When I think of the possibility of me in prison, I end up scaring the tar out of myself. The idea of spending one night, one year, or a lifetime behind bars is run-for-the-hills-frightening. Am I willing to go to jail for not paying taxes? Or am I willing to go to jail for any other form of civil disobedience?

Below you will find a list of my top fears in regard to going to jail/prison. Whether or not my fears are disproportionate to the reality of life in prison is irrelevant. The first one is the scariest, but the others are in no particular order.

• Rape. This scares me the most.
• Sharing a small cell with one or more crazy people.
• Having mean, intimidating people glaring at me.
• A shiv in the back.
• The drab, lifeless environment of concrete and metal.
• The inability to do what I want…when I want.
• The deep depression that I will undoubtedly experience.
• Thoughts of suicide that might manifest themselves.
• The bad food.
• Inability to be with friends or family.
• No privacy or time for myself.
• No laptop or Internet at times I want.
• I might have to kill someone to protect myself.
• If I survive and go out in “the real world,” I will be different in a most negative way.
• I might lose my girlfriend, Yuka.

I’m willing to bet that my list would be similar to others. Why is prison so bad? What’s the point of prison? Are people really getting reformed and reprogrammed into better citizens? Why does the government allow the reputation of prison to include rape, racism, and non-reform?

Most people will agree that prisons don’t work (at least that’s what I think). The system doesn’t “fix” the “criminal.” Lots of people are content to think that prisons are okay to exist as a place to separate the bad from the good and it doesn’t matter what happens on the inside. The main objectives are to relocate the riffraff and to create a deterrent for possible “criminals.”

But what happens when people go to jail and become a rape victim? What if your son or daughter “went away” and they never hurt another person before going? What if little Joe got busted for marijuana and got raped in prison? What if little Sally got sent away for forgetting to pay a traffic ticket and got raped in jail?

“According to SPR.org, a website devoted to combating rape in prison, one in ten male inmates is raped in prison, mostly by fellow prisoners. Among women the number is one in four and the offenders are more likely to be prison staff members,” Wikipedia, Prison Rape and Sexuality.

Does the punishment fit the crime?

So if I don’t pay taxes and the IRS finds me, tries me, and sends me to prison, I will have a 10% chance of getting raped. But actually since I’m a white guy, the chance will be higher because “white inmates are disproportionately targeted for abuse.”

What should I do?

I will think about this for a day or two and then write my answer in my next blog post.

Your Friend in Liberty,

John Buchanan

If you liked this post, please leave a comment and please consider a donation so you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.

.

Every good business knows that selling the benefits of a product is more advantageous than advertising its features. So in a hope to sell the Free State Project to people who already know what true liberty means, I will attempt to present it in a nutshell.

First I need to define what the Free State Project is:

It’s currently a group of over 8,000 liberty-loving individuals who have pledged to move to New Hampshire to form a community of activists dedicated in changing the local and state government’s maximum role to that of protecting life, liberty and property.

That number is only the start because we would like to see 20,000 people who join and ultimately move within 5 years of achieving said number. Here are the benefits of moving to New Hampshire NOW and working towards governmental change NOW:

Little To No Taxes

• New Hampshire has no general state income tax.
• No general sales tax.
• It has the lowest taxes as a percentage of gross income nationwide.

If you see taxes as an unspoken form of slavery, you can make this your #1 cause. It’s completely up to you as to which issues to tackle. Many Free-Staters would like to abolish taxes across the board. Just imagine how much you could save if you weren’t forced into paying Uncle Sam at the threat of aggression. You would have more money to travel or to buy a bigger house or to save for retirement. If you make the money, then you should decide how to spend it voluntarily.

Better Job Possibilities

• New Hampshire is ranked the 3rd highest for percentage of high tech jobs.
• The unemployment rate is only 3.6% in New Hampshire whereas the national average is 4.8%.
• It’s ranked second in the nation as the state most tax-friendly to businesses. Thus it makes it a fantastic place to start a small business.
• There are no taxes on machinery or equipment as well as no inventory tax. Another great reason to start a business here.
• New Hampshire is frequently listed in the top 10 states for having a business-friendly environment.

So whether you want to work for someone else or to create your own business, New Hampshire is good right now. But you can make it your cause to make the state even friendlier to start-up businesses by eliminating the need for government licenses and permits. People should not be required to ask the government for permission to offer a service or a product. Getting the government out of the world of business is essential to restoring our liberties in our lifetime.

Personal Protection and Safety

• New Hampshire is the lowest for gun homicides per 100,000 people at only 0.43 people whereas Louisiana is the highest at 10.13 homicides per 100K.
• The free state has some of the LEAST restrictive gun laws in the nation.
• You can open carry in public (except courtrooms) without a permit.
• You can have a conceal carry license without providing a picture, fingerprints or training.
• New Hampshire has the lowest number of all crimes per 100,000 people. District of Columbia (6,230.3 crimes per 100K) and Arizona (5844.6) are the two highest. NH has only 1675.5 per 100K. So New Hampshire is by far safer.
• New Hampshire is the only state with no seatbelt enforcement laws (over 18 years of age) yet the number of deaths rank this state the 47th lowest at only 1 death per 100 million miles driven whereas Montana is the highest at 2.5 deaths. So if forced usage of the seatbelt is so essential, why are more people surviving in New Hampshire than the other 46 states?

Better Educational Opportunities

• The student/teacher ratio for public schools is 13.2
• New Hampshire is ranked in the top 15 smartest states for 2006-2007.
• The New Hampshire constitution does not mandate public schools.
• Parental qualifications are not mandated in order to home school their children.

Most Free-Staters believe that the government school system is greatly flawed. So why should all homeowners be forced to pay for property tax that goes to these schools, regardless of whether or not the homeowners have children? If you believe the government should quit “educating and programming” your child and relinquish control back to the parents and to the free-market, New Hampshire is the place to make this change, along with the help of the supporters who have joined the Free State Project.

A Nature Lovers Dream

If you love the great outdoors, New Hampshire has breathtaking backdrops to inspire your imagination and activism. You can choose to live next to the ocean, in a booming city, in a sleepy New England town, or in a cabin in the woods with views of lakes, ponds, rivers, and waterfalls. Awesome adventures await you in the beautiful mountains and valleys. New Hampshire has plenty to keep the most intrepid nature lovers entertained.

Utilize the awe-inspiring scenery to recharge you after a long day of activism. One can really feel connected to the land in New Hampshire.

Unbelievable Personal Support

If you are an activist in a state like Florida for example, you might have noticed that it’s difficult to the point of being impossible to find faithful supporters of your cause. The problem with activism in other states is that the good people are spread too thinly. But in New Hampshire the people are more concentrated. It’s easier to rally 5 or 10 people with only a days notice (or less). You might be lucky to find 1 or 2 people to join you in a protest in another state.

The great thing about the Free State Project is that it has created a community of like-minded people working toward a common goal. This results in an instant network of friends and allies you can turn to. Depending on the city you move to, you can announce your coming arrival and many Free-Staters are apt to physically help you move your stuff into your new house. Wow! Strangers helping strangers; that is what’s happening in New Hampshire.

You can feel the following:

• You can feel connected to an honorable group.
• You can feel the power of an instant network of friends and supporters.
• You can feel a sense of belonging and comradery.

If you are passionate about liberty, you will surely find many like-minded people to surround yourself with. And if you like your privacy, that is totally respected as well. It’s up to you as to how much or little you utilize your fellow Free State Project members.

Gain Confidence and Pride

When you are working toward a goal, you can feel good about life. Your self-confidence will soar when you think of a problem and try hard to solve that issue. You will respect yourself knowing that you are doing your part voluntarily for the common good (whereas the government forces us to contribute to the common good in a most inefficient and scary way).

Not only will you feel confident in your new life goal and feel proud for doing so, but the people around you will feel the same. Free-Staters love to meet new people who are as passionate about liberty as they are, and they will respect you for it. Pride and respect for a job well-done will be one of many rewards you can find in New Hampshire.

Create a Life Purpose

What is the meaning of life? This is quite subjective, but I will give you my thoughts anyway. I believe one way to achieve happiness is to make others happy. If you can make another person’s life better, then your life will get better as a result.

The Free State Project can open doors for you. You will learn so much about yourself and your fellow Free-Staters that your life will feel fulfilled. You can make it your life’s purpose to change society for the better without the use of force. A voluntary style government is more civil and ethical than an aggressive government. What a noble cause: giving people the power of self-responsibility and the right to live life as they see fit in a way that respects the life, liberty, and property of others.

Your life will have meaning in New Hampshire. You only live once, so “move” wisely.

Your Friend in Liberty,

John Buchanan

If you liked this post, please leave a comment and please consider a donation so you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.

.

Short answer…NO.

When I was in university majoring in art, I had one of those self-discovering moments when I learned something new about myself. At that time, I was taking a painting class, and I was working on a still-life. I was about halfway through with it when I realized that the composition wasn’t working, the colors were off, and overall I just wasn’t pleased with the whole project.

I had probably spent a good 12 hours or more on it when I decided to stop and just start again from scratch.

The other students in the class were amazed that I would start again considering the painting was due in two days. But since I am a intuitive, semi-logical and efficient person, I knew without actually putting it into words that it didn’t make sense to continue.

As it turned out, I’d been doing this a lot with my art projects in other classes as well. My painting teacher, who was also my instructor in another class, knew my habits.

That day when the 3 hour class was about halfway finished and I decided to start again (based primarily on a sub-conscience decision), my professor came up to me and said, “I really like it how you’re not afraid to start over. You’re really smart not to spend time on something that isn’t working.”

This really surprised me. I had never consciously realized that this was part of my character. I just did it because it made sense, but I had never formed this conclusion into words. This was the first time I “realized” this about myself.

As for now, I am aware of my projects and their current state. If I realize that the composition of my life is unbalanced, or the colors of my situations are dull, and if I realize that something is a waste of time and won’t likely be a success, I won’t finish it for the sake of completing what I’ve started.

I will stop and start afresh.

I’m sure you’ve probably figured out that this is leading up to something specific in my current life. And you would be correct.

The other week I wrote my first blog post for LibertySeeds, and I said how I was going to send a letter to a random person enclosed with a one dollar bill and some suggestions on places to learn about liberty and the corruption of the government. That was my intent, but now I realize that the execution of this was quite wrong because it would most likely be a waste of time (and money).

I had this change of mind because of something my brother said. He was talking about the Walk For Liberty, and he said how our mission was to spend our time on folks who were already liberty-minded because our ultimate intent is to get people turned-on to the Free State Project who are apt to listen. We shouldn’t waste our time trying to convince a staunch socialist about moving to New Hampshire when we could be spending our time on the multitudes of people who truly love freedom and liberty but perhaps don’t know much about the Free State Project. It’s best to focus our energy on our “target audience.”

That’s a damn good point, Will (or Bill as only I call him).

Why waste our time trying to sell cars to blind people? We will be more successful and prosper quicker if we are efficient by selling our ideas to people who like cars and need cars.

So I now realize that my spontaneous idea of sending 52 letters and 52 total dollars to potentially blind people in the course of one year will not be as efficient as say, donating an extra dollar a week to Free Talk Live.

I am currently a part of the AMP program with Free Talk Live. For those of you who don’t know, Free Talk Live is a call in talk radio show that speaks the truth about the government and gives positive solutions to problems. They don’t make a lot of money yet, so they need the help of their listeners. So they’ve created the AMP program (Advertise, Market and Promote) to help get on board with more radio stations throughout the country (they are now on over 30 radio stations).

So I am not going to finish what I originally wanted to do. So for now, I am going to up my current 3 dollar a month donation to 7 bucks every month. FTL is a better investment.

That’s my thought for the day that I want to share. If you would like to listen to the latest episode of Free Talk Live for free, click here. If you would like to donate to FTL like me, go here. Thanks for listening and/or donating.

Your Friend In Liberty,

John Buchanan

If you liked this post, please leave a comment and please consider a donation so you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.

.