Reflections on PorcFest 2006

“A spirit with a vision,
is a dream with a mission.”
- Rush

I must admit, that as the wheels of my plane first touched New Hampshire, a tear came to my eye. This, I knew, was home to me. It was the setting of all my dreams for the future, the soil out of which a revolution would spring. I stepped off that plane with a silent reverence for the righteousness of the mission that was ahead, renewing the sense of my life’s purpose.

Manchester was mine to explore that evening. After dropping my luggage off at the hotel, I set out on foot towards downtown, crossed the Merrimack river, and discovered Elm Street: the Main Street you’ve always wished for. I mean, where else on one street have I found a Hungarian pastry shop, an awesome cigar lounge called “Castro’s Backroom”, and an entirely Vietnamese video store? And it was there, on Elm Street, that I experienced for the first time ever the absence of any sales tax. To know that your money is going directly to that business is a great feeling of the power of your purchase. The only cops I ever encountered in Manchester were actually performing a public serivce: they helped people cross the street safely! Now these are policemen I’d be inclined to respect.

My friend, Menno, would arrive later that night. His first experience of New Hampshire was in renting a car for our trip up to Lancaster. Remarking at the cheap rate, he asked, “This includes insurance, right?” “Nope,” the agent responded. “You mean, insurance isn’t required in New Hampshire?” “Of course not, it’s the Free State. Live free or die, man!”

Menno and I awoke at 5 the next morning, and soon after set out for PorcFest. We traveled through beautiful scenery, the highways covered in mist, past cliffs of granite, with Rush playing in the background. At one point, for the sake of exercising my New Hampshire freedoms, I unbuckled my seatbelt while going 75mph down the interstate. The horror! I thought myself a rebel, until I realised I was acting well within the law and felt naked and unsafe without it. Imagine that: people will voluntarily look out for themselves!

We arrived at Lancaster in the early morning, having driven across the state in less than three hours, and found a group of Porcupines getting ready for a hike with the president of the FSP, Varrin Swearingen. The mountain they had chosen to climb was, uncoincidently, called Mount Liberty. What a great metaphor it would be, to say that you had climbed Mount Liberty. Unfortunately, I only made it to Liberty Springs, three-fourths of the way to the peak. I had had but one bottle of water on the way up, so my mind was focused on getting my hands on some cold, refreshing Liberty Water. Needless to say, dehydrated and steaming from sweat, and in the wilderness of the Free State, it was the best water I’ve ever tasted.

That afternoon, they held a meeting for those interested in substantially volunteering for the FSP. It was there that I met the superstars of New Hampshire activism: Russell Kanning, Kat Dillion, Joel Winters, and Lauren Canario. Maybe they’ve heard it before, but these people are role models for all of us. I was glad to have the opportunity to talk with these dynamic, principled people (about what else, but politics! hah) and even to crash on Russell and Kat’s couch in Keene.

From singing around a campfire while roasting marshmellows with Jason Sorens, to lying down with a beer to watch falling stars streak across the Milky Way in incredibly dark skies, PorcFest was an absolute blast. Menno, after having been offered a job by Joel Winters, has gone back to Sarasota to pack, and is turning right back around to settle in Manchester. I, on the other hand, will be here at the University of Florida in the mean time, spreading the message of Liberty and rallying the troops for the Free State Project. But home shall be calling...

“Those who fight for the future,
live in it today.”
- Ayn Rand