Secession

I was contacted by the Washington Examiner about states rights and independence. No article came out, so I’m sharing my answers here so that my time wasn’t totally wasted.

1. Can you quickly summarize what the FSP is, and how the modern project relates to secession?

The Free State Project is an educational nonprofit extolling the virtues of living free in New Hampshire. The Free State Movement is a geo-political-social movement made up of individual “Free Staters” who are concentrating by the thousands in New Hampshire, consistently ranked the freest state. Not all Free Staters are secessionists, but many are. The original essay in 2001 by FSP Founder, Jason Sorens, discussed using the threat of secession to gain more freedom from the federal government. 

Within the Free State Movement, there are differing views of how best to achieve independence. For example, there is the Foundation for NH Independence, a federally recognized 501c3 whose mission is to advocate for the peaceful separation from the federal government, and then there is NHExit, a decentralized group of concerned individuals, and there’s the Club 75 Alliance, which promotes the idea of legally opting out of federal income tax. I’m sure there are even more flavors developing that I don’t know about… it’s an idea that is gaining in popularity as the federal government skids totally off the rails. 

Some Free Staters are elected officials, and they have introduced bills and Constitutional amendments regarding secession, nullification, and reducing the size and scope of the federal government in NH. For example: a bill being heard in committee this week, HB 1156, will prohibit enforcement of any CDC and WHO regulations in New Hampshire. 

2. Why do you believe that New Hampshire seceding from the United States is the best thing for NH residents?

First, I’m not sure it is, but we should have the right to start that discussion, explore our options, and allow Granite Staters to vote on it for themselves given all the pertinent facts. The federal debt is insurmountable. We need to get ahead of DC’s problems!

DC is a cesspool of corruption, illegal, undeclared wars, warrantless searches, and confiscatory taxation. The Elites have an insatiable appetite for power and control. When was something actually reformed in DC? Can you show me one problem DC has actually fixed? Ever…? We all suffered under their paranoid delusions during Covid, and saw how they put themselves and Big Pharma before any of us. 

DC doesn’t work for ordinary Americans, and ‘We, The People’ are starting to notice.   

New Hampshire has the makings of a prosperous and successful small country. Of the ten richest countries in the world, five are geographically smaller than New Hampshire. We have a strong, diversified economy, a border with Canada, and a deep sea port, making us ideally situated for international trade — including trade with the United States. We also have a nuclear plant which provides clean green energy to a large part of the Eastern seaboard, and there are plans to expand nuclear capabilities in NH, including a current bill introduced by a Free Stater to allow for small modular nuclear reactors. 

3. What do you believe NH voters should think about when it comes to secession?

How much better their future could be! We have all been conditioned to only look for problems, not solutions, but I was drawn to the FSP because it is a solution-based approach that gives my life meaning. 

Voters should think like this: What would it be like to build a new country? What would we need? What would be some of the challenges? This is exactly what HB 1130 was supposed to address. This bill would have created a study commission to start answering our neighbors’ legitimate questions and concerns. One I frequently hear is: “What would happen to my benefits?” This is a legitimate concern, but people forget, many American retirees live in foreign countries like Mexico already, and they still receive their benefits. My point is: Nothing is unsolvable, we just need the appetite to think outside the box!

4. Do you think there is a viable alternative to secession? If so, how likely do you think it is to happen?

I prefer the term “independence” to “secession,” because of the historical baggage of the term “secession”–people want to make it sound scary! But I also prefer “independence” because it’s a term that can be applied to oneself in a self-empowerment sense, as well as, to, well, more broadly, a new country. 

Look, decentralization is the future. More countries exist now than ever before, and for the first time in history, because of advances in technology, humans can align according to values as well as geographically. The Free State of NH is both: A small, geographic area where people are embracing universal freedom, property rights, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. I’m trying to build a prosperous country along the lines of a “Switzerland of North America.” 

I think we get people used to the idea of independence by talking about states’ rights and by nullifying overreaching federal regulations and agencies. You’ve already seen this happen with cannabis laws, and it is starting to happen with regard to immigration like we’re now seeing in Texas, and with the school choice movement over the past decade, and this could be extended even further to include things like nullifying the EPA, IRS, and SEC, say.

These days, people talk about “National Divorce,” and I think this is a useful framing to help the public understand the issues, but I don’t want an America divided solely into Red and Blue states, because ultimately, here in NH, we want a libertarian homeland: live and let live, mind your own business, keep what’s yours, and don’t be a jerk. Basically: “Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff”. 

People seem to forget that the United States was supposed to be “laboratories of democracy,” where competition would allow the best ideas to rise. I want New Hampshire to become the beacon of liberty to remind people embracing freedom leads to human flourishing.  

5. The NH legislature just rejected the latest attempt to get secession on the November ballot. Do you have any response to this rejection?

I view every attempt as a win! Candidly, this is an idea that will take years to gain general acceptance, but as long as the federal government keeps overreaching, the independence movement will continue to grow, both here in NH and in Texas, and elsewhere. 

The question of New Hampshire’s independence should, however, rightfully be put in front of NH voters, and I will keep pushing for this. It is not up to the legislature to decide whether we stay or go, and this is where we need to focus our messaging… “Why should 424 people in Concord get to play gatekeeper on such a big issue? What right do they have to decide YOUR future for you?” 

I’m confident this issue will continue to gain momentum. This is early days yet. 

6. What do you tell critics who claim that secession is unconstitutional? 

Meh. The people who say that have a 100% conflict of interest. How long does this so-called contract or compact last? Eternity? Has no other border ever changed or evolved? How was America born again? America is literally the result of some King Dude saying “You can’t secede”, so I say to people making similar arguments, Try again. By which I mean, “If at first you don’t secede, try, try, try again!” [lol]

7. What would secession look like, if it was successful? Like what are some immediate changes that would happen?

If Granite Staters voted overwhelmingly to become an independent nation state, NH will become a prosperous and peaceful country, along the lines of other small, successful countries like Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, or Switzerland. We would have four times the size of Iceland’s population, and no one ever tells them they’re not viable. 

Easy border crossings for work and trade would be ensured, much like countries in the Schengen Area in Europe do. Many American retirees already receive their social security pensions in foreign countries like Mexico, so that could continue, assuming these programs aren’t entirely bankrupt (which is more likely given their current unspoken insolvency). 

In general, Granite Staters would immediately be richer, no longer having to pay federal income taxes (NH is currently a net payer to the federal government). State and local governments would become open and transparent, and all government information collected would be available in searchable public databases. 

Government services would be privatized over time, allowing the competitive nature of the free market to work, meaning services have become cheaper and better.

Competing currencies, including cryptocurrencies, would be allowed, thereby creating a robust new economy. Tourism would thrive because people from across the world would be drawn to see how the freest place on earth functions. Digital nomads can buy NH citizenship for the protections afforded by being a citizen of the greatest place on Earth. (:P)    

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Imagine it’s 300 years ago in Europe, and a village peasant is like, “Yo, Dude, wanna get in early on Switzerland?” 

Now imagine I’m that peasant saying, “Care to still get in early on the freest place on earth?”

That’s what I’m trying to accomplish. Let’s let go of the things that are no longer serving us…like the federal government, and let’s embrace a beautiful and better future: the Free State. First New Hampshire, then the world.