Meet Rachel Goldsmith, the Woman Running the Free State Project: Podcast
Members are moving to New Hampshire and running for office in record numbers. Will they bring "liberty in our lifetime"?

Earlier this year, Rachel Goldsmith became executive director of the Free State Project, which describes itself as "a mass migration of more than 20,000 people who have pledged to move to New Hampshire." By concentrating themselves in one state, the Free Staters plan to become a bloc pushing New Hampshire toward more libertarian policies.
In the latest Reason Podcast, Goldsmith, an MBA originally from Albany, New York, tells me that the number of year-over-year "movers" to New Hampshire has doubled, and that many of the people associated with the movement who have run in the state's primaries have won. While the Free State Project doesn't endorse specific candidates or pieces of legislation, more than a dozen current legislators are allied with the group. "It's been pretty inspiring," she says. "We're definitely in the 'family wave' of things. We have a lot of folks with kids and young professionals who are considering having kids coming to our events."
In a wide-ranging conversation, Goldsmith also previewed the group's annual winter event, Liberty Forum. To be held February 7–9 of next year in Manchester, the gathering will be keynoted by Cody Wilson, head of Defense Distributed, a nonprofit that develops and publishes open-source gun designs suitable for 3D printing and digital manufacture.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser.
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That's how cults operate. The Moonies, Davidians and People's Temple.
Can't blame her for giving up on getting any viable policy solutions from the libertarian establishment.
If they have policy proposals that make sense at the state level, why not promote them in every state?
So, the only rational assumption is that have nothing to offer at all. Yet another libertarian circle-jerk.
Libertarian Moment or Eve of Destruction?
What the fuck are you taking about?
I don't think he knows what he's talking about. There is only one policy proposal: let us make our own decisions about how to run our lives. You'd think a Reason Magazine reader would know that already.
Remember, 89 pounds of weed are unaccounted for in Flagler County Florida - - - - - - -
I seriously looked into moving to NH. The tax situation is great for working people and business owners.
But it sucks for retired people.
Taxes are mostly on property which means to reduce your taxes after retirement when your income drops, you have to sell and move to a cheaper place. When taxes are on things like sales or income a retiree has more control over that.
Plus NH does have an income tax on dividends and interest which make up a big chunk of the income for a retiree. So just when your income is lowest is exactly when NH starts to tax it.
I guess you can always move back across the border to Mass. when the property taxes get to high, but continue to shop in NH.
The tax situation is great for working people and business owners.
Watch out for those property taxes.
That's why you should move to NH, to help fix it. It's not a free state, it's a Free State Project. Not finished, still in the works.
So libertarians recognize that the only way to get a libertarian society is to segregate themselves from non-libertarians... but it's open borders for everyone else!
Fuck these people with a red hot poker.
There are infinite ironies in the libertarian peoples and ideology.
What makes you think they want to close the New Hampshire borders?
The way to change the way a society operates is to have enough like-minded people in one general area. You can do that by changing the minds of those who already live there or you can get a bunch of people who think similarly to move there. No one said a damned thing about kicking anyone else out or preventing anyone else from moving in.
If you were willing to leave us alone, we wouldn't want to leave you.
But, see, here's the thing, Adolf: as NH becomes more and more free, it will become more and more prosperous, so more and more people will want to move to NH. People who aren't libertarian. The movement contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then again, so does the 1st Amendment's freedoms, so go figure.
"It's been pretty inspiring," she says. "We're definitely in the 'family wave' of things. We have a lot of folks with kids and young professionals who are considering having kids coming to our events."
Aren't we supposed to be anti-natalists in the libertarian utopia? Why would you want kids in Libertarian Land? They're parasites, right?
Anything to be had through birthing children can be better accomplished by just importing adults who don't need 18 years of care or buying a dog, eh?
"We" aren't supposed to be anything but free. Do your own thing, and let us do ours.
Oh, I would be content with you sowing the seeds of your own destruction, and then reaping them. The problem is that the adherents of your heresy aren't willing to leave everyone else out of your degeneracy.
'Aren't we supposed to be anti-natalists in the libertarian utopia? Why would you want kids in Libertarian Land? They're parasites, right?
Anything to be had through birthing children can be better accomplished by just importing adults who don't need 18 years of care or buying a dog, eh?'
Let me count the strawmen....
Pretty threatened by freedom, are you Kiv? Well, go back to your mommy and ask her what to do.
The first point isn't a strawman. It is spouted by people in support of abortion regularly, and is definitely supported by Ayn Raynd's "objectivism" that is often peddled in places like libertarian circles.
The point on immigrants is also dead-on if we take you fools seriously RE: Open Borders. "We need moar immugintz because of the aging population" is literally an argument pushed on places like Reason.
The Free State Project used to have a counter on their website, to show how many people had moved there. The counter was abruptly removed a year ago. Now we have only their word that the number of movers has doubled, and they aren't known for being trustworthy.
Anyone who thinks they can move to NH and "fix" the tax situation is delusional. The Free Staters are allied with the Republican Party, and the Republican Party controls the tax structure. The NH GOP regularly votes for policies that increase the property taxes. The Free Staters always join them.
Note to anyone who thinks this clown said something worthwhile: make sure you listen to the podcast.
Originally it was supposed to require 20K to sign up in 5 years (?) and then move. But they waived the deadline and eventually got to 20K signees, without ever confirming that the first several thousand were still interested.
How many are there now? How many moved vs. already living there? How many movers have left already?
Seems like they're making progress on some issues, even with only a few thousand.
No-one since Methuselah has ever lived that long.
I met Rachel at PorcFest. My impression was very positive. I think the Free State Project really has their act together, as do some of the adjacent projects/groups, like NHLA. I haven't been to Liberty Forum, but I strongly encourage anyone who has a chance to visit some of these New Hampshire events.
Wake me up when you want to give it a try in a state with a warmer climate - - - - - - - -
"All Arizona needs is water and lots of good people."
"That's all hell needs."
Eddy is a Catholic so that he never has to live in Arizona.
Nevada was on the list, but lost the vote.
"Liberty in our lifetime," requires discarding today's leftist infested Libertarian Party
and getting a real one.
> To be held February 7?9 of next year in Manchester, the gathering will be keynoted by Cody Wilson
Maybe not.
Hello! I'm 58, born in SF, grew up and spent most of my life in NYC until 2004, when I finally moved permanently to my property in Fitzwilliam NH (the Old Village Schoolhouse). By sheer coincidence, Varrin Swearingen and I were called for jury duty together in 2014- I think that he recused himself based upon a jury nullification argument... what a super cool guy, huh? Just wanted to say that the FSP is the grooviest... minarchists (Rand/Friedman/Hayek/Mises) and ancaps (Rothbard/Hoppe/Woods/Murphy), Austrian, Chicago and Public Choice econ schools of Econ are all welcomed and celebrated. Interesting ironic footnote: that most awful Statist collectivist Commie, Harry Dexter White, died here in Fitzwilliam... I'll stop ranting now. Love and Liberty to you all.
Medical HAMBURGERS! Love it!