CLICK HERE to watch my recent interview about The Ecstatic Pessimist (buy yours directly from me now), the Free State Project, my activism in New Hampshire, and more!
This expansive interview covers many of the essays in the book, including a 420 rally gone wrong, growing up in South Africa under apartheid, issues like police accountability, libertarianism , 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. 
)
One of my favorite interviews ever! Michelle and I discuss the Free State Project, which offers the best solution against statism, why NH is awesome and how we can keep it that way, COVID-madness, self-ownership, transformations, my Origin Story, and, unbelievably, more!
The government’s paid shill, NHPR, manages to conflate all. the. things. incorrectly. here. [Go figure.]
Some initial thoughts on the targeting by the Deep State of #bitcoin and #crypto activists in the Free State:
The SEC’s case against LBRY and the FBI’s case against Keene Bitcoin ATM operators have nothing to do with each other, other than the undeniable fact that Big Gov is now shamelessly targeting peaceful political dissidents who are participants of the Free State Project, where I serve on the board. You can read more about how you can #HelpLBRYSaveCrypto HERE.
Free Staters subscribe to the ethical stance of the “nonaggression principle,” applied equally to all human interactions (i.e. “the government” doesn’t get a free pass to bully you against your will). Free Staters are determined to lead the way to a better future by dismantling corrupt and immoral crony structures through entrepreneurial human action.
We have a big PR battle ahead of us, and it is going to be all hands on deck to make sure our friends and neighbors in the Free State understand the following:
In NH, just as numerous states have nullified cannabis laws over the past decade, crypto transactions are exempt from federal money transmitters laws. See: https://www.jdsupra.com/…/new-hampshire-exempts…/
In NH, based on my current understanding of past similar situations, either the local NH law enforcement was not authorized to act with federal agents, or the entire case must be done in NH courts. (See: https://www.aclu.org/…/federal-immigration-officials…)
Bitcoin and other crypto currencies were designed in part to hedge against inflation caused by flagrant monetary expansion. If you don’t understand this sentence, you cannot be a juror on these cases. Jury nullification, thanks to past work by free staters, is alive and well in NH.
LBRY’s Odysee is a censor-proof platform. This must terrify our actively censoring Big (Bad) Bros and provides an unseemly motivation for their actions.
Ian Freeman and I don’t always see eye-to-eye but he is a peaceful man, and it is an insult to say he is a “danger to the community.” I’m glad to hear the bail refusal will be appealed. Side note: When did “innocent until proven guilty” go away? How can it be lawful to add things like “no alcohol” or “no phones” to bail conditions? We have so much stuff to fix, grr!
In order for these cases to have any legs, you’d need to apply the same “logic” to other institutions. Has a US bank or Paypal or Facebook never been used for a “romance scam” before? How is it the responsibility of the ATM operator to manage that? Doesn’t every US dollar note have traces of cocaine of it? Can we lock the Fed Gov up for that?
Clearly, this targeted federal government overreach is directed against leaders in the crypto industry because #crypto offers the most significant option to peacefully replace the most corrupt structures in the world in favor of decentralized power… in the hands of the people, for realz!
And it starts with what happens with these cases in the Free State of NH. Stay tuned…
From a 2012 interview in GQ… Not to date myself, but I’ve been doing this “Free State of NH” thing for a good long while… and now I need YOU! 
Interested in helping to build the coolest little independent state in the North x North East?
Come to the 18th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival to learn more about the thousands of #bitcoin and #crypto early adopters building a consent-based society based on self-ownership. PorcFest XVIII tix for folks like comedian Dave Smith, Tom Woods are only $50 right now, get yours today.
Read the whole interview at GQ.
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…
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.