A message from Varrin Swearingen, President of the Free State Project

Greetings from New Hampshire,

I'm writing to you because I believe you understand freedom and are interested in more of it. This email may seem long, but the subject matter is far too important to cram into a few lines.

I'm going to ask you to do two things at the bottom of this email. One will be life-changing... in a big way..., the other is quick and easy. The life-changing thing is joining me in signing the Free State Project's First 1000 pledge. The quick and easy thing is passing this email on (along with a personal introduction from you) to everyone you know who you think understands freedom and wants to defend it.

I ask that you take a few minutes to read the full email. If you have a spouse, share it with him or her. If you have children old enough to understand, share it with them, too. I'm sending this in early December because the deadline for the First 1000 pledge is the end of this year. This gives you a month to make an informed decision.

What is the First 1000 pledge, anyway?

The First 1000 pledge is an "I will if you will"-type pledge. The text of it is: I will move to New Hampshire by 12/31/2008 where I will work to bring about a society in which government's maximum role is protecting life, liberty, and property, but only if 999 other liberty minded individuals will too. Not only have I signed this pledge, my family and I have already moved to New Hampshire. The pledge is open to people who have moved to New Hampshire since October 1, 2003, and to anyone currently living outside New Hampshire.

Now you can see why that's such a big deal. Signing the pledge commits you to moving to New Hampshire by the end of 2008 if 999 other people also sign. As of today, we are over 60% of the way to that goal. That means over 600 people have made that pledge. We need almost 400 more to do so by the pledge expiration date, which is December 31, 2006, just under a month from now.

Why is this so important?

I wouldn't waste your time or mine asking you to take this pledge unless I thought it was important. This is important.

Freedom is under attack all over the world, and America is now far less free than it once was. We have reached a point where the level of freedom we currently enjoy is not significantly more than what we had when the Revolutionary War was fought.

Religious freedom, though still greater than before the founding of America, is under attack. Taxes are high, and national and state debts are at all-time highs and still growing. Virtually every American is numbered and will soon be given ID's which put them in a de facto national database ("your papers please"). Property rights have been gutted in the last couple of years. The list goes on and on. The prevailing attitude is this: individual liberty is dead, even here in America.

And yes, I'm asking you to do something about it. I believe immediate action is necessary, and under these circumstances moving to another location in the defense of freedom is not too great a sacrifice.

Why me?

The sad truth is, it appears there are precious few people left in America who both understand freedom and are willing to do something about it. I now believe we are a tiny fraction of one percent of the population of America. That's tragic.

You could point to many 'reasons' that freedom is failing in America. I believe the reason is quite simple: it is because there are too few people who value it enough to defend it. Many of those who do value freedom have given up. Some can appreciate it intellectually but aren't ready to do much about it.

Consequently, it has become difficult to find just 1,000 people willing to simply move across state lines to participate in the most effective defense of freedom America has seen in decades, maybe even since its inception. I feel like Abraham pleading for an entire wicked city for the sake of just 10 righteous people.

Keep in mind, I'm not asking for the kind of sacrifice that our Founding Fathers made in the Revolutionary War. This, in comparison, requires far less sacrifice. I'm asking you to relocate to another state, New Hampshire, to work towards peacefully and effectively restoring freedom here.

People move for jobs, to go to school, to live in comfortable weather, and for a million other reasons. The question I pose to you is this: how important is freedom to you? Where does freedom fit in your hierarchy of needs? Is freedom important enough to consider moving and working together in an effective way with many others who, like you, value freedom? Only you can answer that question. I hope the answer is a resounding Yes!!!

What makes you think this will work?

Frankly, I don't know that it will, though the success of those who have already moved to New Hampshire gives me great hope. I don't know if the pledge will succeed in attaining 1,000 signers. If it doesn't, of course, you're off the hook. I also don't know if, upon securing 1,000 pledges, any more people will actually move, though I've been personally told by several of them that they're moving here regardless of the outcome of the pledge. They will add to the nearly 200 who have already moved. And even if we get 1,000 pledges, and 1,000 people actually move, I can't guarantee you that we'll have much future success.

Uncertain? Yes. But what does appear certain is the continued rapid decline of freedom if you stay right where you are. Things are getting worse and, outside New Hampshire, there's very little hope for improvement.

I believe that this is the most effective thing you can do (if you're able) to defend freedom. I also think it has the potential to be far more successful than any other strategy attempted in my lifetime... or yours. An important reason for this belief is the success of the nearly 200 people who have already moved here for this purpose.

Outside New Hampshire, efforts to preserve freedom have turned in dismal results and they're getting worse. Inside New Hampshire, early-moving Free State Project participants have had a stunning string of successes. Here is a list of real-life examples of some of the achievements of a few Free State Project participants (go read it now and then come back to this email): http://varrin.com/fsp-successes.html After reading that, and given the fairly small number of people responsible for those successes, I hope you'll see that this can actually work if enough people join our efforts! Those successes are just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine what could be accomplished with 1000 people.

I realize this is a huge decision and huge decisions require lots of information, way more than would be appropriate to distribute in one already-too-long email. Questions about jobs, housing, moving costs, and a million other things might stand in your way from joining us. To help answer those I offer you two resources:

1: The Free State Project website at http://freestateproject.org . Take a look around. There is a lot of information there.

2: Me. I'd be happy to talk with you at whatever length is necessary for you to make an informed decision. I want you to come here, but I also want you to be happy with your choice, whether you come or not. Please email me at varrin@sugargroup.net if you have any questions. If you want to talk on the phone with me, you can call my cell phone at 559-709-8150.

Conclusion and action items

Thank you for your commitment to freedom, including reading this email. Those of us who have already moved here to NH and those who have committed to moving here soon have put a lot on the line to try to make one place free in a world full of tyranny. We're hoping more people like you will join us.

To sign the First 1000 pledge, please visit the pledge page at: http://pledgebank.com/first1000 If you are not already a Free State Project Participant, please also sign the 'original' FSP Statement Of Intent at https://secure.freestateproject.org/join.jsp Finally, whether you sign or not, please pass this email to all of your liberty loving friends and add a personal introduction at the beginning. If you're getting this from a friend, you, too, are invited to email or call me.

Remember, the deadline for the First 1000 pledge is December 31, 2006.

Thank you,

V-