If you give your word you should follow through on your commitment. Whatever political, religious, or ethical system of belief you hold this is usually the main tenet.

Claire Wolfe, the freedomista novelist and blogger, has now officially bailed on the Free State Project she says in her blog. The FSP gave a deadline for 20,000 FSP adherents to move to New Hampshire. As the deadline occurs, they are a bit short. Well actually they are way short of the threshold number. So in good conscience she can now demur without it being a renege on her promise.

“Now,” says Claire, “like a government program that begins with a limited, worthy-sounding goal, the FSP seems merely interested in continuing its own existence despite obvious inability to achieve its aims. And the less you actually have to offer your members, the more you expect your members to give to you.”

I was very interested and enthusiastic about the FSP until they picked New Hampshire. That state may have a long tradition of individualism and self-reliance but as the Massholes and New Yawkers and others stream in every increasing numbers (along with their statist mentality and political preferences) the Granite State ethos becomes more and more a wistful memory rather than an actual practice.

Too bad for the rest of us too. The FSP was about the last best chance for “freedom in our lifetime” that I saw here in America.

--Ali Massoud