Secession: NHexit & Foundation for New Hampshire Independence

Now that the Free State Project has reached its goal of 20,000 signers pledging to move to New Hampshire to create a truly free society, many of the movers already in NH are now focusing their attention on secession. Just as New Hampshire was the first to declare its independence from the tyrannical British government more than two centuries ago, people in the “Live Free or Die” state are now setting their sights on exiting the tyrannical reach of the U.S. federal government, especially after the success of the widely covered Brexit campaign.

Two local organizations are taking the reins here: NHexit.com and the Foundation for New Hampshire Independence. Former Free State Project president Carla Gericke has recently stepped in as the new president for the Foundation for New Hampshire Independence, and famed reporter Dave Ridley of RidleyReport.com is heading up the #NHexit secession efforts.

Join us at these NHexit events:
July 11, 2016 @ 3pm: Pro-NH Independence / Anti-Hillary rally at the FBI building in Bedford NH
July 22, 2016 @ 3pm: “DC out of NH” demonstration in Portsmouth, NH

In addition to helping organize several pro-independence events this month, Dave wrote up this excellent piece on New Hampshire secession and has graciously allowed us to post it.

Secession & New Hampshire Independence: Get DC out of NH!

During the last seven decades, New Hampshire has suffered over a dozen wasteful, sadistic DC administrations. Each have misruled and weakened us from their distant swamp, providing taxation in return for little more than a pretense of representation. Not one of these has left office with a smaller government than it inherited. Accountable in name only, Washington has used our money to undertake abuses ranging from medievalist torture chambers in Afghanistan to the confiscation of lawfully borne firearms in New Orleans. They have turned our rivers orange and seas black. More recently and locally, they have arrested or helped prosecute various edgy-but-harmless New Hampshirites…from the colorful pot guru Rich Paul to Rochester Bundy supporter Jerry DeLemus.

Now, we face the specter of domination by one of two tyrants, either full of ominous promise, both positioned to be uniquely authoritarian figures in our history. It’s time to discuss an “outside the box” alternative, one that does not hope to fix or operate upon the rotted Federal system…one which, rather, harnesses that rot as a source of fuel for escape. Independence from the U.S. is a contentious concept, but its chances of eventual success seem better than those of the hapless third parties and liberty PACs. Reuters reports that 24% of Americans already want their states to leave the union.

There’s no good reason for NH to remain inside the Federal Titanic. The bad reason most commonly cited is usually something along the lines of “they’ll hurt you.” There’s truth in this, but threats and fear of retaliation are reasons for us to leave, not reasons to stay. And the path to independence is not necessarily complex. It is already underway. In 2012, the NH State House passed HR25… which reads:

“…all compulsory federal legislation that directs States to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires States to pass legislation or lose federal funding are prohibited.”

Washington is in continual violation of at least the spirit of this resolution; Fed funding/withholding is at the core of its control over states. So some of us would like state reps to take the next step, perhaps drawing up a declaration of independence or simple bill that would peaceably end Washington rule here. This would need to be submitted multiple times before winning. But it’s the move which strikes at the root, rather than the branches, of the misrule we suffer. Even in “failure to pass,” independence drives partially succeed. Scotland and Quebec are treated more cautiously by their central governments because they have strong (technically unsuccessful) autonomy movements. London and Ottawa hesitate to commit abuses in those areas for fear the restless provinces will become breakaway nations. Developments in the U.S. Federal system are a reminder: If we want to be treated cautiously, we need a growing independence movement here as well.

— Dave Ridley, NHexit.com

Additional reading: 
“NHexit calls for secession” [Concord Monitor]