FOR FSP Signers: You know who Debra Ricketts is? (don't look it up, just answer)

No Idea.

19 (61.3%)

Who cares?

5 (16.1%)

I think I may have heard her name.

3 (9.7%)

Yes, I know of her.

4 (12.9%)

Yes, I know her personally.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 17

[Johnson]

i still say the bitch got that name from that weak-ass bone disease from not drinkin' milk.....

heheheh

come on now...
Well.... maybe.

[Johnson]

For example John, you could have phrased your arguments like this...

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Quote from: JasonPSorens on July 14, 2005, 10:54:22 am
Debra - Good to see you back on the forum!

Thanks! It's weird seeing all these people with such massive numbers of posts!  Shocked Hard to believe we almost didn't set up an online forum because "no one would use it". LOL!

You're right that the 2006 goal was originally called a "deadline," although even then that term wasn't technically accurate, since we said if we were "close to" 20K by then, we'd soldier on.

True, but "close" has morphed from ~19K back in the olden days to ~15K, 10K or even less, according to various posts. There's a major discrepancy there, I think you'll agree.

I don't think anyone is proposing continuing past 2006 as if nothing has happened.

I hope that's true of the current board & officers. However, the large number of people who keep insisting that '06 was "merely a goal" seems to imply that if we don't make the goal, well, bummer, but no big deal. I am greatly heartened by the fact that you're addressing the truth of the matter.

At the very least, if we kept the same SoI and PG (and 20K threshold), we'd have to let people opt out who believed 2006 was a pretty firm deadline and would not participate otherwise. Keeping the existing SoI and PG is not necessarily the best solution, but it's within the range of possible solutions (just as Friday's and Ian's suggestions are within the range of possible solutions). Simply abolishing "2006" and pretending it never happened isn't a possible solution, IMO.

I think that's all any of the "Ought-Sixers" are asking for -- public acknowledgement that they pledged to move under certain circumstances, and that those circumstances will likely not be met. Without such acknowledgement, anyone who doesn't move will be viewed as someone who breaks their word, which is why so many people are concerned about it.

But I do look at restructuring our strategy as an opportunity. It allows us to have a bigger effect sooner, it makes everything more concrete, and it will give us some added publicity - perhaps quite a bit. The FSP leadership has been discussing holding a press conference on Oct 1, 2005, the two-year anniversary of the state announcement press conference. The details still need to be worked out, and there won't be an official announcement until they are.

Absolutely. As I said, I don't have a problem with the FSP changing its mission and strategy -- if something's not working, it's only logical to look for another method.

That being said (and at the risk of beating this horse to death), sometimes its a good idea to go back to the beginning. We researched dozens of "move to freedom" projects: New Utopia, Freedomship, Freedonia, Laissez Faire City, Awdal, Limon Real, Havenco/Sealand, Fort Collins Project, and the ARTEMIS Project, to name a few. We looked for common factors as to why they failed. One of things we found in common was a very low number of early adopters (movers) with a high risk tolerance, and a large number of risk-adverse "wait and see" types. Without a critical mass in place, the risk-adverse would not move, ensuring the failure of the project. That's why we chose to wait until 20K was reached before obligating people to move.

Respectfully, if the FSP chooses to change to the Fort Collins model of migration ("come when you can"), its chances of success in achieving "liberty in our lifetime" drop dramatically, IMO. I should note, though, that there are some significant differences between us & FCP (the internet, for one, as well as a more politically savvy organization), so I'm perfectly willing to find out if I'm wrong on this.  Grin

Debra