Live Free or Die

6 October 2003


Libertarians to Resettle New Hampshire

A libertarian group has hit upon an interesting idea; 5,000 of them have decided to move to New Hampshire to create a "free state." They hope to eventually number 20,000 and, by voting their principles, alter the political climate in their favor. As noble failures go, this is likely to prove one of the least harmful.

Utopianism is hardly new to America. For over 100 years, people were able to start fresh in the west, whether they were Mormons, socialists or simply anti-social. These libertarians chose the state over Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Delaware, South Dakota and North Dakota as the place where they want to try their hand at living by their ideals. The fact that it is pretty libertarian already didn't hurt, low taxes, lean government and a rugged individualism forced on its inhabitants by 10 months of winter per year. The state motto is "Live Free or Die."

That said, the math doesn't add up. New Hampshire has over 1.3 million people, and in the 2000 election cast 569,081 ballots for president and vice-president (according to the state's own website, http://www.state.nh.us/sos/general2000/sumpres.html). Of these, 2,757 were for the Libertarian ticket of Browne and Olivier, while Messrs. Bush and Cheney got 273,559 and Messrs. Gore and Lieberman scored 266,348. A sudden influx of 5-20,000 libertarians (if not Libertarians) would seem to suggest that they would hold the balance of power.

However, the Green ticket of Nader and LaDuke got 22,198 votes in New Hampshire -- a much more communitarian bloc. So, even if the 20,000 figure is achieved, the Libertarians will be as effective in New Hampshire as the Greens and they are likely to cancel each other out at an ideological level. While it is true that there is much common ground, and that on an issue-by-issue basis they could certainly work together, rarely does a true green co-exist in the same body as a true libertarian.

So as the libertarian mini-horde prepares to resettle New Hampshire, their suitcases should carry two items of extreme importance: a sense of perspective on the likelihood that they will change nothing, and a good pair of boots. Most likely, they will forget the former while packing the latter. They are, after all, ideologues.

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