DATE: Saturday, April 5, 2025
AUTHOR: Hon. Eric Brakey - Executive Director, Free State Project

It's nice to live in a state where liberty wins (even when it upsets state worshippers).

This past weekend, I read an amusing piece by a local state house reporter, complaining:

“The state has gradually changed and ironically you can almost pinpoint the beginning to the arrival of the ‘libertarians’ of the Free State Project and true to their word quickly involved themselves in government on many levels from the State House to the local school and planning boards." - Garry Rayno, InDepthNH.org, March 29, 2025

This journalist went on to complain about a “libertarian agenda,” which has captured the state legislature and is doing — doing such horrible things as:

(1) abolishing income taxes,
(2) protecting property rights, and
(3) expanding school choice.

As if to add to the howling, the libertarian-led NH House of Representatives announced this week plans to cut an additional $200 million from the state budget.

They are targeting many sacred cows for cuts, including university subsidies, the State Arts Council, and the NH Human Rights Commission.

The resulting public and private gnashing of teeth by progressives has been a regular experience since I made my move.

Just last week, at my local coffee shop, we overheard Congressman Chris Pappas and local Democrat legislators complaining about all the Free Staters moving into the area.

To be fair, I understand why those who love state power are frustrated, but it is humorous to hear so many complaints from progressives that Free Staters are "changing New Hampshire."

After all, it is Congressman Chris Pappas who publicly called for dropping the "Live Free or Die" state motto.

Mr. Pappas and his progressive allies want the Granite State to progress away from its historic values of freedom, in the same manner every other New England state has been captured by their suicidal ideology.

Meanwhile, the change Free Staters bring is a restoration of those libertarian values hearkening back the Pine Tree Riot, which kicked off the American Revolution and established New Hampshire independence.

After twenty-two years, the momentum of the Free State Project continues bringing movers, building institutions, and bending the trajectory of New Hampshire toward liberty.

Tom Woods Is Moving to New Hampshire

On my weekly podcast, the Porcupine Report, I recently spoke with Tom Woods (podcast host, NY Times bestselling author, and FSP patron).

During our discussion, I asked him what he thought of the success of the libertarian concentration strategy in New Hampshire.

Tom had a few choice words for statists, like Rayno and Pappas, upset they are losing the ability to command others with state power:

BRAKEY: “What do you think of the concentration strategy approach?”
WOODS: “Well, I mean, it makes sense. It works. Stalin wanted to create internal difficulties in the Baltic states, so he flooded them with ethnic Russians. And he figured that will disrupt the way things are run.
“Well, what if you bring a bunch of libertarians somewhere? That will disrupt the way things are run! And maybe not in a way that's welcome to the people on the receiving end.
“But the thing is, the kind of disruption we bring is a disruption to stop using violence to get your way, you know — stop using the state to get your way. If the things that you want are really worthy, you can persuade people to support them.
“So I don't feel sorry for people who live in New Hampshire, and then suddenly a bunch of Free Staters show up. Serves them right for thinking they can get their way through coercion.
“So it does work and I do think that it's a good strategy for people, as you say, who are in the minority... And, you know, in these cases we're not a particularly admired minority. So we can either sit and deplore that situation or we can do something about it by taking advantage of the fact that we have each other.”

During our conversation, Tom Woods also confirmed his plans to move to the Free State by 2032.

BRAKEY: “You've recently announced that you've got a long-term plan to move to New Hampshire at some point in the future. Could you tell folks a little bit about that?”
WOODS: “Yeah, it's a bit in the future. It's about seven years off. But you think about it: 2018 was seven years ago. That doesn't seem impossibly long ago. As you get older, for some reason the years seem to go by a lot faster. But yeah, that's my plan, when my youngest daughter turns 18.
“I've lived around the country, and I've visited every single one of the 50 states. And as much as I have enjoyed and appreciated all those places, I have never found anywhere that felt like home the way New England feels to me. Regardless of the politics: the feeling of home you have has nothing to do with any of that.
“I still have a little bit of family up there, but it's mostly that I still have a lot of friends there. I think about the food that's unique to New England, and the attractions, and I still have sympathy for the old teams that we rooted for. I've always felt a little bit like a fish out of water not living there. So I'd like to be there.
“But although I grew up in Massachusetts, I ain't giving those people a dime in terms of income taxes. I just can't do it. I just refuse. Not to mention there's a surtax: if you're extra successful, they come at you again. They should be punished for that. They should be punished for being that envious and savage and dumb and self-defeating as to implement a policy like that.
“I have some New Hampshire towns in mind. That is my plan.”

I'm sorry to inform Chris Pappas and Garry Rayno that more Free Staters are coming, including Tom Woods.

We look forward to throwing more welcome wagons!

While Tom plans his move, all of us at the FSP are actively welcoming libertarians right now for our upcoming events: the 2025 NH Liberty Forum (April 24-27) and PorcFest XXII (June 16-22).

2025 NH Liberty Forum

To promote deeper exploration in our "Liberty-For-Real" Dialogue Series, ten presenters will address challenges faced by emerging free societies with proposed solutions — followed by an interactive brainstorming session with participants.

In the meanwhile, CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets for the 2025 New Hampshire Liberty Forum.

One of the speakers you will hear on the Liberty Forum main stage this year is **Rep. Keith Ammon**, who was recently featured in Bitcoin Magazine.

A leading voice in the New Hampshire House of Representatives on Bitcoin policy, Rep. Ammon will be speaking to the conference about his legislation proposing a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" for the state.
In his interview, he spoke about his own participation in the Free State Project and the role the NH Liberty Forum had on his political involvement and public advocacy:

AMMON: “I heard about something called the Free State Project in 2004, and I moved up to New Hampshire to be part of that. Years later, I attended an event called Liberty Forum, which is an annual event put on by the Free State Project.
“In 2011, there were a bunch of anarchists that didn’t like the agenda of the forum — it was too corporate for them. So, they rented a couple of rooms at the hotel where the event was held and they had their own event, which they called the ‘Alt Expo.’
“I wandered into it and just happened to sit in the room. There were maybe six people there. They had a slide projector and they were talking about the precursor to Ripple, or XRP, which was RipplePay. It was pre-blockchain, but it was some kind of system of nodes and you would lend people money and IOUs would flow back and forth.
“It just didn’t click for me, though. But I kept in touch with that small group of people, and, a few months later, the idea of Bitcoin popped out of another discussion with them. I remember being like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. This is the thing that is going to change the world.”

**Speaking of Alt Expo, I want to thank this year's organizers for returning to Liberty Forum as an official sponsor of the conference.**

On Saturday, April 26, Alt Expo will have their own room at Liberty Forum, offering their own schedule of speakers in parallel with the official programing of the conference.
All LF25 ticket holders are welcome to visit their events.

Grab your tickets for the 2025 New Hampshire Liberty Forum before they are gone!

PorcFest XXII

With PorcFest XXII fast approaching (June 16-22), we are boosting our marketing (with advertising through Reason Magazine and the Tom Woods Show) to invite libertarians around the world to join us in at Rover's Campground to "Taste the Revolution!"

We have a fantastic-line-up of speakers. See a few of them for yourself:

In keeping with our theme, we are restoring an old tradition: the "One Pot Cook-Off" is BACK at PorcFest!

Join us on June 19th at 5:00 p.m. to sample food from chefs all over the campground.

Join us for the 22nd annual Porcupine Freedom Festival this June 16-22, 2025!

This week on the Porcupine Report, I was joined by PorcFest XXII co-producer, Amy Norris, to discuss what we are preparing and excited for this year.

**Porcupine Report #58:**
**“PorcFest is Coming!” with Amy Norris**
Amy Norris joins the program to talk about all things PorcFest! She discusses her experiences at the event, the diverse groups of people who attend, and the key themes explored there, such as personal freedom, voluntary exchange, and self-sufficiency. She shares memorable moments and interactions from the festival, illustrating the community-driven atmosphere and how PorcFest provides a space for people to connect, share ideas, and collaborate on projects.
Listen to the full episode!

This week, on social media, I loved seeing PorcFest enthusiasts get creative with AI image generators, designing unofficial posters and turning classic PorcFest photos into anime.

Do you have a favorite one?

It is my honor to serve as Executive Director of the FSP, and I hope to see you at both the NH Liberty Forum and the Porcupine Freedom Festival.

If you would like to support our continued outreach efforts, then please CLICK HERE to become a patron of the Free State Project.

Thank you for supporting our mission to achieve "Liberty in Our Lifetime" — one new mover at a time.

Please read on for more of our weekly update from the Free State, prepared by our Communications Director, Mahgdalen Rose.

For Liberty!
Hon. Eric Brakey
Executive Director
Free State Project