Free State Update

I like local government. I agree with the idea that, on most issues, towns and cities are best left to work out their own solutions. Likewise, the farther a branch of government is from direct citizen oversight, the weaker the hold it ought to have on individual behavior.

I think smaller states are more likely to have freer and more effective government for this very reason. It's one of the many things I like about New Hampshire. I am not the only one to think so. There's a group, dubbed "The Free State Project," which recently chose the Granite State as its resettlement destination. The goal is to get 20,000 people to move to the state and preserve (or enhance) the state's decentralized politics.

Here's an update:

To date, several hundred people have moved to the Granite State from other places and 7,500 people have signed up to participate in the project. "We realize to get to 20,000 is years away," Swearingen said.

But already some of the members who have moved to New Hampshire have been successful, he said.

One member successfully sponsored legislation passed last year ending the requirement for state approval of home school curricula, Swearingen said.

And he noted last year's defeat of the proposed smoking ban in restaurants and the state's push for real ID or a national identification card.

Libertarians are an interesting bunch. Since they are (admirably) consistent, most people agree with them only half the time. For example, when the government is going to regulate something you like, you agree with the libertarian stand. When the government is going to regulate something you dislike, you disagree with the libertarian stand.

What better argument for libertarianism could there be than that?