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Iused to say that a libertarian is just a Republican who wants to smoke pot and watch porn. That was before I attended a Bob Dylan concert in Laconia some years ago. Shortly after the concert began, a young woman two rows in front of me stood up. She continued to stand throughout the concert. Never mind that everyone around her was seated.

I asked the man sitting in front of me to ask the woman to kindly sit because she was blocking people’s views. She continued to stand. I asked an usher to ask her to sit. He spoke to her and walked away, the offending woman still standing. I called the usher over and he told me the woman said she will stand if she wants to because it is her right; there was nothing the usher could do about it.

Apparently this phenomenon is fairly common, because around that time it was lampooned on “Saturday Night Live.” At that concert, she was one of perhaps 10 scattered audience members standing. When I regularly attended concerts in the 1960s and ’70s the audience would either collectively stand or sit. That’s when I realized my original assessment of libertarians was wrong, since even the staunchest Republican I know would have the courtesy to sit down.

Libertarians say they espouse the rights of the individual, which always seemed to me to be just a political way of saying me first, second and third and the hell with everyone else.

Now we have the Free State Project in New Hampshire. When the movement was founded in 2001, the organizers did not know where they wanted to settle. So they did the democratic thing: They voted. Other states considered included Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and Vermont. Largely because of New Hampshire‘s Yankee individualist culture, we won. Lucky us.

Interestingly, a Christian fundamentalist group called Christian Exodus has promoted a mass migration of fellow fundamentalists to South Carolina to escape, according to their Web site, the “moral degeneration of American culture.” The Christian Exodus people claim they used the Free State Project as a model. They have chosen to move to and influence of the politics of South Carolina. Lucky South Carolina.

When the Free Staters began coming here a few years ago, they were more or less a curiosity, like a cat walking on its hind legs. I figured I’d give them a chance; maybe they’ll synchronize the traffic lights on West Street.

Free Staters say they are similar to but not identical to libertarians, but I can’t tell the difference. Both favor limited government regulation, especially of guns and mind-altering substances. There is some legitimacy to these viewpoints. The war on drugs has not worked, and the decriminalization of marijuana would permit police to spend more time catching more dangerous persons. And with so many guns in circulation, it makes sense that citizens have the right to keep guns in their homes for self-protection.

Yet, the Free Staters support limited government to the point that that their concept of victimless acts is questionable. Who decided what act is victimless? Is smoking cigarettes in a crowded restaurant a victimless act? I don’t believe it is.

As for firearms, gun rights advocates say gun control laws hurt law abiding citizens. Flash back to this past spring, when every headline seemed to read, “Another day, another shooting spree.” It seems that all these shooters were law abiding citizens until they began murdering people.

Can’t there be a common sense approach to such issues? If someone is blocking your view, can’t he or she just sit down?

Indeed, in some areas, the Free State Project appears to celebrate extremism. The New Hampshire Free Press, one of the project’s media outlets, quotes Barry Goldwater’s famous statement about extremism not being a vice. The project has promoted regional appearances by both a speaker from the 9-11 truth movement as well as John Birch Society President John F. McManus, described on its Web site as “one of our country’s most influential Patriots (sic).”

Here in the Monadnock Region, Free Stater Sam Miller sits in the county jail because he refuses to give his name, even though his name is the worst kept secret in the Monadnock Region. Miller’s action stems from his refusal to turn off his video camera in the Keene District Court lobby on April 13. Keene District Court Judge Edward J. Burke refuses to schedule a date for Miller’s trial until Miller gives police his name. According to The Keene Sentinel, the cost to keep Miller in jail has reached thousands of dollars. So wasting taxpayers’ money is victimless?

A classic Peanuts comic strip from the early 1960s, and rerun in the Sentinel a few weeks ago, depicts Snoopy standing upside down on his doghouse. Charlie Brown explains to Lucy that Snoopy is protesting the way humans are ruining the world for animals. He adds that Snoopy is going to continue to stand on his head until those wrongs have been righted. Charlie Brown asks Lucy what she thinks. “Pretty stupid!” she replies. Snoopy is then seen sprawled on his doghouse thinking, “That’s what I thought all along, but I didn’t want to say anything!”

Sentinel columnist Michael Schuman lives in Keene.

First and only comment at the time of this posting is:

A Libertarian wrote on May 31, 2009 2:28 PM:

” I am a registered Libertarian…… I am not a Free Stater! I detest what some of the Free Staters do to attract attention. I have made remarks to the Libertarian Party and told them that if they do not separate themselves from the Free Staters that they would most likely lose members, including me. So, please do not put all Libertarians on the same lists as the Free Staters. “

I wasn’t aware that the New Hampshire Free Press was a Free State Project media outlet. I was under the impression that it was run by Russell and Kat Kanning.

And just so everyone knows “Seninel” and “columnst” are spelled wrong in the original title.

Related posts:

1. Sam Dodson’s response to Seninel columnst Michael Schuman’s criticism of the Free State Project
2. The Boston Globe: The appeal of ‘Live free or die’ – Antigovernment activists putting down roots in N.H.
3. Keene Sentinel: Free Staters raising profile
4. Keene Sentinel: Testing the system behind bars, Free Stater chides court, gains recruits
5. Keene Sentinel: Free Stater convicted for pot

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