

Free State Project tries to hack NH government - ilamont
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/05/29/antigovernment_activists__putting_down_roots_in_nh/?page=1

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sp332
"But some say the tactics have taken on a menacing hue, such as when Free
Staters have gathered on the streets of downtown Keene with holstered guns on
their waists, visible on their waists."

This is hardly menacing. It's legal in NH to carry a firearm. You don't even
need a license to carry unconcealed weapons, and a concealed carry permit is
very easy to obtain. This is only news to a Massachusetts news outlet like
Boston.com.

~~~
Semiapies
"holstered guns on their waists, visible on their waists"

I'm certainly not against people having jobs in this lousy economy, but it
kinda bugs me that someone got paid to write this article and someone else got
paid to edit it.

"More fundamentally unnerving, some say, is the Free Staters' efforts to
secure government positions, with the goal of whittling down or eliminating
them."

"Some" say? _Who_ say?

~~~
tjic
> "Some" say? _Who_ say?

"Some say" is code. It means "I, the journalist, think so, and I bet that I
could find at least one person to agree with me, therefore I will insert my
political bias into the story in a way that isn't _totally_ obvious to a naive
reader".

~~~
Semiapies
It _can_ mean other things, but I can't think of any justification _more_
savory for that sort of blithe vagueness.

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natrius
_"[Free Staters hope] to end the use of parking meters"_

So they want to eliminate user fees in favor of free access to community
property? That sounds like socialism, not libertarianism. In most places,
parking fees should be _higher_ to eliminate shortages, as well as the extra
traffic and pollution caused by people circling the block to find an open
spot.

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ilamont
I thought it was interesting that the author identified many of the members of
this movement as programmers. Why would this movement and its strategy and
tactics appeal to programmers in particular?

~~~
smanek
Programmers (and people in quantitative fields in general) are hugely over
represented as libertarians.

I would say it's because they are able to objectively evaluate systems and
come to better decisions - but that would be revealing my biases ;-)

~~~
hexis
They are also more comfortable with, and probably overly confident in, formal
systems.

~~~
Semiapies
Those sorts seem to like _more_ government, not less. I suspect it's more an
artifact of the time - government still tends to tread rather clumsily in the
tech arena, making a lot of geeks warier of it than they would otherwise be.

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sp332
"More fundamentally unnerving, some say, is the Free Staters' efforts to
secure government positions, with the goal of whittling down or eliminating
them."

Not even joking, that's my whole plan if I ever get elected President!

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ciscoriordan
"...or refusing to remove a couch from a lawn"

This is actually making me appreciate the government's existence more.

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DanielBMarkham
Flash back 150 years or so. Would any of their antics have raised an eyebrow?

EDIT: If you think a long time ago these things would have been okay, is the
big deal now because this group is so far behind the times, or are that the
laws are out of touch with fundamental principles?

~~~
anigbrowl
A mentor of mine once wrote that 'politics is the stench that comes off a
decaying religion'. Neither social institution has much of a plan for adapting
to innovation, other than asserting the right to control it.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
I guess the obvious question is "what stench comes off no religion?"

But wait -- we already have that answer. Wasn't the 20th century great?

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jhancock
"Like Ghandi, like Martin Luther King, we need to educate and enlighten the
public," said Miller, who joined the Free State movement after breaking up
with his fiancée.

uhh...yeah. I think these emancipated white boys are a far cry from Ghandi and
King.

~~~
dantheman
If Ghandi was killed @ the same age as MLK or Malcom X no one would know,
except as a lawyer -- Not be belittle Ghandi, but understand that sometimes
things take a long time.

These people are fighting perhaps a greater struggle since the injustice is
not as blatantly obvious;and by greater I don't mean that the injustice is
worse, of course segregation etc is worse. The fact that the injustices are
less obvious, less in your face, less outright atrocious, makes it harder to
fight back.

