101 Reasons You Should Move to New Hampshire (If You Love Liberty)
What
are the prospects for achieving greater liberty where you currently
live? If you are like many, the outlook is not good. The Free State
Project offers a solution: join thousands of other liberty-lovers who
are moving to New Hampshire, America's
freest state, and working together there to achieve
true liberty in our lifetime. Liberty is on the march in New
Hampshire thanks to Free State Project participants and a great
freedom-oriented political culture. If you care about liberty, we
want you to be a part of bringing the ideas of liberty into practice.
The
Free State Project seeks 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to New
Hampshire. We are looking for neighborly, productive, tolerant folks
from all walks of life, of all ages, creeds, and colors who agree to
the political philosophy that the maximum role of government is the
protection life, liberty, and property. It exists at most to protect
people’s rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish
them for activities that interfere with no one else.
The
purpose of this page is to highlight reasons why New Hampshire was
chosen as the destination of the Free State Project and give you a
sense of what you’ll be gaining by moving there. Topics covered are
New Hampshire's government,
politics,
economy,
geography,
and quality
of life.
Of
course, there’s no substitute for experiencing New Hampshire and
its pro-liberty activist community. If you are interested in visiting
New Hampshire, talking with current participants and movers, or
getting additional information about the Free State Project, please
email
us, call us at 888-377-2515, or post on our forum.
Ilya Somin is an Associate Professor at the George Mason University School of Law and is also a regular contributor at The Volokh Conspiracy, a group law blog.
In this Exploring Liberty lecture, Somin introduces the theory of political ignorance, which posits that the majority of the electorate doesn't have enough information to make fully-informed political decisions with the understanding that for most people this ignorance is perfectly rational. Somin counters several arguments that discount the effects of political ignorance and explains the implications of this idea on the movement for limited government.
Download the .mp3 version of this lecture here: http://bit.ly/McymK8
Ilya Somin is an Associate Professor at the George Mason University School of Law and is also a regular contributor at The Volokh Conspiracy, a group law blog.
In this Exploring Liberty lecture, Somin introduces the theory of political ignorance, which posits that the majority of the electorate doesn't have enough information to make fully-informed political decisions with the understanding that for most people this ignorance is perfectly rational. Somin counters several arguments that discount the effects of political ignorance and explains the implications of this idea on the movement for limited government.
Download the .mp3 version of this lecture here: http://bit.ly/McymK8
Government
#
|
Reason
|
Source
|
1
|
New Hampshire has no general sales
tax.
|
|
2
|
New Hampshire has no general
personal income tax. Dividends and interest are taxed at only 5%.
|
|
3
|
New Hampshire state law prohibits
the use of eminent domain for private use or private development.
|
|
4
|
New Hampshire offers some of the
least restrictive gun laws in the nation: no permit is required to
open carry and a concealed carry permit is available on a shall
issue basis.
|
|
5
|
New Hampshire is the only state
that does not have a mandatory seatbelt law for adults.
|
|
6
|
New Hampshire is one of only four
states that places no helmet restrictions on motorcyclists.
|
|
7
|
New Hampshire is the only state
that does not mandate automobile insurance (though 89% of NH
drivers have it).
|
|
8
|
New Hampshire has no capital gains
tax.
|
|
9
|
New Hampshire legislators are only
paid a salary of $100 per year, helping ensure the existence of a
citizen legislature committed to public service, unlike every
other state.
|
|
10
|
New Hampshire has one of the
smallest state bureaucracies.
|
|
11
|
New Hampshire's constitution is
one of only four state constitutions that expressly protect
citizens’ right to revolution (Section 1, Article 10).
|
|
12
|
New Hampshire offers the best
representation of any state in the nation with a 400-member House
of Representatives for a population of 1.3 million people.
|
|
13
|
New Hampshire's unique Executive
Council provides an additional check on the power of the Governor.
Support of the independently elected five member council is
required for state contracts over $5,000, high-level agency
appointments, and pardons.
|
|
14
|
New Hampshire has no inventory
tax.
|
|
15
|
New Hampshire has no tax on
machinery or equipment.
|
|
16
|
Reflecting New Hampshire’s
relationship and openness to the public, the state capitol
building has no metal detectors (and at 190 years old, is the
oldest state house in continual use).
|
|
17
|
New Hampshire is ranked 3rd for
receiving the least federal spending as a percentage of federal
taxes paid.
|
|
18
|
New Hampshire's constitution does
not specifically prohibit secession.
|
|
19
|
New Hampshire is one of the few
states that very lightly regulates raw milk sales.
|
|
20
|
New Hampshire is the only state
with no laws restricting knife ownership.
|
|
21
|
New Hampshire officials, from town
clerks to the state governor, are accessible to the public and
generally have a walk-right-in office policy.
|
Politics
#
|
Reason
|
Source
|
22
|
The Free State Project has been
endorsed by many in the pro-liberty community, including Ron Paul,
Penn Jillette, Peter Schiff, Lew Rockwell, and Walter Williams. In
addition, the FSP has received support from Judge Andrew
Napolitano, John Stossell and Neal Boortz.
|
|
23
|
New Hampshire culture still
reflects its famous motto, Live Free or Die.
|
|
24
|
Fourteen Free Staters are
currently serving as elected members of the State House of
Representatives. Free Staters have been elected as Democrats and
Republicans
|
|
25
|
New Hampshire has many
liberty-minded members in its state government unaffiliated with
the Free State Project.
|
|
26
|
New Hampshire offers small, easy
to canvass voting districts. Each member of the House of
Representatives represents about 3,300 people.
|
|
27
|
Dozens of successful, pro-liberty
organizations have been created and reinforced, addressing
education, taxes, guns, homeschooling, drugs, currency, and many
other issues. Whatever your interest, you will likely find an
existing group you can help or people willing to join you in the
creation of a new one.
|
|
28
|
New Hampshire has several gun
rights organizations (Gun Owners of New Hampshire, Second
Amendment Sisters, and Pro-Gun New Hampshire to name a few) that
successfully work to expand gun freedoms in NH and protect the
state’s shall-issue concealed carry permit process and free
open-carry laws.
|
|
29
|
New Hampshire is awash with
pro-liberty media. On the radio, there is Free Talk Live and the
Katherine Albrecht Show. Local TV stations broadcast Shire TV and
Capitol Access. Other NH-based media that spread liberty worldwide
include the Liberty Radio Network, Anarchy In Your Head, The
Liberty Conspiracy, Homeland Stupidity, the School Sucks podcast,
and The Ridley Report.
|
|
30
|
The NH Underground is an active,
peaceful civil disobedience network. This group has organized
activities such as conducting an open-carry litter pickup after
curfew, filming police encounters, producing radio, television,
and internet broadcasts.
|
|
31
|
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
(NHLA) is a non-partisan coalition working to increase personal
freedom through education and political action. They actively
lobby for and against legislation, rate legislators based on their
pro- or anti-freedom voting records, and recruit and train liberty
candidates.
|
|
32
|
New Hampshire has a large,
politically active, and rapidly growing homeschooling population.
|
|
33
|
New Hampshire's
first-in-the-nation primary provides significant leverage in the
national debate.
|
|
34
|
Communication with the NH liberty
community is a phone call away. Through Porcupine 411, reports of
speed traps and check points, political events, and news
as-it-happens are recorded and broadcast via email as audio file
attachments.
|
|
35
|
New Hampshire allows for fusion
candidates whereby an individual can be the listed on the ballot
as the candidate for more than one party. Several Libertarians
have been elected to office running as fusion Libertarians and
Democrats or Republicans.
|
|
36
|
Independent voters comprise 40% of
the New Hampshire electorate, attesting to the citizens' spirit of
independence and dissatisfaction with major parties.
|
|
37
|
New Hampshire has a long tradition
of local control through town meetings, where town citizens vote
on their budgets line-by-line, in the form of warrants.
|
|
38
|
New Hampshire has an active jury
nullification movement, which led to jury nullification bills
passing the House three times. A bill finally became law in 2012.
|
|
39
|
In 2003, then-New Hampshire
Governor Craig Benson signed up as a friend of the Free State
Project. He publicly voiced his support for the Free State Project
on numerous occasions.
|
|
40
|
Statewide officers in both the
legislative and executive branches are elected every two years,
giving voters the opportunity to clean house more often than in
other states.
|
|
41
|
New Hampshire local elections are
mostly nonpartisan.
|
|
42
|
Mainstream newspapers and
television stations have been receptive of and fair to the Free
State Project.
|
|
43
|
The Libertarian Party and members
of the Republican Liberty Caucus are very successful in New
Hampshire. They have both won many state and local elections.
|
|
44
|
New Hampshire was the first state
to adopt same-sex union legislation without a challenge to
existing law. Marriage between two adults, regardless of gender,
is now legal in New Hampshire.
|
|
45
|
New Hampshire rejected the Real ID
(national identification card) program. Free State Project
participants were crucial in securing this outcome.
|
|
46
|
Keene has become a hotbed for
liberty media and activism in America.
|
Economy
#
|
Reason
|
Source
|
47
|
New Hampshire offers the lowest
tax burden as a percentage of gross income in the nation.
|
|
48
|
New Hampshire is friendly to small
businesses and entrepreneurs. New Hampshire is frequently among
the top 5 in nationwide rankings of business-friendly states.
|
|
49
|
New Hampshire's median household
income of $63,942 is the highest in the country.
|
|
50
|
Early FSP movers have taken
advantage of the tremendous business climate in NH by starting a
number of successful businesses, including bars/restaurants, a
microbrewery, alternative currencies, construction companies, HVAC
contractor/reseller, real estate practice, freedom-oriented
bookstore, computer consulting, web hosting, radio/TV shows, and
non-profit organizations.
|
|
51
|
The Free State Project community
is gold/silver currency-friendly. As an example, Shire Silver is
used by many FSP participants as an alternative currency.
|
|
52
|
New Hampshire has a diverse
economy, making it hospitable to movers from many lines of work.
|
|
53
|
As of March 2011, NH unemployment
is 5.2%; US average is 9.2%; NH is 4th lowest in the country.
|
|
54
|
New Hampshire shares a border with
Canada, facilitating international trade and travel.
|
|
55
|
Manchester ranks #2 on Kiplinger's
list of Tax-Friendly Cities.
|
|
56
|
New Hampshire has the lowest
percentage of residents and children living in poverty in the
nation.
|
|
57
|
New Hampshire offers 5 Free Trade
Zones, including those at Manchester Airport and the Port of NH.
|
|
58
|
New Hampshire's overall per-capita
tax collection is $1,711, 2nd lowest in the nation
|
|
59
|
Even though New Hampshire
currently has the 4th lowest unemployment in the county, NH is
also ranked 9th for the number of new jobs forecast for 2011.
|
|
60
|
Retail businesses benefit from
proximity to Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Canada
as residents shop in New Hampshire to benefit from the lack of
sales tax.
|
|
61
|
New Hampshire receives the 3rd
lowest farm subsidy dollars from the Federal Government, 0.1% of
the total subsidy dollars handed out.
|
|
62
|
The Manchester-Nashua metro area
ranks 1st on the Forbes List of America's 100 Cheapest Places To
Live.
|
|
63
|
Portsmouth has the 10th lowest
unemployment rate out of 369 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and
thus is among the 30 Best Markets to Find a Job.
|
|
64
|
New Hampshire is ranked 9th in the
nation for percentage of high-tech jobs.
|
|
65
|
New Hampshire has a $0.196/gallon
tax on gasoline; $1.68/pack of cigarettes; $0.30/gallon of beer;
and zero tax on spirits and wine. These are among the lowest in
the region.
|
|
66
|
New Hampshire has an active and
diverse agricultural sector that ranges from livestock to dairy
products to apples to flowers.
|
Geography & Environment
#
|
Reason
|
Source
|
67
|
New Hampshire's relatively small
geographic size facilitates activism statewide and makes frequent
collaboration and meetings among FSP members possible.
|
|
68
|
New Hampshire offers abundant
water resources. The potential for water shortages in NH is
insignificant.
|
|
69
|
New Hampshire is considered at
very low risk for hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and forest
fires.
|
|
70
|
New Hampshire offers outdoor
activities throughout the year, including biking, bird watching,
boating, camping, climbing, fishing, golfing, going to the beach,
hiking, horseback riding, hunting, skate boarding, skiing, and
snowmobiling.
|
|
71
|
NH is a great place for hikers,
boasting 48 mountains with peaks higher than 4,000 feet, access
to the Appalachian Trail, and numerous trails of various
distances and difficulties throughout the state.
|
|
72
|
With its deep-water port on the
Atlantic Ocean, NH has access to worldwide trade markets.
|
|
73
|
New Hampshire enjoys all four
seasons. Fall foliage attracts tourists from all over; in winter,
snow-related recreational activities are popular; spring brings
blooming wildflowers and greenery galore; and in the summer,
outdoor festivals abound.
|
|
74
|
New Hampshire's location allows
the FSP to target the libertarian population living amongst the
13 million people in the other five New England states.
|
|
75
|
New Hampshire is home to the
tallest mountain in the Northeast, Mt. Washington, affording
100-mile views of three states and Canada.
|
|
76
|
Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey is the
3rd most-hiked mountain in the world.
|
|
77
|
New Hampshire is a state with
breathtaking beauty and scenery - the ocean, lakes, mountains,
forests, rivers, picturesque New England towns, covered bridges,
and historical homes.
|
Quality of Life
#
|
Reason
|
Source
|
78
|
New Hampshire has an active
pro-liberty social community. Participants host weekly events
like Social Sundays, Nashua Liberty Social, and holiday parties,
along with weekly and monthly mixers. Your social calendar will
always be full!
|
|
79
|
New Hampshire has been ranked #1
in the nation for quality of life and livability 5 years in a
row.
|
|
80
|
New Hampshire is the safest state
in the country.
|
|
81
|
New Hampshire is the 2nd
healthiest state in the nation.
|
|
82
|
New Hampshire is ranked 1st for
health care quality.
|
|
83
|
New Hampshire has the 3rd fewest
fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
|
|
84
|
New Hampshire is ranked 1st
nationally in the index for child well-being.
|
|
85
|
New Hampshire is the least
expensive state in which to own a vehicle.
|
|
86
|
The annual New Hampshire Liberty
Forum and Porcupine Freedom Festival attract hundreds of liberty
lovers from around the country.
|
|
87
|
New Hampshire offers many
private/non-government schooling options, including home schools,
Montessori schools, Waldorf schools, religious schools, boarding
schools, and traditional private high schools.
|
|
88
|
New Hampshire has the highest
standard of living in the country (based on poverty rate
2007-2009)
|
|
89
|
New Hampshire residents rank #1
in knowledge of fundamental economics and financial concepts.
|
|
90
|
New Hampshire has the lowest teen
pregnancy rate.
|
|
91
|
New Hampshire 4th graders ranked
1st place in a national science assessment test.
|
|
92
|
New Hampshire offers hundreds of
private, non-profit organizations ranging from food banks, to
youth mentoring, to health services.
|
|
93
|
New Hampshire is home to 23
accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities, including
Ivy League member, Dartmouth. New Hampshire also offers several
trade schools.
|
|
94
|
New Hampshire is home to people
of all religions and as well as those who are non-religious. The
New Hampshire population is among the most religiously tolerant,
with 73% believing that other religions can lead to eternal life.
|
|
95
|
Air transportation to and from
New Hampshire is facilitated by 118 registered airports, 64
registered heliports, and 6 registered sea plane bases.
|
|
96
|
New Hampshire offers modern,
extensive cellular and Internet infrastructures and statewide
access to low-cost, high-speed Internet. Fiber Optics (FiOS)
service available in select areas.
|
|
97
|
New Hampshire offers
extraordinary opportunities for black bear, coyote, bobcats,
moose, white-tailed deer, and beaver hunting as well as deep-sea,
river, lake and even ice fishing.
|
|
98
|
In addition to many small and
unique family-owned businesses, most large, national chain stores
are within short driving distance.
|
|
99
|
New Hampshire has a plethora of
gun clubs throughout the state.
|
|
100
|
New Hampshire offers an
incredibly diverse mix of communities. Whether you are interested
in living in a city, in the suburbs, on a farm, by the beach, in
the mountains, or on a lake, you can find your dream home in New
Hampshire.
|
|
101
|
Being in New Hampshire as part of
the Free State Project offers the added benefit of knowing you
are part of something historic. Rather than just talking about
liberty and accepting your loss of freedoms, you will be an
active participant in making history, achieving Liberty in Our
Lifetime!
|
As the federal government and states struggle with the best ways to
boost prosperity, a new study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason
University "Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic
Freedom," takes a comprehensive look at states' public policies that
affect individual freedom in economic, social and personal areas. The
study is a follow up to the first "Freedom in the 50 States" in 2009.
Visit the Mercatus Center at: http://mercatus.org/
Visit the Mercatus Center at: http://mercatus.org/
Download Full Free Pdf Report Here: http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/Freedom_in_the_50_States.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment