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Read Annalisa Quinn of the Boston Globe’s article about her week at the 20th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival. This article will appear in this Sunday’s Boston Globe magazine.
Whenever you see drama in the community, may I remind you:
1. Freedom is, in the immortal words of Ron Paul, “messy”.
2. The enemies of liberty will always lie and call you names. Start growing a thick skin because it is the nature of the game in politics and public life.
3. This too shall pass. Whatever “this” is at any given moment…
In THIS CASE, it was the Concord Police Department, a decade ago, calling Free Staters “domestic terrorists” and a “daily threat” in a federal grant application for a BEARCAT (a po-po “tank”).
We fought this, garnered 1,500 anti-tank petition signatures, testified at Concord City Hall for 6 hours, delayed the vote for a month, and then they–of course–voted to get it anyway.
If you’ve ever seen the MORE MAYBERRY LESS FALLUJAH sign, it’s from this incident.
We originally learned about the grant from the ACLU-NH, who were as outraged as we were. ACLU National had been working on a country-wide “police militarization” project when they uncovered the language… because of my personal relationships with people at ACLU-NH, it was passed on to me.
The BEARCAT story was covered in various MSM outlets, incl. Reason, VICE & Mother Jones.
The Concord police chief Duvall did sorta apologize, and, ahem, was forced into retirement as a result.
It was a PR battle we were winning, with a left/right coalition developing and working together, sympathetic coverage, townsfolk coming out with us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against police militarization until that dumb-fuck Crying Nazi wrote a blog saying it was now probably a good time to start killing school teachers & postmen.
Yeah.
Sometimes you have to wonder.
This lead to the banning of Cantwell (truth in advertising: it’s right there in his name), the first person to be made persona non grata by the FSP board.
Over the years, I have struggled whenever big, unpopular decisions like this need to be made, and sometimes I’ve regretted the outcomes, but not once with Chris Cantwell, who went on to tiki-torches at Charlottesville and federal prison after that. I believe he is now out and hope he steers tf clear of New Hampshire.
I would also caution people regarding the addictive nature of social media and “hits” from online audiences. Writers and thinkers sometimes escalate their messaging over time in a desperate attempt to try to garner ever-more attention. Like chasing any other addictive substance, this is a recipe for disaster, resulting in either finding yourself in some real bad company or with increasingly un-libertarian positions and un-libertarian “culture war” messaging.
As a free speech absolutist, it is a constant challenge to find the right balance: even if you are free to say what you want, no one has to listen to you or stay your friend. If you find yourself saying increasingly unpleasant things for attention… you might want to take a moment and reflect on whether you are starting to suffer from The Cantwell Effect. You can probably do better!
What’s the point of sharing all this?
It’s good to know our history, which we haven’t always done the best job of capturing. I have a lot of stories in my head that I need to start getting down. And, while everything feels so intense IN THE MOMENT, this should serve as a reminder that whatever THE HUUUUGEST PROBLEM RIGHT NOW is, is often just one more fleeting piece of the great puzzle of Life.
Building a voluntary community based on consent isn’t a picnic, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Live free and thrive!
Yesterday, I had the honor of celebrating the life of my beautiful friend, White Marriott, with many other friends in the Porcupine community. I have to say, ending this memorial with a balloon sword fight, as White had requested, may have to become a ritual in the Free State community. Great way to bring joy and smiles during hard times… exactly White’s life mission! Love you, Balloon Man! R.I.P.
Whoa–That time CNN came to PorcFest (back in 2015 long before the current NBC BOSTON docu-series). Sharing this makes me… uncomfortable?!?
1. This is close to Peak Sick for me. Not only am I overweight but that rasp in my voice was from allergies that I now have under control through lifestyle changes. Did YOU know antihistamines suppress serotonin uptake? Neither did I…
2. Of course CNN found the one guy with a Confederate flag to include. I remember that dude bc the PF producers that year had to ask him not to park his ATV & flag in the middle of our group photo. Never saw him again.
3. Seems I have a long record of calling us “weirdos.” Perhaps, like me, y’all can adopt this into your lexicon to help explain away things you don’t personally agree with but understand other ppl might choose to partake in.
As individualist, you don’t have to agree with everything other ppl are doing. It’s a permanent built-in TEACHABLE MOMENT to explain INDIVIDUALISM.
4. The current dramas have all happened before in some way, shape, or form, and the degeneracy at PF has always been WILDLY overstated.
Always has, always will be.
If you’re a complainer, ask yourself about the tradeoff between looking away or going somewhere else on a massive campground when something is not to your liking vs. complaining publicly online and creating a permanent, searchable record to be trotted out to besmirch us.
Also, may I suggest if you complain:
A. Did you volunteer yourself?
B. Did you first THANK THE ORGANIZERS & VOLUNTEERS for the 99% that WAS amazing or just hone in and complain & make demands about the one small part that wasn’t to your liking?
5. Every time you ask for a new rule at PF, you are creating a strain on the organizers and on-site staff.
It’s called an APPEAL TO AUTHORITY and we prefer YOU sort your own shit out. We DO expect ppl to stick to their words & agreements too, tho, so if you make representations to PF staff STICK TO THEM.
6. I’m struck by how in this clip, even “friendly” politicians didn’t want to attend PF, and yet, now, eight years later, we had A SLATE OF REAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES bending the knee bc they KNOW they NEED Free Staters to do well in NH’s First in the Nation. We have *just* enough sway to be a spoiler or tipper. This is actual evidence of our actual success on the ground in NH. Embrace it. We are going to win in the long run!
7. Life will never be perfect. There are not enough rules to be written at PF to satisfy each of the thousands of attendees personal preferences.
The ethos of “live & let live” and “don’t hurt ppl & don’t take their stuff” should be able to carry a high-trust event…
In the end, the goal of PF is to showcase all the weird & wonderful things we ARE accomplishing, showcase the growing community, attract new attendees we can persuade to move, and to leverage legacy media coverage to help more ppl learn about the Free State Project and the better future we are building in NH.
Ultimately, we want more great people like YOU to join us!
Live free or die!
Live free and thrive!
How do you get a politician to answer your questions? You invite them to your party… which is what I did! Watch the video to see history in the making!
The NH Democrats made a stupid, unforced error today, just another disaster in a long line of choices with regard to the Free State movement. Chairman Chuckley told RFK he shouldn’t attend PorcFest… and RFK rightly told Ray-Ray to go pound sand. It’s almost like the Democrats main propagandists are so out of touch with reality (which does actually exist, no matter how much you scream PERCEPTION) they don’t realize that PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE TRUTH FOR THEMSELVES… Watch this to see the “dark dystopia” we are building…
Today, @ChairmanBuckley called on @RobertKennedyJr to cancel his upcoming appearance at a libertarian event run by Free State extremists.
— NH Democratic Party (@NHDems) June 16, 2023
Read the full letter here: https://t.co/D4fRMdiQUe #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/oZYpU8HEpe
Catch my hilarious and poignant opening speech at Liberty Forum 2023, where you will find answers to questions like, did Carla accidentally murder the world’s funniest libertarian writer, and can you fight City Hall?
Granite Staters! Guess what’s coming up this weekend? The “Made in NH” Expo at the DoubleTree downtown. Tix are only $10 & it’s a really fun experience & a great way to meet fellow business people hustling their passions in the @FreeStateNH! Recommend https://t.co/gaglySDHib
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) April 11, 2023
See more details HERE. Read about my experience in 2019: Made in NH Expo Deliver the Goods.
Last night, about 50 libertarian ladies gathered at Chunky’s in Manchester for a fun night out at the showing of the mockumentary NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT, chosen because it is one of the organizer’s pre-teen son’s “favorite movie”.
Here are some pics from the evening, which included 2 raffle baskets. Funds raised will be used to promote more women’s events at this year’s 20th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, aka PorcFest. Get YOUR tix today because we will sell out!
