Free State Wyoming
Encyclopedia
Political migration
Political migration is any migration motivated primarily by political interests. Typically, political migration is in one of two classes, private or government, depending on who encourages the migration....
project whose goal is to bring people of "demonstrably ethical character" to the state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to encourage "political liberty, free trade and voluntary cooperation."
History
The idea for Free State Wyoming was conceived by Kenneth W. RoyceKenneth W. Royce
Kenneth W. Royce is an American author who primarily writes under the pen-name of Boston T. Party.He has written non-fiction books that offer a libertarian stance on privacy, police encounters, tax resistance and gun politics...
(aka Boston T. Party). He remains the prominent figure in the promotion and organization of the FSW, while explicitly avoiding any "cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
" issues. "I am not a leader, because I do not want followers," Royce explained.
Royce began research in 1997 on his novel Molôn Labé!
Molon Labe!
Molôn Labé! is Kenneth W. Royce's first fiction book . The novel deals with the migration of freedom-minded individuals to the state of Wyoming, where they take political power through the use of the ballot box....
—which depicts freedom lovers moving to Wyoming and taking political power by use of the ballot box—several years prior to the Free State Project (FSP)
Free State Project
The Free State Project is a political movement, founded in 2001, to recruit at least 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to New Hampshire in order to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas....
. He founded the FSW shortly after 1 October 2003 when the members of the FSP selected New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
as the focus of their efforts. Wyoming placed second in the deciding vote garnering 498 votes, 251 votes short of New Hampshire's 749 votes.
In 2005, the FSW minted a unique one-ounce .999 silver commemorative coin. The 1,000-coin mint run of 2005 sold out by October 2006.
The FSW is active through the FSW Forum as well as through Jamborees and meetings within Wyoming.
Goals
The FSW does not advocate a specific list of political goals, however a possible outline is found in the novel Molôn Labé!Molon Labe!
Molôn Labé! is Kenneth W. Royce's first fiction book . The novel deals with the migration of freedom-minded individuals to the state of Wyoming, where they take political power through the use of the ballot box....
by Boston T. Party. Aside from information in the Statement of Intent, the goals of the FSW may be stated broadly as:
- Constitutional restoration and strict Bill of RightsUnited States Bill of RightsThe Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
enforcement - personal liberty within capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
- property rights
- small governmentMinarchismMinarchism has been variously defined by sources. It is a libertarian capitalist political philosophy. In the strictest sense, it maintains that the state is necessary and that its only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud, and...
The FSW seeks to accomplish these goals by involvement in local and state politics and electing favored candidates to political office; but more importantly, by attempting to live as free individuals would. The FSW has chosen to focus initially on the Wyoming counties of Crook (primarily), Weston and Hot Springs.
Each of these counties was selected for reasons including its small population, current political environment, perceived support for the FSW's goals and feasibility of migration. While in June 2005 the entire state was opened for membership purposes in FSW, these counties remain a focus of the group.
Statement of Intent
The Statement of Intent is a statement which one must sign and submit in order to officially join the Free State Wyoming. The Statement of Intent reads as follows :- "I solemnly pledge that I am able and willing to join the Free State Wyoming and its effort to populate Wyoming with individuals of demonstrably ethical character who — forsaking fraud, theft and aggression — desire to peaceably co-exist as reasonable neighbors for the goals of political liberty, free trade, and voluntary cooperation.
- By hereby joining the Free State Wyoming, I solemnly pledge my best effort to legally establish bona fide voting Wyoming residency (preferably in Crook, Weston, or Hot Springs county) no later than seven years from today."
While early on in the group's history it required people to print out, sign, and mail the statement of intent,along with $25, now one must simply post ten times on their forum, and then typing out the statement of intent and posting it on the forum.
Members and associates who joined under the old mail-in method are now known as founding members and founding associates on the forum.
See also
- Free State ProjectFree State ProjectThe Free State Project is a political movement, founded in 2001, to recruit at least 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to New Hampshire in order to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas....
- Free West AllianceFree West AllianceThe Free West Alliance is an organization attempting to organize the migration of libertarians and the like-minded into the U.S. states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, in order to influence local political policy toward libertarian ideals...
- LibertarianismLibertarianismLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
- PaleoconservatismPaleoconservatismPaleoconservatism is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton...
- Political migrationPolitical migrationPolitical migration is any migration motivated primarily by political interests. Typically, political migration is in one of two classes, private or government, depending on who encourages the migration....