I recently joined Carter of Unsafe Space for a freewheeling discussion about the Free State Project, my landmark court case, police reform, my Senate race, and more! Like what you hear? PLEASE show your support by:
Giving your most generous donation to my Senate race: Live free and thrive!
Buying my book, The Ecstatic Pessimist, now on Amazon.
Donating to the Free State Project. Now our last chance for Liberty in Our Lifetimes!
Tom Woods said this on last week’s podcast:
“If libertarians can’t even have an event, then it’s hopeless. So PorcFest means something this year. It doesn’t matter what the speakers say, doesn’t even matter what goes on, the mere existence is what matters here. It’s culturally important and sends a very healthy and valuable message to libertarians… Life will go on for us. Some people may want to stay locked up in their homes… That’s up to them. But our lives will go on and one indication of that is that PorcFest XVII is happening, and YOU should join us too.”
Psst! Did you hear? Those crazy Porcupines of the Free(ish) State of New Hampshire are throwing a weeklong party, and YOU are invited!
It is now full-steam ahead for the 17th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, aka PorcFest XVII, June 22-28, 2020 at Roger’s Campground in the beautiful White Mountains.
Our keynote speaker is Tom Woods (catch Tom’s recent podcast with me about why he is attending PorcFest for the first time, but you already know the answer, dundundun: IF YOU SUPPORT LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIMES, THE TIME IS NIGH!)
Buy your super-duper cheap $25 per person tickets today!
Because of The Weirdness, we have decided to K.I.S.S. by:
Radically reducing the ticket price down to 2009 levels! That’s right–not only is Queen Quill back after a decade to organize PorcFest for the third time, she’s doing it THROWBACK-style.
What does this mean? Less formal programming, and more decentralization! You asked for it, now it’s up to each of YOU to make PorcFest a smashing success! Bring your goodies, your projects and ideas, and come pimp your passions from your campsites. No extra fees apply!
Contact Roger’s Campground to book your accommodation today.
Official programming will take place in the open air Pavilion from Thursday (6/25) through Saturday night (6/27), culminating in SoapBox Idol–YOUR chance to tell us in a 3-minute rant how YOU feel. (This should be an extra interesting year!)
We’re excited to welcome back many of our favorite speakers, like Jeffery Tucker, but the focus of PorcFest XVII will be on the AMAZING COMMUNITY WE ARE BUILDING. Given how the future is shaping up, there is no better place than TOGETHER in New Hampshire. We want YOU to join us and #MakeYourMove!
Interested in vending in Agora Valley, the prime real estate closest to the action? Contact us at “info@PorcFest.com.” This year, you will pay Roger’s directly (no extra associated costs!), and simply work with our vendor coordinator to find the best placement for you.
PorcFest XVII sponsorships are now a flat $1,000 (some restrictions apply). This gets you a sponsored “Bonfireside Chat,” dibs on a motel room (that we reserve but you have to pay for yourself), literature in our “upcycled grab bags” (yes, that’s event bags from previous events, you got me!), an online presence on our website, and logo placement on a screen in the Pavilion. If YOU are interested in sponsoring the BOLDEST, MOST EPIC, BALLER LIBERTY EVENT OF THE YEAR, email former FSP Executive Director, Rachel Goldsmith at r@fsp.org.
I already bought a ticket at a higher price (but, of course, am still planning to attend)! Please consider donating the difference to help us. If not, you can ask for cash refunds onsite. If you bought a ticket and are not planning to attend, as penance, you forfeit your payment. Just kidding! Email “info@PorcFest.com” with “Refund” in the subject line. But, yanno, being generous right now would be greatly appreciated!
I already bought a VIP ticket, what now!?! Sadly, there will be NO official VIP tent this year. If you have purchased a VIP ticket, please consider making this a tax-free donation. If you would like a refund, please email us at “info@PorcFest.com” with “VIP Refund” in the subject line.
What about PorcuPints programming? Families are still encouraged to attend, but there will be no formal childrens’ programming this year. Free range children, pop-up parenting, and babysitting shares will likely naturally evolve onsite.
I’m concerned about The ‘Vid! What about getting cooties!?! If you have ANY concerns relating to this, please sit out this year. While Roger’s is currently asking you to wear a mask and social distance in communal areas (you can do what you want on your own site/motel room; no noise after 11PM), things may change fast and, as is the case when you bring large groups of liberty individuals together, other people may not act in accordance with your personal preferences. You are ENTERING AT YOUR OWN RISK.
As has always been the case, we ask everyone to behave in a manner becoming a Porcupine, following the (Black and) Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated; be kind and considerate; don’t be an asshole.
Additional guidelines will be provided and shared with PorcFest XVII ticket holders in the coming weeks and posted onsite. For purposes of PorcFest XVII, everyone is a member of Roger’s Campground. You will receive your membership onsite.
What about guns at PorcFest? What about them? 🙂 PorcFest is a gun-friendly environment. Anyone carrying is expected to behave in a safe manner. Gun safety rules will be posted onsite.
More information and speaker announcements coming soon… but NOW IS THE TIME to BUY your tickets to what will surely go down as THE MOST LAUDED, TALKED ABOUT, AND HISTORIC PorcFest ever!
Don’t miss out!
(Can’t make it this year, but love what we are doing? Buy your “In Spirit” tickets to show your support! Thank YOU!)
Tom Woods will be attending PorcFest for the first time this year–ooooh-lah-lah! In this episode, we discuss the 17th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, and what it will look like given the Control Freak Times we live in–spoiler alert, IT’S GOING TO BE EPIC (but only if YOU come!). Tom and I both feel strongly that THIS YEAR it is CRUCIAL to attend and show the world that free people move freely and can make their own decisions based on their own risk profiles. Buy YOUR $25 PorcFest tix today. Can’t join the fun but agree we’re doing the right thing? Show your support by buying “In Spirit” tickets. It’s the next best thing to attending (but attending is better!).
LISTEN to The Tom Woods Show NOW…
We also touched on:
My first book, The Ecstatic Pessimist, a collection of award-winning short stories and essays about the Free State Project and liberty in NH, which will be having the most epic of book launches at PorcFest, The Ecstatic Pessimist Book Launch Party. BUY YOUR KINDLE COPY TODAY! (Paperback coming soon!)
My Carla Gericke for New Hampshire Senate race. DONATE TODAY!
My super essential firefighting skills.
My podcast Told You So, which will return after Porcfest, so catch up on old episodes now!
When confronted with your first New Hampshire winter, everyone will tell you to invest in woolen undergarments. Everyone will tell you to, but YOU will ignore this advice for at least the first if not the second winter. You will say: “Don’t you tell me what to do,” while thinking, “What difference can a pair of woolen socks really make?” As someone who waited 4 winters to invest in all the woolen underthings, let me tell you unequivocally: A LOT. I’m talking warm tootsies 24/7. Toss in a pair of woolen leggings and a long-sleeved undershirt for when you will be outside for extended periods, and you will find yourself saying: “Wait, what? Winter is over already?” Treat your woolen items with respect–don’t toss them in the dryer!–and they will love you back, winter over winter. Toasty!
And strip down when needed. Layers give you the flexibility to be comfortable, no matter what the temperature is, inside or out. Added bonus: New Hampshire winters come with built-in stripteases!
If you take vitamins, consider doubling your Vitamin D intake during the winter months. This is a no-brainer mood picker-upper.
Short days getting you down? Let technology be the cure! While winter technically starts mid-December, the days then actually start getting l-o-n-g-e-r again. In the meanwhile, chase away the blahs with a light designed to enhance your mood, and make you feel warm and fuzzy inside the head.
Embrace the weather, and get outside. Learn how to ski, and then learn how to ski at night. Discover the tranquility and peace of snowshoeing in fresh powder. Ride a toboggan. Get into a snowball fight. Join fellow Free Staters at a winter luau (pictured). Take a New Year’s Day Polar Plunge. Whatever you do, crawl out from under that blankie, and carpe diem the crap out of winter.
Whether you are a believer or an ardent atheist, you can manage your relationship with winter by observing some version of the serenity prayer, whether your prefer the religious classic: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change/The courage to change the things I can/And the wisdom to know the difference,” or, the activist version from Angela Davis: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change/I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Accept your power will likely go out, a Nor’Easter will spoil well-laid plans (possibly to get laid), the plow guy will show up late; it’s winter, trust me, something gnarly will happen. Bottom line: New Hampshire isn’t for sissies. How you approach these challenges will determine how you cope long-term. Change your mindset, and the rest will follow. Including Spring. I promise. It comes like clockwork, every damn time.
There is no place on Earth for liberty activists like New Hampshire, regardless of the season. Pop-up parties follow people with power (literal power, like lights and generators). Friends help friends. And there is no better place on Earth to make real, lifetime, meaningful friends than as part of the Free State Project community. Liberty warms the cockles of our aching, over-achieving, dreamer, doer hearts. Join us in New Hampshire, and let us keep you warm with the glow of knowing we are achieving “Liberty in OUR Lifetime.”
This article first appeared on fsp.org on December 15, 2014.
YOU moved your ass all the way to New Hampshire, where it is currently, well, yanno, wintery blerghinism, and, when you moved, YOU committed to EXERTING YOUR fullest practical effort, and I’m going to ask you straight up today to evaluate and determine, honestly, in your heart of hearts, to yourself, whether YOU are FULFILLING YOUR PLEDGE, or whether YOU could be doing JUST A LITTLE MORE to help build a voluntary society with smaller and more limited government here in NH?
I’m not here to (only) guilt-trip, I want to REMIND YOU:
1. It takes a quillage and we need HELP! It’s frustrating when the same 10-20 people keep doing all the work! SHOW UP!
2. You CAN make a difference! SHOW UP!
3. Find 1 or 2 things you are passionate about, and… SHOW UP. Be present. Pick a fight. Come testify on a bill. Support someone who is running for office (like Elliot Axelman‘s upcoming special election in Hooksett, you have two weeks to help, do it!) Run ideas by old timers if you want. Try something new and see what happens. But FFS, PLEASE DO SOMETHING to enhance Liberty in Our Lifetime.
Here are some simple suggestions to get started:
1. Commit to attending 3 liberty meetings a month. This could be your local meet-up, Bardo Farm’s potluck, Merrimack Valley Porcupines, Lakes Region Meet-up/North Country/FreeCoast, New Movers, Market Days, your local political events (where you can network) etc. Check the FSP calendar if you’re not sure where to go, or what’s cooking. Or, join me on Monday’s at The Currier Museum’s Cafe from Noon-3PM where we gather to co-work on projects together. Whatever you choose, please, choose to SHOW UP.
2. Find a board or group that shares your passions and VOLUNTEER. I joined Right-to-Know NH a couple of years ago for this very reason, and still serve as secretary, even though there are few things I hate more than writing minutes. SHOW UP!
3. Into politics? NOW is the frigging season. Come testify on bills! Join GencourtMobile. Volunteer with the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (basic membership is FREE, or support the organization by becoming an annual or lifetime member). Help the NHLA review bills—there are LITERALLY THOUSANDS! (See “we need help” above.) SHOW UP!
4. Buy YOUR Liberty Forum tickets today! Join hundreds of activists, state representatives, and speakers like Babylon Bee’s Kyle Mann and Julie Borowski (and me! :-)). I’m all for voluntary interactions, but I kinda wish I could make it mandatory. 😛 SHOW UP!
5. On Reddit? This Friday at 2PM help us promote the FSP to r/politics. This is a huge opportunity to help spread info about the FSP to a new audience. SHOW UP!
After a dozen years here in New Hampshire (yeah, that’s where the gray hair comes from) I still 100% believe in the Free State Project’s mission of attracting productive people to the freest state and working to keep it that way, and I 100% believe New Hampshire is our best chance (and now LAST chance in America) to achieve Liberty in Our Lifetime, but only if we all PULL TOGETHER, WORK OUR BADASSES OFF, and SHOW UP. Please, and thank YOU!!!!
I was delighted to join Peter R. Quinones of The Libertarian Institute on his podcast, Free Man Beyond the Wall, to pimp the great Granite State, and convince more people to move to the Free State of New Hampshire. We talk about how NH consistently ranks best for quality of living, its low taxes environment (no sales or personal income tax), how NH’s business tax rate is declining quarterly, how business-friendly the state generally is, and how Granite Staters recently worked together across the aisle to abolish the death penalty. Take a listen now…
From the Brian Nichol’s Show page:
“ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Want to really “live free”? Well, guess what. Today’s your lucky day.
Today I’m joined by Carla Gericke from the Free State Project, which is a historic mass migration of more than 20,000 people who have pledged to move to New Hampshire for liberty.
Today I wanted to have Carla join the show to talk more about the Free State Project, the work they’ve been doing, and how the prospects of liberty look for New Hampshire. We also dig into Carla’s personal path to liberty, her activism, and her candidacy for NH Senate.”
Find the FSP and JOIN the Free State Project for your chance at Liberty in Our Lifetime!
Was looking for something on the Tubes and ran across this Dave Ridley interview at Taproom Tuesday in 2008, soon after we moved to NH . My favorite parts are… too many to mention! D’aaaaw, Younger Me Who Is Still Figuring Stuff Out. You go, Queenie!
Carla Gericke, past president of the Free State Project, joins me for an update from New Hampshire and to discuss some important local issues that affect many communities. She has been at the forefront of a campaign against surveillance cameras, as well as securing the release of a list of bad cops — a list that a major state official is trying to keep suppressed.
Sign the Right-to-Know Laurie’s List petition TODAY!
Follow the Told You So Podcast on Facebook to stay up to date on happenings in the Free State of New Hampshire.
The Free State Project is doing great:
Politically, NH is in a weird situation right now, with the flip in 2018 to Democrat in the House and Senate, but still with a Republican Governor. Free Staters have been in the unique situation of furthering libertarian goals, by working with both sides of the aisle on issues we care about: criminal justice reform, legalization of recreational MJ (sadly, tabled by Senate), annulment of misdemeanor drug charges, pushing back on irresponsible Democratic high tax/spend budget, pushing back on attempt to backdoor an income tax masquerading as “family medical leave,” holding the line on business tax cuts, and a huge one for many of us: repealing the death penalty (which passed by ONE vote, phew!).
Our ideas are gaining traction, for example, at least 7 Republican House members said “Taxation is Theft” from the well during session speeches (and only one was a free stater!), and essays like this, “My Turn: Taxation is theft – and here’s why” have appeared in local newspapers. I even got to say “less and less is more when it comes to taxes” and plug the FSP on the BBC recently (listen to The Why Factor “Why is it so hard to get people to pay taxes?” I’m near the start).
I have also been working on new projects which continue to further Liberty in Our Lifetime:
Remember, donating to the Free State Project is your opportunity to support a living libertarian experiment with the potential to change the world. We’re doing it, but right now, we can use a little help! Thank you!
Fond regards and deepest thanks,
Carla