This article from the Caledonian Record captures much of the spirit of the 17th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival. Some excellent quotes by yours truly, too!
“I think Libertarians are the people in the middle,” said Carla Gericke, president emeritus of the Free State Project, created to recruit 20,000 libertarians to move to New Hampshire. “We’re the ones who actually do believe in ‘live and let live, don’t hurt other people, and don’t tell me what to do’.”
Carla Gericke
“I think there are a lot of angry people,” said Gericke about today’s political climate, noting that Libertarians “are people who have already channeled that anger, we’ve sort of processed it already, and we know what the problems are. So we get together at PorcFest to talk about the solutions.” Gericke, who is running against 11-term incumbent Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) for the District 20 State Senate seat, said she hoped public dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican parties would lead to stronger support for third party candidates. “I hope it is our moment.”
Carla Gericke
“I mean, this is one of the biggest political events in the North Country. Earlier today there was a talk about school choice. And there’s people that come up from think tanks in Washington, D.C., they’ve had articles published in the New York Times and they’re talking about these policy issues at a high-end level, and it’s right in my own backyard,” said Beaulier. “So it’s really interesting seeing some of the people and personalities that come out. Some of them I agree with, and some of them are like totally nuts, but you get a really interesting mix of people.”
Calvin Beaulier
The amazing Jeffrey Tucker gave an incredible talk and wrote this excellent piece about PorcFest XVII for AIER, Broadway Closed But PorcFest Stayed Open. Some choice quotes below.
I’m sure that the organizers faced some pressure to call it off, but Carla Gericke looked past the propaganda and went ahead anyway. This year too was a bit different from usual, lacking some of the glitz and organizational formalism of the past. But we were no worse for it. There were talks on every aspect of health, economics, history, philosophy, commerce, crypto, firearms, COVID, and you name it. The main pavilion had something go on day and night, and there were mini gatherings all over the campground.
Jeffrey Tucker
All that aside, we used to speak of this country as the land of the free and home of the brave. Our response to this virus has sacrificed freedom based on fear. Rather than focusing on the actual problem — vulnerable people in nursing homes, many of which were actually forced to take in COVID-19 patients — we shut down nearly the whole country for absolutely no reason.
Jeffrey Tucker
Never forget that the message of liberty is spreading! I received the following mail from someone who attended my PorcFest talk about police accountability:
The dais you were on at PorcFest about the good, the bad & the ugly moved me. I am a former 18 year Texas Police Officer. I currently live in Massachusetts and moving to New Hampshire soon. I would love to collaborate with you on establishing accountability between law enforcement and the public. This is near and dear to my heart. I hope we can work together on this.
Jay