Hello from New Hampshire!

[NHfarmgirl]

Greetings!

I'm a life-long resident of New Hampshire, married mother of two, in my thirties, a home/land owner, and a farmer. I have heard a lot about the Free Keene Movement and I'm curious.  I've obviously heard rumors, I've read about the movement online, I've talked to people on both sides of the coin (those who oppose the movement and those in favor) and I thought maybe it would be most productive to go directly to the source for clarification.  You now know about me... Tell me about you. 

[FTL_Ian]

Hello.  I'm one of the bloggers at FK and also a talk show host for a living.   How did you find this forum?

[NHfarmgirl]

I was talking with a friend and voiced what I was told were "gross misconceptions" about Free Keene, so he directed me to this forum. 

[FTL_Ian]

Can I help address some of those misconceptions?

[NHfarmgirl]

It's funny, but I'm undecided (after spending an uncharacteristically lazy day reading forum posts) about whether or not they were misconceptions.  In so many ways, I agree wholeheartedly with the Free Keene mission and in some ways, I feel as though it's a bit off track.  I think, in its early phases, the Free Keene movement was absurd in a lot of ways.  The issues being addressed weren't even blips on the radar in terms of importance (in my opinion).  Baring my breasts in public, drinking alcohol in downtown, wearing a hat in a courtroom- those were far from the monsters hiding under my bed keeping me awake at night.  But now, I'm seeing a more serious edge to the issues you address.  There's a bigger picture and you're starting to bring it into focus.  Here's where I stand...

This country is in a heap of shit.  We're looking at lots of enormous issues simultaneously and any one or combination of a couple will be enough to set us back two hundred years.  War (we're on the brink of WWIII- look up the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for reference), peak oil, collapse of the dollar, a massive government who's just itching to impose martial law, unemployment rates/the economy, etc.  Yeah, THOSE are the things that keep me awake at night.  You see it coming too and you're starting to scratch the surface, but you're not quite there yet.  What I'd love to see more focus on is how we as a community can help each other to prepare for and survive the coming turbulence.  Civil disobedience is (again, in my opinion) an annoyance which distracts from the larger issues at hand and actually ties up some brilliant minds with brilliant ideas and lots of energy while they hang out in a cage as "punishment" for doing something just to prove a point.  The truth is that this community NEEDS these people to be out and about educating the masses, waking them up, showing them how to prepare for what's coming.  How many people do you know who are capable of growing their own food?  How many people do you talk to who know how to build anything useful?  How many people do you talk to who would survive without electricity or running water or Walmart?  How many people do you talk to who even understand that a day is likely to come when they will NEED these basic skills in order to survive?  When gas is $8 a gallon and stores aren't able to get deliveries of basic necessities, will all of the people you know and care about be capable of sustaining themselves?  When there are bread lines in every major city, can you rest assured that those people will eat?  There is nothing we can do to stop the shit from hitting the fan.  We're past that.  The ridiculous idea of a Bearcat being considered for teeny tiny Keene, New Hampshire is proof of that.  We need to move past some of these issues and get ready for the shit/fan collision.  Yes, I agree, do what you can where you can to prevent such absurdity.  The Bearcat has (or had last I knew) been put on hold and Free Keene owns the lion's share of that victory.  "Think globally, act locally."  I'm totally with you there.  Just don't lose sight of the big picture.  Along with all of your other messages, it would behoove you to preach sustainability in the event that activism isn't enough to prevent the disruption of our relatively comfortable lifestyles. 

Please don't take this as harsh criticism.  It's not meant to insult you or negate your efforts.  I applaud you for simply having the balls to stand up for something.  That alone is more than many are willing to do these days.  Free Keene feels to me like a big ball of confined energy that's swelling and growing and is going to need bigtime focus when it breaks its bonds.  You're getting there and this community needs you. 

[KingAppalachia]

Wow. I couldn't have said it any better myself. I am in WV right now but will be moving to NH as part of the Free State Project within a few months. You hit it right on the head though. Being new to this forum I can already tell some people are uncomfortable with my "rhetoric." But I know we need to mobilize and prepare. Simply living free with a gun to your head isn't going to do it in the long run. Eventually someone is going to pull that trigger. We need to give ourselves some sort of upper-hand in this struggle other than being the peaceful beating post. There are still peaceful solutions to our problems, but we need to act quick, remain vigilant, organize, and mobilize our efforts into something positive in the long run.

[NHfarmgirl]

We can chain ourselves to trees all we want.  When the bulldozer comes to knock them down, we're fools if we think we won't move and the tree won't fall in the end.  We can't stop what's coming, but we can do everything in our power to prepare and do our best to stick it out.  THAT is where we need to focus and try to stop the bulldozer in between.  At this juncture, I'll be glad just to leave my kids a habitable planet.  Leaving them with anything more than that will be a bonus.

[FTL_Ian]

Thanks for the thoughts NHfarmgirl.  I understand that the early issues did not resonate with you, but there are thousands of people who are harmed by the enforcement of "crimes" with no victim.  For me, ending the war on peaceful people is a very important goal.

That said, certainly the BEARCAT is an issue that resonates with a larger swath of the population.  Sadly, the BEARCAT has not been stopped, but we have the chance to stop it.  Please, if you have not yet, call each city councilor and tell them how you feel about it.  Their phone numbers are all listed here on this flier:
http://thanksbutnotanks.fr33agents.com/thanks-but-no-thanks-flyer/

Many liberty activists are fully on board with lots of your concerns.  In fact, this weekend, Joel Salatin, the author of "You can farm" will be speaking at the 2012 Liberty Forum in Nashua.  Details here: http://freestateproject.org/libertyforum

Maybe I'll see you there!

[Auspicious Aspect]

This country is in a heap of shit.  We're looking at lots of enormous issues simultaneously and any one or combination of a couple will be enough to set us back two hundred years.  War (we're on the brink of WWIII- look up the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for reference), peak oil, collapse of the dollar, a massive government who's just itching to impose martial law, unemployment rates/the economy, etc.  Yeah, THOSE are the things that keep me awake at night.  You see it coming too and you're starting to scratch the surface, but you're not quite there yet.  What I'd love to see more focus on is how we as a community can help each other to prepare for and survive the coming turbulence.  Civil disobedience is (again, in my opinion) an annoyance which distracts from the larger issues at hand and actually ties up some brilliant minds with brilliant ideas and lots of energy while they hang out in a cage as "punishment" for doing something just to prove a point.  The truth is that this community NEEDS these people to be out and about educating the masses, waking them up, showing them how to prepare for what's coming.  How many people do you know who are capable of growing their own food?  How many people do you talk to who know how to build anything useful?  How many people do you talk to who would survive without electricity or running water or Walmart?  How many people do you talk to who even understand that a day is likely to come when they will NEED these basic skills in order to survive?  When gas is $8 a gallon and stores aren't able to get deliveries of basic necessities, will all of the people you know and care about be capable of sustaining themselves?  When there are bread lines in every major city, can you rest assured that those people will eat?  There is nothing we can do to stop the shit from hitting the fan.  We're past that.  The ridiculous idea of a Bearcat being considered for teeny tiny Keene, New Hampshire is proof of that.  We need to move past some of these issues and get ready for the shit/fan collision. 

Sustainability to feed the NH population is a fantasy; NH has never been self-sufficient in food, nor can it be at anything approaching the current population level.

If what you describes comes to pass, and in the absence of outside assistance, most people here will die, it's as simple as that. Any planning you do for that future has to take into account that you will need to sustain you and yours over time, and that you will be required to defend your sustenance from both hordes of starving people and the government, who will steal your food to feed their own families and those of their security forces. Remember that you can't both farm and defend at the same time, and that raiders can always concentrate a superior local force against farmers.

[NHfarmgirl]

Thanks for your reply, Ian.  I have spoken personally with members of the city council and have expressed my concerns about the Bearcat.  With one exception, I've been given the same song and dance most everyone else has received.  "It's a rescue vehicle and will come in handy when hikers lose their way on Monadnock, blah blah blah."  I'm sure it will. 

I'm very familiar with Joel Salatin's work and I wholeheartedly support his efforts.  I base a lot of how I farm my land on his principles (though on a much smaller scale).

As for "victimless crimes," I agree with your stance and I understand why you do what you do.  I just take issue with the idea of looking for trouble.  I disagree with a lot of the rules I have to follow on a daily basis, but the energy I would have to waste "paying" for my disobedience is energy better spent working toward abolishing such rules or even elsewhere doing something productive.  Does that make sense?  I have to try to squeeze 25 hours out of every day as it is. lol

[NHfarmgirl]

@Auspicious Aspect, the population is indeed VERY unsustainable and I've never held any kind of delusion that it might be otherwise- in New Hampshire or anywhere else.  Seven billion people is simply too damned many no matter where you live.  In a book I read two summers ago (the title and author of which I can't recall at the moment), it was determined that, with a population of 6 billion people and with x number of acres of arable land on earth, each person would be allowed 4.3 acres on which to sustain themselves.  This was referred to as each person's "fair earth share."  Obviously, both figures change exponentially on a daily basis, so that number was outdated probably as the book was being printed.  I can say this though, we have 10 acres with two adults and two children living on it and I can promise that this land would, without question, sustain us (in terms of food) for the rest of our lives.  When you get down to firewood and building materials etc., that certainty is a bit dicey.  If what I describe does come to pass, yes, many will die.  I hope with every ounce of my being that's a paranoid outlook and nothing of the sort will ever happen here, but the possibility of something along those lines occurring seems to loom larger with every stroke of the presidential ballpoint.  Even a fraction of that turbulence would be disastrous for us.  Defending my farm is something that has been considered and accounted for.  There are provisions in place to assure to the best of our ability that we'll be the only people who reap what we sow.  If it's the government we're up against, the only viable answer is to "bug out" and there are provisions in place for that eventuality as well.  With careful planning, it is possible to farm and defend.  As a mother, you can believe I'll do anything necessary to insure the safety, health and well-being of my children. 

All of that being said, I think more CSA efforts would be very wise.  I think people should peel themselves away from their idiot boxes and learn a useful skill or two.  I think paying a little extra money for durable goods is wise- our society is sickeningly disposable.  I think getting used to the idea of living without plastic would be a healthy decision (no, really- petroleum isn't going to last forever).  Learn which native plant species are edible.  Learn how to fire a gun and clean and prepare wild game.  Utilize renewable energy sources where possible.  Try going without electricity for a summer if you can.  Bike or walk to work when it's feasible.  Get to know your neighbors. Forge bonds with people who you'd be comfortable standing back to back with in a conflict.  Learn how to live as a community instead of finding new ways to draw lines in the sand between "us" and "them."  It's ALL good advice even in the best of times, but damn will it come in handy in the event of a collapse. 

[KingAppalachia]

The "trouble making" activism that you speak of can garner some attention and bring people into the movement. However we need to start getting serious about forging this new free society we all so desperately want. I am a philisophical anarchist in that I want to eventually see a society free of coercive state control. Many others who post here are self-proclaimed anarchists as well. But we must get real, even if we do creat a state-less soceity within the Shire we still have a Federal overlord that loves to use violent force and coercion. Thats why I argue for organization, mobilization, and advanced efforts so that we can have an upper hand at our own defense. I'm sorry if many people see that as me coming off as an aggressor... To them I only have to say have fun being led to the slaughter. I won't go so easily.

[NHfarmgirl]

Yeah, I don't agree.  This is where I butt heads with the Free Keene movement.  You see, getting arrested multiple times for the same infraction is, by definition, insane.  (Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.)  I tend to steer clear of insanity and would therefore, not be attracted to an entire movement where insanity was encouraged. lol  Clearly, there are a number of people who disagree with me and if they have enough spare time in their schedules to allow for preventable, predictable, avoidable run-ins with the police, then that's their deal.  I choose not to poke the tiger.  I go about my business quietly, politely, and as a result, have never had an experience with a law enforcement officer that I can legitimately call unfair or even unpleasant.  I'm not recognized by any police beyond those in my little town and I quite like it that way.  If I get pulled over, I won't be able to claim they were gunning specifically for me.  But that's me and that is subject to change depending on the situation.  This is something I've come to learn through the experiences of others who haven't fared so well.  There are bad seeds in every variety of fruit- police are no different. 

I won't label myself as any particular kind of anarchist.  Mostly, I'm just a simple farmer who would prefer to just be left alone to do as I please.  I'll vow until I'm blue in the face that I will not do anything to intentionally or unnecessarily harm the environment.  (My animals release methane- I get it.  Not much I can do about goat farts.)  I won't do anything to intentionally anger anyone else so long as they stay the hell out of my business.  That includes the police and government.  There are things we can do to safeguard ourselves against that sort of intrusion.  See the paragraph above for starters.  Again, there are always ways for them to weasel their ways into our lives uninvited and those situations need to be dealt with when they arise.  The National Animal Identification System was one such worry for me at one point in time.  Hell NO, I will NOT enter every animal on my farm into a government database.  Thankfully, that situation seems to have quieted down a bit.  Local regulations on stupid shit like where I put my manure pile are constant threats that I worry about.  My town just LOVES to meddle in that way, but again, I keep to myself, don't make waves, and no one bothers me.  They will eventually and they'll be dealt with appropriately when it happens. 

As for you being an aggressor goes, if it works for you, then rock on.  I prefer to quietly prepare for any eventuality and I encourage everyone I know to do the same.  I don't intend to be led to the slaughter either and foresight will be the biggest key in avoiding that scenario.  I consider us and likely everyone who is reading this to be miles ahead of the masses just by virtue of our state of consciousness.  We're awake, we're aware and we're planning accordingly. 

[KingAppalachia]

I wouldn't necessarily call myself an aggressor. Many on this forum would. I would love to live in a society without violence and state aggression. But I believe if we're going to do this whole activist thing, as most within the FSP are, when do we get to a point where we refuse to go to jail, refuse to be kidnapped and work together to prevent this sort of thing. I understand where you're coming from; you want to be left alone and I respect that. Many of us on here though are activists. I choose to put myself in the limelight. I choose to make waves. I live for the promotion of liberty and will die for it. Liberty is worth fighting for; we're losing more of it every day.

[Mesauna]

NHfarmgirl, I find myself split between your independent isolationism and the activist antics of FreeKeene.  I see positive and negative attributes in both camps.  While you hunker safely away on your plot of land preparing for the inevitable collapse, for which I applaud you wholeheartedly, the cancer that is government continues to grow.  Staying out of its way won't prevent it from one day finding you.  I assume you pay taxes on your land.  What would happen if you couldn't make that payment one year or even decided you just weren't going to pay it anymore?  That cancer that never bothers you would suddenly start bothering you and remind you that you really don't own that land at all.  All your hard work would be for naught because they would take it from you.  On the other hand, I would agree some of the stunts performed by the Keeniacs do seem pointless and unproductive at times, but I also see it as a great way to test the waters and find the most effective means possible to do combat with the enemy.  If anything, those antics are bringing national attention to the FSP.  And I do see some making changes in their strategy.  For example, Ian's plan to run for school board is a great idea in the right direction.  Fight the problem from within.  I hope it turns out well.  My biggest concern deals with any bridge burning that may be going on with the original residents.  Unless of course they are complete Statists and then I could care less.  My ultimate goal is to be a part of a society that will be able to keep its head after a collapse and recover swiftly.  The more independence from government and Bearcats, the better.
At the end of the day, like you, I just want to be left alone.  I hate politics but I hate the state interfering in my affairs even more.  So much so, that I'll involve myself in politics and activism in order to fight the man more effectively.