There were 308 responses, most of them from angry Free Staters. They don't take criticism well. In fact, unless one writes about them in the most positive and glowing of terms, their thin skins puncture, and outraged blood begins to flow. It's pretty simple, New Hampshire: a group of armed colonizers is going to try to take over our state - but unless we agree with their simplistic randian fantasies, we're supposed to just shut up.
This was admirably illustrated by Free Stater Seth Cohn:
Seth and victoriap are discussing a booklet written by some folks attempting to warn others in their community about the Free State Project.
As you can read, not only is Seth irate about the booklet, he's also miffed that it was printed anonymously. So much so that he attempts to compare an anonymous pamphlet about the Free State Project with actual racism.
The Free Staters are not an oppressed group. No one has ever forced them into slavery because they were Free Staters. No one has ever denied them employment or housing because they were Free Staters. They have not been rounded up and sent to a concentration camp. They are not forbidden to come to our state. They do not experience segregation. They are not routinely assaulted or killed for being Free Staters.
The Free Staters are mostly white men - not exactly at the top of the list of groups who have experienced oppression. Once again Free Staters show how incapable of any sort of self reflection about themselves or their project they really are.
Seth goes on to bleat that he isn't going to tolerate anonymous attacks on "me or others." He goes on to say: "if you hide yourself to attack FSPers, you are no better than a racist by any other name, and I will call you that."
Irony overload.
The folks who want to bring you freedumb and libertea aren't going to tolerate you using that pesky first amendment! As a dunce told me at the gun melee in June, the second amendment is the most important one. (He was stumped when I asked him why, if that were the case, the first one came...you know..like.....FIRST?)
Yup, if you make an anonymous criticism of a Free Stater, you're a racist! Seth Cohn says so!
On the other hand, if you make an anonymous criticism of me on my blog, you're usually a Free Stater. IOKIYAFS
Susan, Thank you very much for sharing that booklet. More people need to know about the FSP. I'll be distributing it in our district, where a lying freeper ran as a Democrat and votes regularly like a Republican. That's not very nice, to fool people like that. Seth Cohn and his narcissistic buddies have no right to complain about criticism as long as they continue to "pick whichever party will get them elected." Love, ANONYMOUS.
ReplyDeleteSo in other words, even though those who point out systemic oppression such as racism or sexism, or many of the "isms" that the left has historically attempted to bring out -- are really just whiny victims who can't pull up their big-boy panties and get a job and STFU already enough to let the annointed continue to make a buck and mind their own damn business while polishing their guns...
ReplyDelete...when those pesky libruls take their victimhood and push you in a corner you can't get out of and you start to pee your pants and cry out for help, the best strategy is to ....
call everyone a Big Meanie Scary Racist that's pickin' on the poor oppressed white guy that can't get his soiled britches on right.
Yeah. I guess Liberty does mean the liberty to take the proverbial rope, put it around your neck and squeeze until your little beady eyes pop out. All by yourself.
But I realize this behavior brings newcomers to the FSP movement like moths to a flame.
Actually, attacks against the Free Staters are cloaked in racism. They are constantly referred to as 'white men'. If the group was predominantly black, would people still be referring to them as 'black men'? Would people still be as outspoken against them?
ReplyDeleteAw, boo hoo, Anonymous Free Stater. Is that you, anti-anonymous Seth? You should be thanking me for giving you another opportunity to bleat FSP victimhood.
ReplyDeleteIf the FSP were comprised of mostly angry ARMED black men, you bet your ass that would be getting big media coverage. In fact, if the FSP were mostly angry armed black men, the FSP would have been squashed by now.
The fact that the FSP is comprised of angry white men gets very little coverage - because angry ARMED white men are the default setting in the state of NH.
In any case: boo hoo.
Oh, but don;t you get it? The only REAL racism left on Earth is any6 objection to white supremacy, or even any acknowledgement of its existence. Just ask any freeper or klansman *(aren't they really the same folks with different accents)?
ReplyDeleteYour pal,
Anonymous
"As you can read, not only is Seth irate about the booklet, he's also miffed that it was printed anonymously."
ReplyDeleteWe call Seth "The Muppet", being irate is out of character for him.
I think the root of Seth's criticism isn't so much that it's anonymous, but that there's a frequent call for Free Staters to "out themselves". At the same time, the pamphlet was published anonymously.
Personally, I don't care that it was published anonymously. With the NSA spying scandal being a fairly big issue, I think anonymous publication should be protected and revered, even if it's for something I disagree with.
"No one has ever denied them employment or housing because they were Free Staters."
This is patently false. There are several instances of this happening with both housing and jobs. But it's still something we support. People SHOULD be free to refuse someone employment or housing for any reason at all.
I don't think this rally call of "oppression" is a valid one, unless you're looking specifically at the interactions with the State.
Agree or disagree with the philosophy that many of us hold, we ARE an oppressed political minority. Many of us are anarchists, and we live within a system that is supposedly ruled by "the people" and yet there's no room to reconcile our political views "within the system". This does create tension, and people within that system HAVE escalated to violence because "they're a Free Stater".
"The Free Staters are mostly white men."
This might be true on the internet. Most of the vocal blowhards who self-identify as Free Staters are white men. Using Porcupine social events as a metric, the mix of men to women is actually fairly close. The official numbers would require access to the participant database, which VERY FEW of us have ever seen.
H. Darien, I'd be interested to hear about the incidents of violence experienced by Free Staters, merely because they are Free Staters.
ReplyDeleteGiven the fondness the FSP has for lawsuits, were there charges filed?