The “Appleseed” Initiative
The goal is to place enough “liberty-minded” individuals into a town’s machinery that they can eventually trigger a service collapse or a privatized takeover from within.
• Targeting “Low-Yield” Roles: They recruit candidates for Library Trustees, Budget Committees, Planning Boards, and Supervisors of the Checklist. These races are often won by just 20 or 30 votes.
• The “Good Neighbor” Mask: Candidates often run as friendly, fiscally conservative neighbors without disclosing their FSP ties or their ultimate goal of dismantling the institution they are running to lead.
• The Ratchet Effect: Once in power, they use small, incremental cuts (like denying library dues or slashing school maintenance) to make the institution look “broken” or “inefficient,” creating the public justification to later privatize it.
The Goal: “Functional Secession”
UBy controlling the local budget and zoning, they aim to:
• Deregulate Zoning: Allow “Liberty Compounds” to be built quickly, moving enough “movers” into a district to swing a state house seat.
• Siphon Funding: Push for local warrants that redirect public funds to private vendors.
• Abolish Oversight: Use the Budget Committee to delete positions that provide transparency or “check and balance” power.
How to Stop the Rot
The Project Appleseed strategy only works in the dark. To stop the rot, you have to bring the light of public scrutiny and high turnout to remove the bad apples.
• The “Turnout” Counter-Move: FSP candidates count on you staying home for “minor” local elections. The most effective defense is a Voter Turnout Machine for the March Town Meetings. If turnout increases by just 10%, these candidates almost always lose.
• The “Conflict of Interest” Exposure: Use the Pledge we’ve developed. Ask every candidate for Library Trustee or Budget Committee: “Will you pledge to maintain the state’s proportional share of funding and oppose any effort to dismantle this institution?”
• Research the “Liberty Rating”: Check the NH Liberty Alliance (NHLA) ratings or the “Make Liberty Win” donor lists. If a local candidate is endorsed by these groups, they are likely part of the Johnny Appleseed network.
• The “Property Value” Argument: Reframe the debate for your neighbors. Tell them: “A town without a library, a school board, or a planning board is a town where home values plummet. These ‘seeds’ aren’t planting liberty; they are planting a tax hike for when our services fail.”
