I imagine few things would prove the miracle of the free market better than to take some of the world's poorest and move those of them who consent to a new unsettled part of the world, giving them the extreme freedom to create their own solutions to life's problems, and freedom to trade with anyone from any country who consents. I imagine it would be truly amazing to behold how they would, over about 50 years, rise from abject poverty to extreme wealth by creating solutions for the problems the market is willing to pay for.

Tony Olsen standing in front of the temporary Keokuk warming center at St. John’s Episcopal Church.

2 weeks ago I helped with a local warming shelter (a homeless shelter that is only legally allowed to be open when the temperature outside is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit; 0 degrees Celsius) during a particularly dangerously cold spell in the area. During that time I was reminded about how the government interferes with voluntary private charity efforts. A few days before this Keokuk warming center was set up in a local downtown business, but the government shut that center down because it was deemed by the government not to be safe enough to save people’s lives, and around that same time, an Ohio state pastor was arrested for housing the homeless in his church without government approval during this same freezing weather. The ugly truth is that since the majority of Americans are heavily financially invested in the hopes that their houses will continue to get more expensive, combined with the fact that a homeless population lowers property values, most people support the government making it difficult for homeless people to legally exist around the local population of homeowners. This has a double negative effect in that it also makes it more difficult for the homeless to ever afford housing in the future.

But like with the people trapped in the Hamas-Israel war zone, the free market itself is a solution to these problems. Without the shackles of government intervention, a free market has many more jobs available, and market forces reduce housing prices while increasing quality, making it easier for the homeless to be able to afford a long-term housing solution. Plus private charity efforts would have government barriers removed and fewer people that need help.

Combine this with all of the recent efforts by states to be independent from the Federal government (such as 38 states making marijuana legal at the state level while it remains illegal at the federal level, sanctuary cities that openly defy federal laws, Texas's recent opposition to Federal border laws, and many states trying to raise enough support to secede from the USA) and there might be opportunities here to provide freedom to those who need it the most: Imagine if New Hampshire passed a state law establishing a special economic zone that abided by the Freedom Haven constitution in exchange for solving 50% of the 1605 homeless people currently reported in New Hampshire within the following year. Having this in place would not only help the poor (as well as the non-poor) in New Hampshire, it would also prototype the Freedom Haven constitution in preparation for being used in the south bay of Bengal when New Liberty starts its 10+ year journey as a floating port city of Freedom Haven.

Not to mention that it would also be good for helping to market the project and help it continue moving forward.

Thoughts on this idea? Please come and join the discussion!

Question from our members

From Patrick Von Stieglitz:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreedomHavenGov/posts/1858426798007972/?comment_id=1859260574591261

“What happens [if someone rapes] my wife and I throw [them] overboard”

Excellent question! This is a good role-playing legal scenario to consider.

Rape is seen as both a violation of someone else's freedom (they aren't free to leave) and a violation of their property (the attacker’s use of their body without their consent). The Freedom Haven constitution refers to this as "Force". Throwing a person overboard is also considered force.

No one is assumed to be guilty of having committed force unless it can be proven in court (if needed). (#InnocentUntilProvenGuilty). Using force is illegal - the only exception to this is if it can be proven that the force used was needed for self-defense against the person in question.

What happens in the specific scenario you mentioned above? That depends on many variables:

If no one witnessed the rape, nor your throwing the person into the water: Nothing happens.
If people witness some/all of what happened but do NOT take the rapist nor you to court: Nothing happens.
If someone witnesses the rape and takes the rapist to court, the rapist is convicted based on the evidence shown. If no evidence is shown, then the rapist is set free. (This is why I suspect people will be using their own body cams and other security cameras more on Freedom Haven - to preserve the truth for their own safety). If the evidence IS shown and the case is proven, then the rapist would have to repair what he broke or he'll be banished. You can't "fix" rape, but if the victim comes up with a solution, then that's an option the attacker could choose instead of banishment. IF it can be proven that banishment wouldn't keep the attacker out and that imminent threat on life/freedom/property would occur inside Freedom Haven in the future, then death might be considered - but something like that would be difficult to prove.
If someone witnesses you throwing someone overboard and takes you to court for using force, then they would first have to prove that you actually did those actions, otherwise you go free. If they prove you used force, then you are breaking the law and are at risk of banishment, unless you can prove that that person raped your wife AND that your actions were needed for self-defense.

If you do NOT prove your case, you'll have to "fix what you broke" or risk banishment. If you killed the attacker, that might complicate your situation.
If you prove your case AND the level of force was NOT considered excessive, then you go free.
If you prove your case, but your use of force was considered excessive, then you might be responsible for fixing only that part of your use of force that was beyond what was needed.
For example: If a mass shooter is stopped by breaking his arms and that's shown to have been what was needed to stop them in that specific situation, then that's fine. BUT if you broke their arms AND their legs... and the legs didn't need to be broken, then you might have to pay the hospital bill for the repair of the shooter's legs.

Law is blind, cold, and emotionless. There are NO additional rights granted to someone for being angry or scared... even if that response is considered "normal" in that situation. Choosing to be a peaceful people is not easy - but it's worth it.

If this legal subject is of interest to you, come join the discussion.

If you have a question you would like answered, please post your question on our facebook group or contact us through any of our other social media accounts or email.

December Contest Winners

Carl Copp won first place with the only idea submitted in December’s #FH2023BestNewBusinessIdea contest:

“Set up freedom haven between Europe and North America and set it up an a gamblers drinker sex paradise. You want to talk about money and service well New Las Vegas is it.”

Come participate in each month’s contest and help vote on the previous months’ winners during the monthly public Freedom Haven meetings.

Upcoming Events

Online calendar can be found here: https://freedomhaven.org/events/

2/3/2024 1pm central: Monthly Freedom Haven project casual face-to-face (first Saturday of each month at the same time).
For this meeting we’ll be choosing the January winners, upcoming contests & prizes, May Freedom festival plans, parade participation, future plans, and member questions. All sincere participants are welcome.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4842165597?pwd=QlFkeFovR1ovbW1WWEJJMkl6VWtYZz09

** 2024 **
3/2/2024 1pm central: Monthly Freedom Haven project casual face-to-face (first Saturday of each month at the same time).
5/3-5/5/2024: Northeastern Missouri Freedom Festival (name?)
6/17-6/23/2024: PorcFest 2024 (Lancaster, NH)
7/10-7/13/2024: FreedomFest 2024 (Las Vegas, NV)
More at: https://freedomhaven.org/events/

Links to recent articles, interviews, podcasts, etc

Click on link(s) in each item for additional details. List can also be found online here: https://freedomhaven.org/articles-and-links/

If you've seen any related recent articles or podcasts not mentioned here, please let us know.

** 2024 **

1/20: A reading of the latest version of the Freedom Haven Constitution (version 1.05, last updated 9/22/2023)

** 2023 **

12/30: The Freedom Haven project made the front page of the Daily Gate City newspaper.
10/24: Zoom meeting with the naval architect Nicholas Barczak, PE where areas of the Freedom Haven project design and plans were refined.
Video: https://youtu.be/0VRjKGupElU
Meeting Take-aways: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQRcCVAKK5vzKxrbUMuZsmLj78ZuKDQipOvw34mY0IxWuFS18SDPlUWY41sekK_dBOcwSCudcswfU2z/pub
9/4 and 9/9/2023: The Freedom Haven project participation in the 9/4 Keokuk, Iowa, Labor day parade, and fundraising in the 9/9 Fort Madison, Iowa, Rodeo parade.
7/27: Ernest Hancock, from Freedom’s Phoenix, explores some of the details of the Freedom Haven project in this 1 hour and 41 minute podcast. https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/347407-2023-07-25-2023-07-26-ernest-hancock-interviews-anthony-olsen-freedomhaven-org.htm
7/13: Jake Cook, from “Nation of Jake“, interviews Tony Olsen on the subject of the Freedom Haven project on News Talk radio 98.9. 12 minute interview starts at timestamp 19:52 (Click on “Show Description” and then the corresponding “2:33 pm…” section link or listen directly to only the interview).
6/21: Aria and Mr. Nobody at Free Talk Live discuss the Freedom Haven project. (20 minute discussion starts at timestamp 1:16:01 in the stream).
https://freetalklive.com/?ppplayer=a65e130e8b56ac0cda02d6d069031b57&ppepisode=41cc6ffa5f6d0608c081e2962e6d761d
6/19 through 6/22: Raw video of some of the various Freedom Haven presentations that were made at PorcFest 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUEw6a01QHI&list=PLW8gwky7Z_zMN1bOAmIAbde6x3ezBpM_B
4/25: Clips from the Atlas Shrugged Movies that inspired the Freedom Haven project
https://youtu.be/GMYusGkeJqQ
2/20: Freedom Haven mentioned in reference in NBC10 Boston’s report on PorcFest 2022.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-new-hampshire-an-nbc10-boston-original/2920007/
1/31: Freedom Haven mentioned with other projects in CoinTelegraph magazine’s article: “Why are crypto fans obsessed with micronations and seasteading?” https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/20-wild-attempts-to-create-crypto-micronations-or-communities
1/26/2023: The Seasteading Institute updated the Freedom Haven description on their active projects page: https://www.seasteading.org/active-projects/

** 2022 **
12/23/2022: Update on triangle prism sphere core concrete units that make up the concrete platform: https://grabcad.com/library/2022-12-23-triangle-prism-sphere-core-floating-concrete-unit-28-single-only-1
11/16: Update on concrete platform design (with link to CAD files and 3D model webpage): https://www.facebook.com/groups/LibertarianSeasteading/posts/1235996050313291/
(Previous 10/06 update can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5740571545963066 )
11/13: Annual Archive of the Freedom Haven Project: Everything that anyone would need to pick up the project where we left off. We are committed to remaining an Open-Design project.

Contains most recent model files, images, and web site and group backups.
Does NOT contain: list of unencrypted patrons, since only those who wish to have their names appear publicly are shared unencrypted.
Available in 2 formats:

Torrent P2P sharing: https://freedomhaven.org/Tony/FreedomHaven/FreedomHavenProject.torrent
Google drive 7z compressed file (viewers will need 7-zip to uncompress the file – also may only work from desktop computers): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wfEVOkq5DGI0R6osR56GMHWO8GK2ICFJ/view?usp=sharing

Financial update: https://freedomhaven.org/Tony/FreedomHaven/FreedomHavenFinancialGoalsUpdate.png . More at: https://freedomhaven.org/articles-and-links/

How can you help the project

If you haven’t already, become a patron by donating $5 to our Freedom Haven exploratory campaign (aka: Phase 2):
https://freedomhaven.org/plan/
Participate in the monthly ideas contests and help us discover good solutions and help encourage the participation of others
Help market the project through your own innovative imaginative grass-roots efforts
Invite your courageous, pro-freedom friends to the “Gathering Freedom Haven” group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LibertarianSeasteading
Volunteer your time to the project: www.facebook.com/groups/FreedomHavenVolunteers/

(Last updated 1/30/2024)

Monthly Freedom Haven constitution section mini-overview

The Preamble of Freedom Haven Constitution:
We the individual People, in order to secure the human right to defend ourselves, to limit the scope of Government, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, so that we can have the chance to learn, grow, and work towards achieving our greatest individual divine potentials (so that through our efforts, and without compulsory means, prosperity may flow unto us forever and ever), do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Provinces that form the Country of Freedom Haven.

Since Governments naturally grow in scope over time, this Constitution is established to block that growth, so that the least amount of Force (that's required to defend Life, Freedom, and/or Property) is used and the greatest amount of Freedom is preserved. An imperfect execution of justified Government action does NOT justify an expansion of Government authority.