So we’d been interested in visiting New Hampshire for a long time. avivahg and I both prefer cooler climates. New Hampshire, with it’s almost nonexistant taxes and “Live Free or Die” motto, appealed to our libertarian sensibilities. When the Free State Project picked New Hampshire as it’s target, it only strengthened our interest in the state.
There are a lot of compelling arguments for living in New Hampshire, for a liberty-minded individual; but I think the draw of the state is best summed up by an excerpt from the NH State Constitution:
[Art.] 10. [Right of Revolution.] Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
(Emphasis mine.) New Hampshire is the only state to encode a right to revolution in it’s constitution. I think that says it all.
The Free State Project, for those who haven’t heard of it, is an effort to get 20,000 liberty-oriented, activist individuals to move to the Granite State and, once there, to exert pressure on local politics in order to make it the freest state in the nation. 6,600 have made the pledge to move so far, and a few hundred have already moved. I haven’t signed, but as I said I’ve been considering making the state my destination for awhile.
So when I saw the ads for the second annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, I thought it was an ideal opportunity for us to get a feel for the state while camping and hanging out with some like-minded people.
As the date moved closer I experienced some reluctance having to do with personal and interpersonal issues; but despite my emotional foot-dragging I made the preparations and went through with it. All in all, I’m glad I did. It wasn’t the most relaxing of vacations, but I had some good experiences and I got to spend a lot of time outside.
I didn’t get to see as much of the state as I wanted to. We missed our chance to go on a Nashua tour, and all our sightseeing wound up happening in the White Mountains near the campground we stayed at. That much was gorgeous though; I certainly wouldn’t mind having those mountains in my “back yard”, so to speak. The people seemed quite friendly, and the climate was agreeable – 80s at the hottest, and dry (when it wasn’t actually raining). Big mosquitos though.
More to come…