Carla Gericke

In this video, Carla Gericke testifies in support of HB 1130 to create a study commission to explore whether NH should secede from the Union. Supporters and opponents of independence, rightfully, have questions! Let’s get the conversation started!

HB 1130: STUDY COMMISSION

Honorable Chair and Committee Members, 

Thank you for your time today. My name is Carla Gericke. I am the chairwoman and president emeritus of the Free State Project, a movement that is concentrating tens of thousands of liberty lovers in the state of New Hampshire. I am a naturalized citizen, originally from South Africa, and an author, activist, and attorney. 

I was the Republican nominee for NH Senate in District 20, and received 46% of the vote in 2020, and in 2022 I ran for NH state house in Ward 11 in Manchester, and lost by about 200 votes.  I am a proud Granite Stater because more than 15 years ago, I consciously picked NH as my forever home because of the “Live Free or Die” ethos of our great state.

I am here to testify IN SUPPORT OF HB1130. 

Last year, pro-independence supporters caught a lot of flack… we heard your feedback and drafted HB1130 in order to try to address concerns expressed by the legislature.

It is fair to say, we don’t have all the answers yet. But we should start having the conversations. It’s worth letting our imaginations soar… 

Let’s say,  

As an independent nation state, NH will be prosperous and peaceful, along the lines of small, successful countries like Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, or Switzerland. We would have four times the size of Iceland’s population. We would easily be able to work with our neighbors to trade, much like the countries do in the Schengen Area in Europe. Many American retirees already receive their social security pensions in foreign countries like Mexico. 

A study committee would create a SAFE SPACE to explore the ideas of NH sovereignty. Could we run on nuclear and export energy? Could we have competing currencies? Could we become the crypto capitol of the world? Could we be the Switzerland of the North? The only thing stopping us from becoming even more awesome is the federal government destroying our wealth.

This study committee would be a good compromise between the two positions. I know you all want the idea of peaceful secession to go away, but here’s the reality. It isn’t going to, and the urgency is going to become more and more pronounced. 

Why? Because $40 TRILLION DOLLARS in debt is NOT sustainable. The federal government’s hamfisted response to Covid showed us all, they have NO RESPECT for you as an individual or as an American, and definitely not as a Granite Stater–to them, we are the equivalent of District 12 in the Hunger Games. They claimed they owned your body and could force you to do things against your will.

I say NO. I say reclaim YOUR RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE, and support this bill so that we are not caught flatfooted or rushing around in a mad panic when the time comes. 

Let us PLAN. Let us have hard discussions now. Let us start to grapple with the very real risks for what a future yoked to the federal government looks like: more harm, more poverty, more decline in our standards of living. 

We can do better. 

We demand better. 

We know there are better options. 

It starts with an appetite for change. 

It starts here today. 

It starts with you.

It starts with the bravery to do the right thing for Granite Staters and start the conversation. I implore you to support HB 1130. My great-grandmother was imprisoned in a British concentration camp during the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, where 25% of Boer women and children died. She always talked about the 5 Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance. Let’s prepare properly for our futures together, please.  

I’d be happy to answer any questions.