I became disenfranchised with the Free State Project years ago, when I heard several of its members state (and I paraphrase), "if you aren't a super activist, we don't want you". I was very disappointed to read this because I thought that the value of the silent activist was being missed. I wrote a couple of letters to those who had spoken pointing out that when they faced resistance, the non-activist sympathizers, fully integrated into the community, and not appearing like hardened activists, would offer community support for their actions. It allows a bridge between the activists and the undecided. It keeps it from becoming "us and them". I was ignored.

This article makes my point much better and demonstrates the consequences of not having a group of "normals". An activist (one of the better dressed and spoken as well) has gone to jail on nothing charges. He lacked the support of "normal" looking people. The courts lashed out. It has become "us and them".

I feel both vindicated, and sorry for Ademo, who at the end of the day is the least deserving of this treatment.