our methods as such. The aggression of the state would become manifest in the minds of the masses.
And why that would make them different from any other organization currently existing for production (economic is redundant I think) is beyond me. Churches any unions when they can do the same things that corporations can, They have not however, replaced the state Robo-Cop style, which is the point he was making..
Really, BP, it seems like you only drive by post and try to avoid extended discussion.
You’re not getting my point. The city is not a political organization. You cannot secede from it as it does not have any power over you. If you try to defy the city, it will not be the city that comes after you, it will be the state that comes after you and that you will have to fight.
Any secession is from the state. There is no way around it.
