Several of us went to Porcfest 2010 last summer so we were familiar with the grounds and the sorts of activities that would be available. But experienced activists and those that have witnessed the evolution of freedom festivals in the past had an idea of what to expect at the Porcupine Festival of 2011,... and what to expect in the future.
Porcfest 2011 was a great example of what life can be like without the Dark Cloud of a government that has obviously gone over to the dark side.
Crosby Peck is the owner of “Roger's Campground” and is very happy to help host the Porcupine Festivals at his campground in Lancaster, New Hampshire that is located just south of the Canadian Border. Lancaster, NH has a listed population of 3358 and Crosby told me that over Fourth of July weekend he can max out at over 3200. So I imagine Crosby has the ear of city officials when he has something to share.
I spent some time talking with Crosby and had him come on the radio with me for a segment to share with the audience his feelings towards the festival and the people involved.
Roger's Campground is very well suited for just such a festival. It's remote, large and just far enough from town to be out of ear shot of the late night concerts but less than 2 miles for a quick grocery run. Crosby has been largely responsible for keeping ‘The Man’ at bay since he has been successful arguing for Porcfest's autonomy with town officials for years. Porcfest 2011's attendance peaked Saturday night at over 2000 which translated into smiling merchants all over the region. With this appreciated benefit to the local economy Crosby has been able to maintain the atmosphere of a liberty island.
Roger's Campground was not always the site of Porcfest. Having hosted Porcfest in previous years, Lancaster lost the Porcupine Festival to another campground more centrally located in New Hampshire, but that campground didn't have Crosby advocating for them. The former Police Chief of Lancaster is now the Town Manager. Crosby has had meetings with the current Police Chief and the Town Manager to work out how to ensure a successful festival and maintain the security and serenity of the small town of Lancaster. Local police know to stop at the front gate and talk to Crosby before entering the campground uninvited. During Porcfest 2010 I remember a patrol car cruising the campground and the grumbling that immediately followed. The result was an agreement that the police was not welcome unless called upon, which they honored as far as know for the rest of the festival.
On the first or second day of the Porcupine Festival Crosby escorted a single police officer through the campground in his pickup after a local complained of noise. This seems to have been enough to satisfy the local government and I didn’t see or hear of any other ‘visits’ for the rest of the festival. It was this visit that prompted me to interview Crosby on the radio show and get ‘the rest of the story’.
Each year there are complaints made by the same residents in regards to the loud music late at night (until early in the morning) that can be heard echoing through the mountains. Occasionally there are fireworks brought by campers for entertainment of themselves and the children. So the only negative impact on the community is a distant bass beat for a few days of the festival when music plays until the early morning hours. I don't know how this 'disturbance' was negotiated with locals (I was told that there was one man responsible for the calling of law enforcement each year), but, to be a successful example of how people can live without prior restraint and the constant involvement of government guns, every individual's right to be left alone must be negotiated. Crosby said that he and local government officials had come to some sort of understanding.
National Public Radio had a correspondent visiting that would later describe how the festival had evolved into an Anarcho-Capitalist society based on the trade of Silver. Not only were young children involved in the market, they were participating in other activities that would be considered illegal anywhere else. http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/092768-2011-07-01-porkfest-breakfast-at-libertarian-summer-camp.htm
Trading alcohol for Silver was a very common occurrence as was the smell of Marijuana. Marijuana was openly used and traded in this environment of Individual Liberty and Self-Responsibility and I’m certain that this plant added to the relaxed atmosphere of the event.
A few days into Porcfest I noticed something unexpected... there were almost no lines at the restrooms. By replacing beverage recreations with brownies, candy and smoked marijuana, bladder capacity was greatly increased and even though restroom facilities were limited, there were no lines.
Alcohol was available at several locations. And while strong drinks were available it was the showing off of quality home brews that got most of the traffic until supplies ran out.
A rumor that State Liquor officials had their eye on Porcfest prompted at least one vendor to close. But then plans for 2012 were discussed about how bartering totally in commodities as private clubs etc. might provide the insulation they needed to enjoy the festival unmolested. But the National Public Radio broadcast that described parents supervising their children’s entrepreneurship with trades including the family’s home brews, you know that there is a government agent eagerly looking for an opportunity to justify their salary.
One of the highlights of the week was “Buzz's Bigger Gay Dance Party”. Porcfest 2010 was Buzz's first attempt at encouraging the Gay community to come to Porcfest and enjoy themselves. Buzz hopes to encourage more Gays to move to New Hampshire was aided with her 'Bigger' Gay Dance Party that was certainly a hit with Party goers, Gay and Straight.
The musical entertainment was great and featured many favorites of the Freedom Community.
A large part of Porcfest was devoted to study and listening to those experienced in several fields of study.
But underlying all of this was the Silver. Talk of “Ending the Federal Reserve” and the demise of the US Dollar was not discussed as an abstract idea or something on the horizon, it was more like an accepted fact and solutions were eagerly being tested.
Porcfest 2010 had introduced credit card sized laminated silver strips and gold thread that would be traded in grams. Shire Silver demonstrated that the concept was sound and Shire Silver cards were a very prominent part of Porcfest 2010, but they relied upon the trust of the individual creator and the confidence others had in the quality of the visible strips of silver and gold thread in the laminated card.
Porcfest 2011 had four major “currencies”. Shire Silver http://shiresilver.com was used a great deal as change for other Silver transactions with the most popular denomination being the $1 card that weighed in at ½ a gram. Silver rounds (1 Oz of Silver about the size of a silver dollar) was priced at Spot Price ($35 was the most agreed upon constant for the week) and was used as the base for most large purchases. Small purchases for refreshments and small items was conducted primarily in Old Silver Dimes. US Minted coins (Dimes " Quarters " and Half Dollars) that were minted prior to 1965 contain 90% silver. When Silver is at $35 an ounce a single old dime is worth over $2.50 just for the silver content. Place them into a convenient trading card and you got yourself a very usable currency that can double as a great marketing tool or even a method for promoting your own message. Activists from Phoenix that were promoting the use of the Dime Cards also brought their laminator so that individuals could crate their own cards. The back of the cards were also used to educate and inform. This technique also worked very well for the 1/10th ounce rounds from DelValleySilver.com http://delvalleysilver.com and SilverCircleMovie.com http://www.silvercirclemovie.com (more information on both of these organizations below). For FreedomsPhoenix Dime Cards I prefer to use the older Mercury Dimes because they are easier to determine that they are 90% silver dimes than having to make out the year for the Roosevelt dimes that are 1964 or older (and they are traded at the same value with coin dealers,… just easier to see)
The dime cards caught on very quickly for several reasons. Each 1964 and earlier U.S. minted coin has an established amount of silver that could be easily converted with the use of a calculator (Dime 2.25 grams of silver, Quarter 5.63 grams and Half Dollar 11.25 grams). An even better tool is the newly created Smartphone application that had been developed months earlier by a volunteer developer in Maryland that offered their skills to Phoenix Activists Nick and Drew that originally developed the idea that has already been replicated across the country. “Silver Calculator” is now available in Droid " iPhone " Blackberry " Palm and is free or very cheap depending on the platform.
The genius of the “Dime Cards” comes from the added value as a promotional piece for those that choose to customize them with their own message or wish to promote their activities or business. More information can be found at WhatIsThisCoinWorth.info http://whatisthiscoinworth.info
The Silver Calculator application also allows the user to enter a price and the types of coins and other silver instruments they had on hand and they would be instructed by the app what number of coins or combination of coins were needed to complete the transaction and what change might be due. This was the most common form of transactions that I saw. While Federal Reserve notes were still used they were not as popular as silver use. But there was one major problem.
As the days past, food vendors needed to resupply.
With cash registers full of Silver they were unprepared to visit the local Grocery and some vendors started asking for FRNs (Federal Reserve Notes) so they could exchange them for food at the supermarket in Lancaster. Many of the food vendors were not prepared for Silver transactions but immediately started to accept them rather than loose business to those vendors that did take Silver. Fortunately there were plenty of Silver buyers that didn’t hesitate at buying silver without a dealer mark up so it all worked out. But this unexpected popularity of Silver as a medium of exchange has already prompted collaborations for next year.
Porcfest 2012 will very likely add an “Exchange” where FRNs could be converted to what was termed 'Real Money”. Whenever needed for trade outside 'The Shire' the silver could be exchanged for its current value in FRNs. Of course this happened often this year and many private individuals were very happy to trade their Paper Money for silver without the heavy premiums charged by coin/bullion dealers. But what is needed is the first Anarco-Capitalist exchange.
AOCS, is a company that produces Silver Rounds of quality and purity for various organizations and were a popular form of Silver and Copper. Gold was traded but was far rarer at a festival where most Items were well under $20. AOCS's Copper ounces had their value set by a young vendor, “Agorist Alchemist” (turning paper into Precious Metal) promised to buy and sell copper ounces at a set price of $1.25. I suspect that similar services will be made available to Porcfest attendees in 2012.
Del Valley Silver had a very popular booth that quickly sold out of several denominations of their brand name .999 silver. Another popular silver was the promotional 1 oz rounds and the 1/10 oz rounds from SilverCircle. SilverCircleMovie.com is the home page for a soon to be released animated movie that tells the tale of Rebels minting and using outlawed Silver in the near future in a dystopian America. The movie's creators had the brilliant idea of offering 10-1/10 oz rounds for each 1 oz silver round anyone might have to exchange. Almost immediately these Penny Sized 10th ounce rounds were going for a standard $4 and all 1100 coins had made it into circulation almost immediately.
I often have spirited discussions with critics of alternative currencies about how Federal Reserve notes might be phased out or even immediately abandoned,… now I have a very interesting tale to tell.
New Hampshire
I planned to remain in New Hampshire for a couple of days following the Porcupine Festival so I could visit with friends and see what was going on in Keene and Manchester.
Operating businesses without permission, permits or shoulder surfing by ‘The Man’ is the norm in New Hampshire but doesn’t come without the expected risks of fines, confiscations, fines and even imprisonment. But even with these risks there is an atmosphere of “just do it” and deal with the consequences as they arise.
The town of Keene has a population of 22,000 and the liberty activism of FreeKeene.com http://freekeene.com is well known to the locals. The studio of FreeTalkLive http://www.freetalklive.com is based out of a home near downtown Keene and is the main information hub for the inspirational activism that has infected many parts of the Eastern United States. With 106 radio stations at last count, broadcasting the Anarco-Capitalist message while at the same time demonstrating the willingness to stand up to unjust laws, rules and regulations, Keene has become a focal point for the growing dissatisfaction with government in general and law-enforcement/courts in particular. While at Porfest2011 it was very common to hear from individuals that they were motivated to attend Porcfest2011 because of FreeTalkLive’s promotion of the event. FreeTalkLive’s Studios also broadcast many regular freedom oriented shows via LRN.fm http://lrn.fm
Activists from Phoenix, Drew, Nick and I, would meet up in Keene immediately after Porcfest and by Monday afternoon an activists was already sentenced to 5 days in a cage for not removing his baseball hat while sitting in the back of the courtroom during a hearing about an individual that chooses to drive without government permission. The following day another activist was arrested for asking the Judge on camera to explain how a hat violation equated to 5 days in a cage (more details about these incidents are included in this issue of “July 2011 Freedoms Phoenix eZine”)
Immediately following the ‘Hat Arrest’ we met up with Julian Heicklen on his way to pass out Fully Informed jury information in front of the same court where the arrest was made.
Another very interesting project being promoted in Keene is the “Don’t Accept the Plea” project that is designed to hit the government where it really hurts… financially.
Trifold: http://freekeene.com/2011/03/03/new-flyer-dont-take-the-plea-deal-now-for-nh-and-national/
Side One - http://freekeene.com/files/dontpleaNational_side1.pdf
Side Two - http://freekeene.com/files/dontplea_side2.pdf
Online Printing suggested by FreeKeene - http://www.uprinting.com/
My visit to New Hampshire (aka “The Shire”) was another very inspiring visit and my 6th or 7th over the last 4 years. And while Arizona and New Hampshire almost couldn’t be more different in almost every way, we do share the love of liberty and deep desire to live it now rather than seek permission. The emotions surrounding the Voluntarist lifestyle is unlikely to be forgotten by anyone that has experienced it for several days at a time. It is this freeing of the human spirit that is the greatest threat to those that feed on the labors of others.
“Roads? Where we’re going there aren’t any government roads”.
Peace,
Ernie
