NOTE: The opinions and commentary expressed in this essay are those of the author and are an exercise of free speech. They do not necessarily represent the views of Free State Project Inc., its Directors, its Officers, or its Participants.

Monica Granger's Presentation of the Free State Project

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me here, today. My name is Monica Granger, and I come to you on behalf of the Free State Project. How many of you have heard of the Free State Project? [Almost all of the approximately 25 individuals there raise their hands.] How many of you have already signed up as FSP members? [No hands rise.] Hopefully, all of you will change your minds by the end of our time together!

For those of you who haven't heard about the Free State Project, it is a plan in which 20,000 or more liberty-minded individuals will move to a single state in the United States to live, work, and play within the government system to reduce the size and scope of government to its declared and constitutionally ordained purposes: namely, the protection of your life, liberty, and property.

Consider for a moment the motto of the Free State Project: Liberty in our lifetimes. Take a moment to consider the implications of this statement. The founding fathers of this nation sought the same objectives. In order to achieve their objectives, however, it was necessary to spark a secessionist, or separatist, movement from England that involved much bloodshed and violence. The Free State Project is a plan to secure the blessings of liberty pursued by the founding fathers once more. Only this time, we will work within the political system of this country to secure our liberties without bloodshed and heartache. We will peacefully attain the dearest and most cherished aspect of human existence-freedom.

The Free State Project was the brainchild of Jason Sorens, who currently teaches at Yale University. Jason wrote an article for the Libertarian Enterprise on July 23, 2001 that noted the Libertarian Party's lack of success, and then discussed the possibility of a different alternative for liberty1. His idea: to move 20,000 liberty-loving individuals to a single state. When he began to receive lots of positive responses to the idea, he launched a fully organized movement. Thus, the Free State Project was born.

Since its foundation in September 2001, a little less than two years ago, the Free State Project has gained 5,072 members. Based on a ten-week average, the FSP is gaining new members at the rate of 124 people per week! If you look at the Membership Curve graph, you can see just how quickly this idea has caught on in an increasingly statist country2. I would like you to take a moment to try to envision 124 liberty-loving individuals. Now, imagine that every week, 124 more libertarians join their ranks, all of them to pack their bags, and their lives, and move to a single state for the love of freedom. The growth has been truly phenomenal, and we expect to reach our goal of 20,000 members by 2006.

The Free State Project plan is structured so that the vote to decide the state will occur at 5,000 members-this first part of the plan is already underway. Ballots have been sent to members across the nation, and the free state will be announced on October 1, of this year. After this announcement, the next major occurrence will be when membership reaches 20,000 individuals. At this time, all those who have signed up will have 5 years to move to the state. If this number is not reached, if the Free State Project does not reach its critical mass, then all those who signed up will be absolved of their obligations.

I have brought information pamphlets that talk about the FSP a bit, and also have a form for you to fill out to sign up. I encourage everyone to sign up, either by using one of these forms, or by visiting the website at www.freestateproject.org. Let me remind you that when you sign up, if there are any states that you would prefer not to move to, you can list those states at the time you register. If a state you have opted out of is chosen as the free state, you will not be obligated to move there. Remember that we still need 15,000 more individuals to sign up, so please visit the website, or take one of these brochures. Feel free to take some extras to leave at your dentists and doctors' offices, or at auto shops, or any place where someone may have time to read them.

I would like to take a moment to discuss preemptively some questions that may arise among you: "Why move to an entire state, when it would be much easier to find a large county to move to?" The main reason lies in the division of governmental power. Counties have important powers over local taxes, but ultimately, state legislatures have the power to abolish or overrule county regulations. Upon arriving to a county and altering a few fundamental laws, it is easy to imagine state legislatures stepping in to resume control. Moving to a state, however, offers a wide basis of support for the institutionalization of libertarian ideals. A state also allows more leverage in national policy debates.

The diversity offered by an entire state is another appealing aspect. Rather than a politically, economically, and geographically homogeneous land mass as would be found in a county, an entire state offers a variety of benefits and opportunities to many different people, thus making it more likely that an endeavor such as this will succeed. More diversity equals less alienation of potential members.

Another question is, "Why will this plan work when others like it have failed in the past?" One of the reasons this movement is much more likely to work than others like it tried in the past (Hippie movement in Delware, et cetera) is the way in which the entire movement is structured! This is not a group of individuals saying, "Hey, Joe, I'm kinda tired of these taxes, man... you wanna go to a Free State some time soon-eh... maybe next week?"

This is not a loose gathering of like-minded friends, but a group of libertarian activists who have compacted together-they have given their word-to move to a single state at a single time for one purpose: liberty. Upon reaching the 20,000-membership mark, all of the members will have five years to move to the free state. The five-year leeway is another reason why I think this project will work. There is no reason for members to be alarmed at being abruptly yanked up from their roots. Instead, each of you will have the time you need to make sure that your financial and personal matters will be well taken care of as you move.

The manner in which the candidate states have been chosen is another benefit to the integrity of this movement. The states were not chosen based on weather conditions or other such considerations. Each candidate state was carefully chosen based on a variety of political and economic factors, population size being the most important. Factors such as voter turnout, state dependence upon federal government, projected job growth, and levels of taxation are all important indicators of how suited a particular state is to the FSP's ultimate goal of greater individual liberty3. The chart I provided you in the handout has some more factors of consideration. A native freedom-loving culture is another important aspect. If the citizenry of the state already believes in the basic principles of liberty, convincing them to vote Libertarian will be that much less difficult!

Another question I have heard while talking to people is, "Won't the native population resent being taken over?" The Free State Project is not a "taking over" kind of movement, however; nor is it a secessionist movement. Although there are members within the FSP who advocate eventual secession, our stated organizational goal is to work within political and legislative structures already in place to reduce the size and scope of government by at least two thirds, and hopefully much more!

Okay, so we've moved to the Free State. What can we accomplish? The first and easiest forms of impact will be at the local and county levels. Local school board elections and administrative post elections will be immediately impacted, as well as City Council elections across the state. These elections typically have an even lower percentage voter turnout than the statewide turnout, so even a couple hundred individuals could sway the vote toward a more Libertarian outcome. The importance of electing Libertarians to these positions should not be underestimated. School board officials can often influence the level of taxation for the special district they preside over, as can administrators of other special districts, such as municipal districts.

City Council members have control over matters of personal importance. I'd like to take a moment to tell you a story. I interned for a City Council member in Houston last year. During this internship, I learned the way building codes, and fire codes are really enforced. They are enforced vindictively and selectively. A city inspector does not travel around checking the height of every homeowners' garage. In fact, you may never see such an inspector, unless you happened to have irritated your neighbor yesterday (by letting your pet, or your children, run through his yard, for example).

The man who called the City Councilmember's office had, in fact, been reported by one such vindictive neighbor. He, in turn, went to each of his neighbors' houses, measuring their garages and carports, one at a time, in order to turn them in. This is a colossal waste of time and money, since a City inspector had to then visit each of the houses to measure the garages and issue warnings. If the homeowners changed their garages immediately, the City would not even reap fine revenue (Libertarians would hold that even the fine revenue would be illegitimate!). Libertarians would see such occurrences, and they would respond appropriately, logically, by removing the regulation, and letting people build the garages that protect their personal property, as they see fit.

The next area of impact is to elect libertarian individuals to state legislatures and, eventually, to the gubernatorial position. Depending upon district sizes and the electoral method within the free state, it may take more or less time to accomplish this impact. As Libertarians, most of you probably already know that the state of elections laws and ballot access laws in this country are in dire need of restructuring.

In 2002, I ran for Harris County Clerk, the chief election official for the nation's third largest county. During my campaign, I began learning more about the state of elections laws in this country. The simple truth of the matter is that any political movement, no matter how numerous in ranks or finances, would have an incredibly difficult time in first getting on the ballot, and then overcoming the biases set against them-such as public financing of candidates who meet the "eligibility requirements" in each of the primary, general, and runoff elections. The numbers of signatures required simply to place a candidate on the ballot in some states takes thousands of dollars, and hundreds of man-hours to collect. Often times, there will only be a few weeks during which such signature-collecting activities may occur.

One way porcupines could influence this aspect is by simply conducting letter-writing campaigns in the Free State. Proportional Representation, or instant runoff voting, is endorsed by the Green Party, and even by some Democrats and Republicans. Proportional representation has even been implemented in some states at the local (City Council) level. By putting pressure on incumbents to alter the elective method, free staters and Libertarians will increase their chances of winning representatives in future elections.

The best part is that this area of impact does not first require the election of Libertarians to office! Even so, it will almost invariably increase our chances of electing Libertarians to office. Especially if there are many activists within the state to keep Libertarian issues current and hot. Organizations such as the League of Women Voters, and other election watch groups, could also be solicited to endorse electoral reforms of this nature, that strive for an elected body more representative of the wide variety of voters.

What other issues will Porcupines advocate upon reaching the free state? FSP Member Tim Condon's article entitled "Five Free State Reforms" lists a few of the most pressing libertarian issues that will need to be immediately addressed4. Some of these reforms include lowering and even abolishing particular taxes, jury reform, protection of constitutional rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and ending criminal sanctions against victimless crimes, such as marijuana use, prostitution, and gambling.

As a college student enduring the rigors of schooling at a public University, another reform I particularly look forward to is the abolition of government schools. This, I think, could go a long way toward creating a more sustainable libertarian society in the Free State. Government schools rely upon indoctrination and the steady and gradual removal of all semblence of logic from the individual. With more competition among private schoolers, the benefits could be seen almost immediately, with successive graduating classes entering the work force, if not as libertarians, then at least as free-thinking individuals.

Ultimately, however, individuals will have different preferences regarding the policy goals that should be immediately sought by Porcupines. This, I think, is where the local Libertarian Party organization as well as other small-L libertarian organizations will be of the utmost importance. These organizations will have a personal view of those issues that will resonate the most with the local citizenry. By winning support for these issues, Porcupines will have better standing with the public, who will be more apt to trust us when we ask them to support some of our more radical positions. If the public has witnessed our successes with one or two other policy initiatives, our other, less popular issues will be less likely to elicit knee-jerk, negative responses.

I will close now by urging each of you to sign up for the Free State Project, either online at www.freestateproject.org, or by filling out one of the brochures I have brought with me today. Your support is even more crucial now that the energy generated by the lack of a chosen Free State will dissipate come October first. The momentum must be kept up, and the only way to do this is to keep spreading the message of the Free State Project, and the benefits of attaining, Liberty in Our Lifetimes.

Thank you for having me here today. If any of you have any questions, I will answer those now.

1 Announcement: The Free State Project by Jason Sorens. See also the follow-up article Update: Free State Project by Jason Sorens.
2 Membership statistics
3 Economic and Political Data
4 Five Free State Reforms By Member Tim Condon.