Also, I just want to clarify upon one thing. The goal of a free city project wouldn't be to secede right away. It would mainly be an educational project, gathering a gaggle of Austrians together in one place, and using our combined energies to accelerate the pace of education regarding economics and libertarian philosophy in that city, creating a stronghold for those ideas and an educated citizenry to uphold them. Entrepreneurs would deliver new means of private security and law services. Naturally, some among us would want to take control of local politics, and if we had the numbers, we could do just that. To the furthest extent possible, we would repeal local taxes, laws, and regulations. The size of the city government would be downsized to just a handful of people, possibly even volunteers, running the city in a nominal role. The police forces would be phased out and competition in the form of private security would be encouraged and legalized. All of the city run courts would be either closed or privatized, with private arbitration services recommended as the preferred solution to disputes. Perhaps, in order to keep up the charade that the city government is still running things, and as to not be a threat to the federal government, one city court could still be operated, albeit by volunteers, and funded by charity. The ideal that we would work towards is the Pennsylvania colony shortly after its founding, where while it did have a government building, it wasn't staffed most of the year, and they for all practical purposes had anarchy.
If that can be accomplished, and then one day, whether by crisis or circumstance, the opportunity for secession arises, then the city secedes.
I've been to Alabama, and I've been to New Hampshire. Just from a superficial perspective, I'd rather live in NH any day. Someday, either the FSP, or the 2nd Vermont Republic, as soon as the house is payed off.
No offense to Mises but I think selecting a city solely based on where Mises is located is illogical.
Some logical considerations could be:
1) State constitution. Lack of state income or other oppressive state taxes.
2) Legal structure of local governments and powers delegated in state law to counties and municpalities.
3) Climate and/or resources.
4) Market access (ports, airports, roads, etc.)
5) Size of population in relation to size of mover pool.
Why not cherry pick to the greatest extent possible if it is to be a voluntary choice?
Live_Free_Or_Die: No offense to Mises but I think selecting a city solely based on where Mises is located is illogical.
Perhaps.
JosephBright:Precisely. In other words, they discovered that the costs of governing the colonies outweighed the potential benefits, and they gave up. A group of people in a city that is considering secession can take measures to ensure that the costs of the state reasserting dominance over the city comes at a high cost, and therefore, act as a deterrent. This was my point from the beginning. It doesn't even have to be military in nature. For instance, a well-directed PR campaign could paint the state in a very negative light if they try to regain control over the city. Or the secession could be undertaken during a time when the state is broke, and can't finance the retaking of the city.
That’s basically the reason why no one thinks about invading Switzerland: difficult to hold, difficult to get, and an asset even if independent (free trade and all).
Worse than illogical, it's dangerous. If the attempt fails, the Mises Institute will be destroyed.
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How does Texas sound? afaik they have no corporation tax, fairly varied weather zones, good gun laws (which would make PDAs easier to organise), and are net exporters of oil.
Fred Furash: How does Texas sound? afaik they have no corporation tax, fairly varied weather zones, good gun laws (which would make PDAs easier to organise), and are net exporters of oil.
If you're going to become a secessionist, why do you care what the local laws and tax rates are?
Stranger: If you're going to become a secessionist, why do you care what the local laws and tax rates are?
Because as Joseph said, secession doesn't just happen overnight, you need to build up businesses that provide alternatives to government services, and only then secede when the opportune time comes (e.g. when the State goes bankrupt, or during the next recession, or since they may coincide, during both). Otherwise your anarchy will just start up as chaos, and how many people will you win over to the cause then?
Stranger: Fred Furash: How does Texas sound? afaik they have no corporation tax, fairly varied weather zones, good gun laws (which would make PDAs easier to organise), and are net exporters of oil. If you're going to become a secessionist, why do you care what the local laws and tax rates are?
The more money you get to keep, the more you can exert an influence over an area, and the more successful libertarian oriented enterprises will be.
Libertarian entrepeneurship will win the day, not libertarian politics.
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Okay, so it seems like Auburn is a bit unrealistic. Any ideas of a city with the following characteristics:
- Not landlocked, preferably has a port
- Small population, no greater than 50,000
- Low taxes, etc.
- Cheap housing
What about Keene, NH? freekeene.com
At most, I think only 5% of the adult population would need to stop cooperating to have real change.
Spideynw: What about Keene, NH? freekeene.com
Yeah, it would probably make more sense to choose a city in NH.
kiba: The more money you get to keep, the more you can exert an influence over an area, and the more successful libertarian oriented enterprises will be.
If you're going to reject the law, you can keep all your money.
I don't think you can really select an area until there is some idea of how many people are interested and obtain input from the interested parties. If it is not a lot of people Keene might make sense. If there are many people interested somewhere else might make more sense.
Stranger: kiba: The more money you get to keep, the more you can exert an influence over an area, and the more successful libertarian oriented enterprises will be. If you're going to reject the law, you can keep all your money.
The cost of rejecting the law is going to be high as an early pioneer anarchist. Nonetheless, someone will need to start a chain reaction.