We chat about the seemingly unlimited hypocrisy of the people who constantly call us names, PorcFest, school choice, and more!
The 18th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival ended yesterday, but lament not, tickets are already on sale for 2022. Get yours TODAY! Why come to PorcFest? Because if you’ve ever wondered what the Free State Project is about, there’s no better way to get a flavor of our growing and thriving community than spending a week camping with us in the woods.
Over the years, PorcFest has often been described by attendees as “a gateway drug for the liberty curious.” PorcFest draws people who sense something is unbalanced in our world and are seeking answers–whether it is to the violence we see, the pain and suffering caused by the state in the name of control, the destruction of our purchasing power through inflation and unsustainable monetary policy, or, well, frankly, whatever the f*ck 2020 was–PorcFest is the place where free-thinkers come to share their visions for a better world.
After almost two decades, we know that mingling our community’s “porc power” with the “liberty curious” turns attendees into movers. We also know the more like-minded, peaceful people we can gather together in New Hampshire, the stronger our chances of building the “prosperity-for-all” future we seek.
We are on a mission to create a peaceful free state based on voluntary human interaction and consent.
This year, we sold more than 2,500 tickets. We had scores of intellectuals and academics speaking about a myriad of socio-economic topics, including feminist writer Naomi Wolf (read THIS) and antiwar spokesman Scott Horton. For the first time, both the Anthem Film Festival, and Gene Epstein’s SOHO Forum were present. We were also delighted to welcome back some of our favorites, like economist David Friedman, podcaster Tom Woods, writer Jeffrey Tucker, and comedian Dave Smith.
PorcFest XVIII had 15 main stage sponsors and 10 facilities sponsors. About 500 decentralized events were hosted by smaller hubs, villages, and individuals across the campground. Topics ranged from knitting and knives, to body positivity and health freedom, to tiny homes, off-the-grid living and how to raise chickens, to school choice and unschooling, to teaching newbies gun safety and how to shoot.
Hundreds of free-range children spent the week playing together. Some sold printed programs, knickknacks, and walked dogs for cash. Drones flew over drum circles. A Thriller flash mob appeared on the field before the Bardo Pork roast on Saturday, which took place opposite a Shrimp Boil. [Aside: I had incredible #freedomnomnom noshes all week long, including authentic bánh mì sandwiches and phở. I’ll do an entire foodie post later!]
PorcFest epitomizes the best of the Free State movement: individualism, team work, selling and buying things, crypto and other alternatives to the coercion of the state, sharing ideas, agreeing, disagreeing, growing, thriving, teaching and learning, all always, always PEACEFUL.
Reporters often ask me, “Explain who Free Staters are,” and, after I have a good belly laugh, I explain that as individuals, we are all different, but if there’s one thing you might say unites us, it’s the ethical stance of the non-aggression principle. As one of PorcFest’s sponsors, Free the People’s t-shirt says: “Don’t hurt ppl; don’t take their stuff.” Easy enough!
I’ve been doing this “Liberty lives in New Hampshire” thing for a good long time now. I attended my first PorcFest in 2005, and moved to New Hampshire in 2008. I organized PorcFest in 2009 and 2010, doubling attendance. In 2020, I proceeded with PorcFest XVII as a First and Second Amendment protected assembly, with no negative outcomes.
This year feels different, like we’ve arrived. PorcFest XVIII’s Chef de Village, Dennis Pratt, somehow managed to take the picture I’ve had in my head for years and years and made it appear before my eyes. I am in awe of what Dennis accomplished.
By engaging and energizing hundreds of others to bring their best and brightest, to bring their ideas and passions, to bring their swagger and game, i.e. by decentralizing and trusting one another, we had the biggest and best PorcFest yet!
A HUGE, SPECIAL THANK YOU to Dennis Pratt and the entire volunteer team, especially the core heavy lifters, Chris Lopez, Constance Spencer, Shawn Grissom, Pete E, Scott S, Frans Honer, Katie, Aureus H, Zoe Noctum, Anie, Stephen Nass (and their relevant partners!), and all the other amazeballs, incredible, awesomesauce Free Staters who worked hard to make PorcFest a smashing success!
As totalitarianism grows around us, so too does interest in the opposite: self-respect and human dignity through self-ownership. As I jokingly said throughout PorcFest XVIII: “2020 was good for those of us in the freedom business!” The more the boot of the state stomps down, the stronger our movement grows.
Remember: There is safety in numbers.
Think of the Free State movement as creating a “libertarian safe space” where we can choose to “Live Free and Thrive!” Surely we too are allowed to exist somewhere? In many ways, Free Staters are refugees, seeking safe harbor from the exploitation of a corrupt, immoral, unrestricted, and unaccountable federal government.
We seek one place to exist, and we come in peace to New Hampshire in order to preserve and expand the liberties we find here.
If YOU are liberty curious, I encourage you to follow the Free State Project, PorcFest, and me personally (Twitter; Facebook; Insta; MeWe; YouTube–where I host a weekly political show and have a cooking show called #Freedomnomnom). The FSP will be hosting more events as we grow, so stay tuned for more info, but in the meantime, buy your PorcFest XIX tickets TODAY for June 20-26, 2022.
I will be writing more pieces about PorcFest in the coming days, and encourage you to seek more information online (see #porcfest on social media). I will update here on The Art of Independence with news pieces and other speakers media and social media posts as I gather them.
Thank you to everyone who attended, love ya, and see YOU next year, if not before! My heart is full.
The more things change the more they stay the same!?! PorcFest is happening next week in the beautiful White Mountains of the Free State of New Hampshire.
We’re SOLD OUT, and expecting more than 2,500 people, of which 2/3 are from out of state. That’s a LOT of potential movers, people seeking a better life, which is what living in liberty in NH offers!
As the rest of the world moves towards more top-down control and totalitarianism, I encourage all peaceful liberty lovers who believe in private property and self-ownership to join us!
I am doing several talks at PorcFest, including “Make America States Again”; my future vision; police accountability; and the how and why of the Free State Project. I am looking forward to talks by speakers like Naomi Wolf, Tom Woods, Jeffrey Tucker, Gene Epstein, Stephen Kinsella, Scott Horton, and more!
On Saturday at 6PM, we are again hosting SOAPBOX IDOL, which is YOUR opportunity to do a 3-minute rant about whatever you are most passionate about. Don’t miss the auditions 11A most days in the Upper Picnic Tent.
If you haven’t looked at the schedule yet, it’s bananas! On top of the main field, there are HUNDREDS of programs, from knitting to newbie shoots, being offered by individuals. Be sure to walk around the campground and enjoy each others’ company. We are all here to learn and share!
A reminder, PorcFest is about personal responsibility, i.e. how YOU are behaving and showing up in the world. We want YOU to have the time of your life, while also being considerate of others. Attendees run the gamut from singles to great-grandparents, with a lot of families with young ‘uns in-between. Quiet time is 11PM. Tomorrow is another day; pace yourself. 
Take photos, record talks, and use this PUBLIC link to upload pics: https://dropevent.com/PorcFest. Live tweet, and help us create buzz and capture memories. Use #PorcFest and #LiveFreeAndThrive. I can’t wait to meet YOU.
Come say “hi.” Plan to buy my book, The Ecstatic Pessimist for $20 and/or support my Carla Gericke for New Hampshire efforts. Liberty lives in New Hampshire! Come join the fun!
(PS: I’m pretty sure the whip was a prop. The gun and crown are real. 
)
Carla Gericke joins the show once again to talk all about the latest goings-on in the Free State of New Hampshire! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW!
She previews this year’s PorcFest, planned to be the biggest one yet, coronavirus be damned…get your tickets now! She also discusses a couple of serious topics, namely the targeting of two separate, New Hampshire-based cryptocurrency projects by the government: the longtime owners of some BTM machines who have been targeted by the ATF & FBI for alleged money laundering & wire fraud, and the SEC’s targeting of LBRY and its video streaming service Odyssey that could destroy the service. Plus, Carla chats with Tatiana about police misconduct, COVID restrictions, the vaccine passport, and her new book The Ecstatic Pessimist!
About the Guest
Carla Gericke (JD, MFA) is an advocate of liberty specializing in localized voluntarism, self-determination, and how responsible human action can lead to peace and prosperity. She is president emeritus of the Free State Project, and lives in New Hampshire with thousands of fellow freedom fighters. In 2014, Carla won a landmark court case affirming the 1st Amendment right to film police encounters. She has appeared on WMUR, CNN, and Fox News, been featured in GQ and Playboy, been quoted in The Economist, and has discussed libertarianism on the BBC. She has visited more than 40 countries, hiked to the base camp of the 10th highest mountain in the world, lost a shoe in a taxi more than once, had her passport stolen in Goa, got kidnapped in Vietnam, and has noshed on more “mystery meat” street food than she cares to admit. Carla once spent an entire summer while working as in-house counsel at Logitech eating tuna fish sandwiches with Doug Engelbart (the Mother Of All Demos dude), she worked on Apple’s acquisition of Steve Job’s NeXT, and bought her first Bitcoin for $6. Carla co-hosts the Told You So podcast, and co-chairs Manch Talk TV (catch episodes on Odysee). She serves on several non-profit boards, follows a Keto lifestyle (read about her transformation), practices yoga and shooting, and plays a mean game of Scrabble. Carla enjoys cooking, gardening, painting, reading, and watching documentary films. She has twice run for New Hampshire Senate, garnering 42% of the vote in 2018 against an 11-term incumbent, and over 44% in 2020!
Carla’s first book, The Ecstatic Pessimist, a collection of award-winning short stories, flashes, speeches, and essays is available now!
The Ecstatic Pessimist – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087XWGSFN/?tag=tatianashow-20
PorcFest – http://porcfest.com/
Free State Project – https://www.fsp.org/
Carla for NH Senate – https://www.carla4nhsenate.com/
TatianaMoroz.com – https://www.tatianamoroz.com/
Friends and Sponsors of the Show:
Proof of Love – http://proofoflovecast.com/
Crypto Media Hub – https://www.cryptomediahub.com/
Global Crypto Advisors – http://globalcryptoadvisors.com
*You have been listening to the Tatiana Show. This show may contain adult content, language, and humor and is intended for mature audiences. If that’s not you, please stop listening. Nothing you hear on The Tatiana Show is intended as financial advice, legal advice, or really, anything other than entertainment. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Oh, and if you’re hearing us on an affiliate network, the ideas and views expressed on this show, are not necessarily those of the network you are listening on, or of any sponsors or any affiliate products you may hear about on the show.
Click HERE to listen now!
If you’re a #LIBERTARIAN, you should come to PorcFest 2021 (XVIII) because we’re about to enter into Totalitarian Empire Time, and the Free State of NH is well-positioned to become that one “cool little planet where everyone stops to trade, fix their space ship, and hire a mercenary.” You know the one, that free market, low-key spot where everyone gets along because they don’t give a shit beyond *trading* for what they want!
If you’re putting a village together for PorcFest (which is sort of the mini-version of this planet) please, invite me to speak to your peeps. I have a lot to say! Buy your $50 tickets for Dave Smith, Tom Woods, Dr Naomi Wolf, Matt Kibbe and more today! Get them soon, because we’ve sold a record amount of tickets and we may have to cap attendance! You. Have. Been. Warned.
A bit about me and my skills and 25+ years of experience as an author, activist, and attorney. My mantra is #LiveFreeAndThrive! My subjects:
* Independence/secession/”Yankee Hong Kong”
* ReOpen/ReBuild NH activities/critic of lockdown and Covid response
* Free State Project: I have been actively involved since I first organized PorcFest in 2009 and am the only person to have done it x3 including in 2020 like a mofo libertarian HERO!!! 
, I was the president from 2010-2016, got Edward Snowden, triggered the move, and now serve as Chair of the board
* Police accountability/qualified immunity, including a deep understanding of NH’s secret Laurie’s List, I’m an active and outspoken critic of police militarization, incl. BEARCATS, police radio encryption, drones, and unlawful surveillance cameras (lost my 2019 lawsuit, boo!)
* First Amendment/free speech, including winning my 2014 landmark and well-cited 1st Circuit First Amendment case affirming the right to film police encounters in public, Gericke vs. Begin et al
* Right-to-Know/NH Open Government, incl. court cases like Brady, Fenniman, Keene 5, etc. Suggested getting redacted Laurie’s List printed in the newspaper for Sunshine Week 2021
* “Art as Activism,” including teaching writing skills (I have an MFA in creative writing in addition to my law degree) and my book The Ecstatic Pessimist (which everyone should buy on Amazon!!! It includes 13 essays about my NH activism and the FSP)
* Politics and running for NH Senate x3 as an unabashed Free Stater and getting 45% in 2020, see Carla Gericke for New Hampshire
* “Liberty as a Lifestyle,” so how to improve your health, diet, fasting, keto, yoga, sleep, cooking from scratch, and my own transformation including losing and keeping off 65 lbs and living alcohol-free.
Learn more: https://www.carlagericke.com/about/
Wow, a baker’s dozen (and a hat trick)! This memory popped up in my FB feed this morning, so I wanted to share. I started working with the Free State Project in 2008 as a volunteer producer of the Porcupine Freedom Festival, and started serving as President to the Board in 2011. I now serve as Chairman of the Free State Project board, and have personally organized PorcFest three times.
I have been arrested for my activism, won a landmark 1st Amendment case affirming the right to film police encounters, written op-eds and LTEs to persuade my neighbors to give liberty a chance, testified on bills, organized scores of rallies against endless wars, against police militarization, against our slow and steady slide into enslavement.
I have been called names and vilified by the progressive left, even though we share many concerns, and I have been marginalized by the obedient NHGOP establishment. Despite this, I have now run for NH Senate three times because no one else is willing to go up against the self-proclaimed “lion of the senate.” In 2020, I got 45% against this 82 year old, 12-term incumbent dude, which, considering there’s an investigation pending on a local 6% election fraud spread, means my time will come…
My time will come because I am supported by tens of thousands of liberty-loving, liberty-LIVING friends and fellow Free Staters. Tick-tock, ladies and gentlemen to a real FREE STATE, tick-tock…
Watching the documentary Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains, and Future of the Internet yesterday, I saw so many familiar faces, people I have interacted with and/or invited to speak at Free State events over the years–Roger Ver, Tone Vays, Vitalik Buterin, Andreas Andreopoulos, and more–I was reminded of how long I’ve been flirt-skirting the crypto community. A quick online search brought up a past coverage in Bitcoin Magazine, so I thought I’d share a couple.
“A Chat with The Quill Queen a.k.a. Carla Gericke,” Bitcoin Magazine (2014):
“I come from a long lineage of people who don’t take crap, and who moved time and time again for more freedom. My forefathers left Europe for more freedom in Africa. They then left the Cape in the Great Trek to get away from the British. I left South Africa for the promise of a brighter future in America. I left California for New York for more opportunity. I left NYC for New Hampshire to pursue Liberty in Our Lifetime. MY lifetime. Before signing up for the FSP, I researched other options–moving back to South Africa, going to Belize, Uruguay, Argentina, the informed know the drill–but ultimately I decided I wanted to make a stand. I wanted to held build a community of like-minded people to see if we can keep one little slice of America free. We are turning the tide, we picked the right state, and now all we need is more…”
Bitcoin At Porcfest, Part 0: Exploring Boston And New Hampshire (2013):
But what is this Free State Project that has let Bitcoin consume it to such a great extent? The underlying objective is simple. In 2001, a number of libertarian activists, disappointed with their failures to get anyone elected inside the United States’ Republican and Democrat-dominated federal government, decided to try a different strategy: find a state that is (i) already very free in both personal and economic matters, and (ii) has a low population, allowing for smaller groups to achieve significant change, and convince 20,000 people to move to that state to actively influence local politics in a libertarian direction. New Hampshire proved to be the perfect candidate; its current population is only 1.3 million, allowing 20,000 movers to have significant control over state politics simply by playing the dominant and evenly matched Republicans and Democrats against each other, and as far as freedom is concerned one must only look as far as the state’s motto: “Live Free or Die”.
The libertarian appeal of New Hampshire can be seen from the moment one drives in; on one highway leading into the state, on the border there is a sign stating that wearing seatbelts is mandatory for those under 18 – that is, unlike every other state, only for those under 18. Read more from Vitalik Buterin on his first PorcFest experience…
Buy YOUR PorcFest Tix today! Prices will go up April 1st, and it will never be cheaper!
I’m excited to announce we’ll be putting together an “FSP Museum and Welcome Center,” upstairs in the Media Room at PorcFest XVIII. I want YOU to help me make the showing SHINY!
Have a favorite photo, whether it’s a community gathering or a protest, let me know! Have a favorite memory, like that time we were banned from NASCAR, to that time we got bumped from CNN, to having Edward Snowden speak at Liberty Forum, let me know!
I’ll be setting up a Google folder where we can gather the intel, and then hopefully a few folks will volunteer to help me put together a great showing. Please and thanks.
Dear Elon,
Without wanting to come across as too “boil-your-bunny-on-a-stovetop,” I’m a big fan. We share a common story. I too am from South Africa. I too was relegated to boarding school (Pretoria Girl’s High) and finished high school at 16. I too emigrated to America after winning a Green Card in the Lottery and worked as in-house counsel at Apple and Logitech. I too am a crypto and Bitcoin enthusiast (I bought my first BTC for $6 and was the second person in the world to use the first bitcoin ATM, imagined and built right here in Manchester, the capitol of the Free State of New Hampshire). I too have big dreams (but I’m bad at math :P), and see what we are building in New Hampshire as complementary, sort of a base station of thinkers, for YOUR dreams.
Now, let’s dispel with the most confusing part first. The Free State Project in America has nothing to do with “Die Vrystaat” in South Africa. Yes, I admit, it’s kinda confusing–you should see my Google Alerts!
The Free State Project is a movement of thousands of individualists living in and moving to New Hampshire in order to build a Free State, a new, truly consent-driven society, based on voluntary exchange, free markets, and individual freedom.
We are the most successful mass-migration movement for liberty since the closing of the American frontier. We are apple-pie baking anarchists, hippies and hipsters with guns, farmers with the internet, sustainable food freedom fighters, and techies with big aspirations.
The Free State Project is a 501c3 educational nonprofit. We host a summer festival, the Porcupine Freedom Festival, AKA “PorcFest,” which attracts up to 2,000 attendees to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. The 18th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival will take place from June 21-27, 2021, and we would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if you popped in! Come land a helicopter on the field!
At PorcFest, entrepreneurs run “free trade zones” where you can buy homemade ice-cream, bacon weaves, grass fed beef, BBQ, CBD products, and other goodies. Vendors accept gold, silver, barter, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with FRNs being the least favorite mode of exchange. We encourage children to “free-range,” and to put their best entrepreneurial efforts forward. One year, a nine-year-old sold a beer to an NPR reporter. You know, it’s like that.
On the Main Stage, where you would appear, experts talk about their passions: what makes them tick, what matters to them, why? Across the campground, smaller “villages” offer workshops and informal talks on anything and everything: politics, homeschooling, cryptocurrencies, off-the-grid living, civil disobedience, energy policy, farming, etc. There are also nightly bonfires, music and bands, dance parties, daily hikes and ‘shrooming. As one attending professor put it, “PorcFest is Burning Man for rational people.”
I’m the former president and current chairman of the Free State Project, and an author, activist, and attorney. I’m confident you would have a remarkable and memorable experience with us, and we would be thrilled to have you. Past speakers at our events have included Edward Snowden (via video in 2016), John Stossel, Naomi Wolf, Ron Paul, Roger Ver, Rick Falkvinge, and more. Having you attend would, well, frankly, blow my mind, but it would also help elevate our mission and attract more like-minded, brilliant people to our cause. We are building it, but we need more people to come!
We “Vrystaaters” are pioneers and mad dreamers, but ultimately, pragmatists who are voting with our feet to build a better future without so much government meddling into every aspect of our lives–we are building our very own Wild, Wild East while we wait for you to colonize Mars. Come see for yourself!
I can be reached at cgericke@freestateproject.org or on my cell at 917-607-4353. I hope to hear from you.
Thanks for your precious time!
Sincerely,
Carla Gericke
More about the Free State Project: https://www.fsp.org
More about PorcFest: https://www.PorcFest.com
More about me: https://www.carlagericke.com/about/ and on Wikipedia
Last weekend, Free Staters gathered together to celebrate the Free State Project’s 5th Annual Porcupine Day. This sold-out event showcased the PBS documentary film about world-renowned economist Thomas Sowell, Common Sense in a Senseless World, and we were honored to welcome the president of Free To Choose Network, Robert Chatfield, as one of our speakers.
Porcupine Day holds great significance for me as a milestone because five years ago, under my leadership, we landed Edward Snowden to speak at Liberty Forum, and triggered the move, calling all principled libertarians home to the Free State of New Hampshire.
On Saturday, we celebrated the hard work necessary to take the musings of a graduate student in an online essay and turn it into a genuine, grounds-up libertarian movement, the one and only of its kind in the world! The reality of what we are building in New Hampshire is the global success story for libertarianism. Not only do Free Staters put the “move” in “movement,” we are not going anywhere, and, in fact, we’re growing like never before!
Vince Perfetto showed us some impressive numbers. In addition to significant measurable year-over-year growth between 2019-2021, Vince included a goal to increase the mover rate 50% in 2021, from 225 to 338. This is an exciting and aggressive goal, and he will need all of our community’s support to achieve this. How can YOU help activate a new mover?
You should support the brave vanguard that, frankly, every libertarian should be helping in some way, either by moving, donating, or telling a friend. Share our social media posts, sign up for the newsletter, get (and stay) involved!
Speeches were also given by some of our local allies. State Representative Herschel Nunez spoke on behalf of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, and Andrew Manuse of ReBuild NH gave us a run down of their ReOpen activities over the lockdown. Jeremy Kauffman of the Free State Project’s board floated a few new ideas for consideration, including what the definition of “free stater” should be now that we’re doing away with the formal pledge and pivoting towards simply marketing New Hampshire as “the best state for libertarians, period”. The FSP is also considering changes to our board structure and bylaws to create a more “shareholder/membership” based model to reward doers and donors more effectively. Want a greater say in the organization? Contribute to our success!
I spoke briefly about the history of Porcupine Day, the ridiculous year we had in 2020, and how totalitarianism helps us grow by allowing us to sell New Hampshire as a “libertarian safe space.” I plugged my recent appearance on The Tom Woods Show, thanked Porcupine Day organizer, Stephen Nass, for his excellent work putting together a successful event, and told folks about PorcFest XVIII being spearheaded by Dennis Pratt. I also unveiled the new Free State Passport, a unique initiative to help the groundswell of new movers we are expecting. The passport includes “visa” prompts inside to direct new movers to network more efficiently with the existing community. The goal is to have a scaleable way to assist new movers in order to better integrate into the existing community. I will post more information about this “Passport to Freedom” in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
You can read the full speech I delivered back in 2016 to announce that the move had been triggered in my collection of award-winning work, The Ecstatic Pessimist, but you can catch some highlights from this post, A Free State: An Idea Whose Time Has Come. As I said in 2016, the ability to freely use the internet has always been crucial to our success, and back then, I told the Statists to keep their grubby little paws off OUR internet… At the time, I never thought de-platforming and cancel culture would become the norm we see today. It is clear to me (having just come off my own 30 day Facebook ban) that we are losing the battle for free speech, and need to push back even harder. On the plus side, as government overreaches more and more, more and more people are waking up, and we already know, you can’t put the liberty genie back in the bottle once you know what liberty looks and feels like…
So… long-term, we will win, but I fear it is going to get worse before it gets better, and it’s going to take time and treasure, and reinforcements… It is going to take… YOU!
Come join the fun! Not ready to move quite yet, but curious? Come to the 18th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, aka PorcFest, taking place June 21-27, 2021 in the White Mountains. Join thousands of like-minded people for a weeklong celebration, with confirmed speakers like Tom Woods and Jeffrey Tucker. This year, we are putting ourselves front and center, and showcasing our incredible community of incredible free staters doing incredible things. Learn more at PorcFest.com. It’s going to be the greatest year ever, so don’t miss out! Get your ridic cheap $30 tickets TODAY because prices will go up! You also need to book your accommodation with Rogers, and sites are selling out. Don’t wait. This year is going to be BANANAS!!!