Cities on a Hill

Ron Paul won't be moving to Paulville, reports Politico:

The founders of Paulville recently announced the purchase of the first 50 acres in West Texas on which they plan to build one of their "gated communities containing 100 percent Ron Paul supporters and or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty."

One man who won't be moving there anytime soon: Ron Paul....

[D]ropping out and creating an isolated community isn't the answer, says Paul, a congressman from Texas. "You don't want the ideas to be centered in one place," he says. "But it shows how desperate people are for freedom."

Consistent with his beliefs in liberty, however, he doesn't outright oppose Paulville. "I don't see that as a solution, but it can't hurt anything either," he says.

My position on Paulville is the same as my position on every libertarian intentional community: I don't want to live in a town filled with ideologues, even (or especially) if they're ideologues I agree with. That said, better a thousand Paulvilles than a single McCain Nation.

It's not clear, incidentally, that Paulville will appear at all. From the same article:

On Monday, just days after the announcement of the land purchase, the Web site Paulville.org went out of existence. No contact information had been on the site when it was live; phone calls and e-mails to the site administrator over the last several days have gone unreturned.

Has the dream died already? Or, like Brigadoon flashing briefly in the mist, have they already gone off the grid?

Bonus exercise: Imagine life in Edwardsville, Bidentown, the Dodd District, Port Romney, Huckabee County, Tancredo Township, or any other community devoted to the principles espoused by a failed presidential candidate. (Except Giuliani City. We already know what that one looked like.)

[Hat tip: Dan Clore.]

Comments

Jonathan Hohensee | May 14, 2008, 9:24am | #

Ron Paul's followers has officially lapsed Lyndon LaRouche followers when it comes to cult-like behavior, right?

Reinmoose | May 14, 2008, 9:27am | #

All I can picture is a bunch of people running around trying to make their houses uglier than each others and doing whatever they can to piss each other off so they can turn right back around and be like "HA! Isn't this great?! We're so mad at each other!"

Hugh Akston | May 14, 2008, 9:28am | #

I don't think I'd mind living in a building full of libertarians. At least you'd know where to go for computer help.

Reinmoose | May 14, 2008, 9:30am | #

I don't think I'd mind living in a building full of libertarians. At least you'd know where to go for computer help.

and homebrew

Episiarch | May 14, 2008, 9:30am | #

No, what you'll get is an endless Life of Brian "splitters!" squabbling match, with the property being redefined into smaller and smaller chunks that adhere to more and more specific ideologies.

That's assuming they are all that rabid. It could turn out to be a pretty pleasant place to live but over time that'll change.

John-David | May 14, 2008, 9:32am | #

The smell would be unbearable.

Jonathan Hohensee | May 14, 2008, 9:34am | #

I don't think I'd mind living in a building full of libertarians. At least you'd know where to go for computer help.

and homebrew
...but not dating advice

Fluffy | May 14, 2008, 9:37am | #

Hohensee -

Well, I think you're seeing more an array of spontaneous silliness from various little cells of Paul supporters, and not cult behavior per se.

Considering the fact that Paul does virtually nothing to direct any of this stuff, and sometimes appears to be merely polite in a grandfatherly way about the most inane stuff, it's really hard to line that up with, say, Jonestown. What kind of cult has a leader who's not trying to lead?

T | May 14, 2008, 9:38am | #

Why am I reminded of the snide comment that there are slightly more versions of libertarianism then there are libertarians? I can just imagine the HOA meetings.

Reinmoose | May 14, 2008, 9:44am | #

What kind of cult has a leader who's not trying to lead?

Brian: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Brian: Now, fuck off!
[silence]
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

bendover | May 14, 2008, 9:48am | #

"That said, better a thousand Paulvilles than a single McCain Nation."

Jesus Christ. Jesse are you totally incapable of posting an article without pimping your book?

Standard libertarian disclosure re: free markets, etc...

joe | May 14, 2008, 9:50am | #

So, will it be pedestrian oriented? You know, can you go from the shooting range to the fallout shelter on foot?

Abdul | May 14, 2008, 9:52am | #

If the Ron Paul campaign taught us anything, then any item in Paulville that stood still for at least three seconds would have a reEVOLution poster haning from it.

In tancredo township, there'd be no one to do the landscaping.

D.A. Ridgely | May 14, 2008, 9:54am | #

Bonus exercise: Imagine life in Edwardsville, Bidentown, the Dodd District, Port Romney, Huckabee County, Tancredo Township, or any other community devoted to the principles espoused by a failed presidential candidate. (Except Giuliani City. We already know that that one looked like.)

Now Entering The Two Edwardsvilles
(Try Our Famous Torts!)

Now Entering The Two Edwardsvilles Bidentowns
(Try Our Famous Torts!, Oh, Never Mind.)

Now Entering God’s Huckabee Country
(Please Turn Off Your Cell Phones)

Now Entering The Private Estate
of Mr & Mrs God Mitt Romney
(Formerly Utahchussets)

Now Entering Tancredo Township
(Proof Of Citizenship Required -- ¡No Habla Español!)

MP | May 14, 2008, 9:58am | #

Jesse are you totally incapable of posting an article without pimping your book?

What?

Ayn_Randian | May 14, 2008, 10:00am | #

Jesus Christ. Jesse are you totally incapable of posting an article without pimping your book?

What McCain book did Jesse right again?

Edward | May 14, 2008, 10:01am | #

"That said, better a thousand Paulvilles than a single McCain Nation."

What a choice!

Tancredo Township wouldn't accept birthright citizenship, and neither would Paulville, by the way. Both would probably have creationist theme parks.

Ayn_Randian | May 14, 2008, 10:02am | #

*write, dammit! W-R-I-T-E...it's pre-coffee here in the Ohizzle.

Hey joe, does joe's law apply only when making pedantical grammar corrections, or does it apply to correcting errors of substance as well?

Jonathan Hohensee | May 14, 2008, 10:03am | #

Tancredo Township wouldn't accept birthright citizenship, and neither would Paulville, by the way. Both would probably have creationist theme parks.
So they're like a surreal version of Orlando, FL.

Jesse Walker | May 14, 2008, 10:05am | #

I'd like to announce my plans to reprint Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America under a new title: McCain: The Myth of a Maverick. Bookstores will file it under my pen name, "Matt Welch."

Pro Libertate | May 14, 2008, 10:06am | #

Matt Welch is the author of the McCain book. Perhaps he forced Jesse to mention it, but I somehow doubt it.

I hesitate to join the abuse about a libertarian-themed community--would a liberal or conservative community have even one fewer wackjob in their respective ranks? I think not.

joe | May 14, 2008, 10:07am | #

joez Law of Teh Internetz:

When writing a comment insulting someone's intelligence, you will make a spelling error that makes you look like an idiot.

e.g., "Get a brain, Morans!"

D.A. Ridgely | May 14, 2008, 10:12am | #

e.g., "Get a brain, Morans!"

Actually, that would work just fine in the 8th Congressional District of Virginia.

robc | May 14, 2008, 10:12am | #

I don't think I'd mind living in a building full of libertarians. At least you'd know where to go for computer help.

and homebrew
...but not dating advice

Dammit, thats 3 comments that hit me exactly. I hate being that predictable.

robc | May 14, 2008, 10:15am | #

joe,

So, will it be pedestrian oriented? You know, can you go from the shooting range to the fallout shelter on foot?

Depends if the owner of the land between the range and the shelter builds a footpath or not. BTW, as a (former?) planner you should know this, whats the typical toll on a footpath?

Edward | May 14, 2008, 10:16am | #

Maybe Paulville would serve some quick-extit Kool-Aid if it looked like universal health care was on the horizon. Give me a failed but private health care system or give me death! Wait, I can have both!

robc | May 14, 2008, 10:18am | #

Both would probably have creationist theme parks.

While listening to the Reds game while driving home last night, I heard a Cincy tourism commercial. After pimping the big attractions - Reds games, Newport Aquarium, King's Island - at the end of the commercial they listed other attractions like museums and etc. In the list they mentioned the creation museum.

Colin | May 14, 2008, 10:19am | #

"On Monday, just days after the announcement of the land purchase, the Web site Paulville.org went out of existence. No contact information had been on the site when it was live; phone calls and e-mails to the site administrator over the last several days have gone unreturned."

I wonder how many people got fleeced.

bendover | May 14, 2008, 10:20am | #

Sorry Jesse - all you white guys look the same to me.

robc | May 14, 2008, 10:20am | #

Get a brain, Morans!

Having spent too much time on fark, that doesnt even look wrong to me.

joe | May 14, 2008, 10:20am | #

robc,

As a (former) planner, I recommend we hold a public visioning session to determine the toll on the footpath.

You flyer the neighborhood, I'll set up a wildly-optimistic number of folding chairs.

ALowe | May 14, 2008, 10:21am | #

So, will it be pedestrian oriented? You know, can you go from the shooting range to the fallout shelter on foot?

Sure, as long as you remember to bring change for the toll sidewalks.

Untermensch | May 14, 2008, 10:22am | #

OK Edward, I'll bite:

“Give me a Cuban-style health-care system or give me death! Wait, they're synonymous (despite what Michael Moore told me).”

Reinmoose | May 14, 2008, 10:22am | #

I'll set up a wildly-optimistic number of folding chairs.

lol

BakedPenguin | May 14, 2008, 10:23am | #

Give me a failed but private health care system or give me death! Wait, I can have both!

Here's to hope, Edward...

Old, crotchety Episiarch | May 14, 2008, 10:24am | #

Get off my lawn or give me $5!

J sub D | May 14, 2008, 10:26am | #

joe | May 14, 2008, 10:07am | #

joez Law of Teh Internetz:

When writing a comment insulting someone's intelligence, you will make a spelling error that makes you look like an idiot.

e.g., "Get a brain, Morans!"

Corollaries exist as well. For example, it has been established that joe's law applies to mathematic pedants as well. Perhaps somebody with a flair for scholarly work could dope out all of the implications of joe's law and post their treatise here.

brotherben | May 14, 2008, 10:35am | #

Due to the overwhelming benefit of his fluency in 15-126 languages, I nominate the dunderooo as gatekeeper/sheriff/town cryer.

Brian24 | May 14, 2008, 10:37am | #

I suspect I would move to this community all psyched up for a wild time. Then on the first day I would discover that the community was 80% male, and the women weren't much to look at.

On the second day I'd invite my neighbors over for a wild party; they'd turn me down and insist that I join their Bible Study group.

And on the third day I would move...

Cab | May 14, 2008, 10:51am | #

I'm moving to Spitzerville.

shecky | May 14, 2008, 10:54am | #

Well, it takes a village...

Fluffy | May 14, 2008, 10:54am | #

I'm moving to Spitzerville.

You can pick up a foreclosed property cheap in Vegas these days.

brotherben | May 14, 2008, 10:56am | #

"I'm moving to Spitzerville."


Who wants to travel out of state just to have sex?

Episiarch | May 14, 2008, 10:57am | #

I'm moving to Spitzerville.

Sing Sing? We can only hope.

Ayn_Randian | May 14, 2008, 11:02am | #

The real question is "How difficult would it be to deal smack in Paulville?"

On one hand, profits would be theoretically low...OTOH, I'd bet it's a bunch of uptight white dudes just itching for some excitement.

Pro Libertate | May 14, 2008, 11:02am | #

Spitzerville. Home of Eliot Spitzer, his family, and 10,000 high-end prostitutes. Excellent fodder for his new gig as Whore Critic for The New York Times. Hmmm, I think he needs to write another article soon.

Reinmoose | May 14, 2008, 11:10am | #

In Edwardsville, everyone would constantly be on strike against themselves.

R C Dean | May 14, 2008, 11:22am | #

Corollaries exist as well.

RC'z Law (typos are likely to be funnier than the corrected post) is definitely a corollary of joe'z Law.

mediageek | May 14, 2008, 11:22am | #

In Edwardsville, everyone would constantly be on strike against themselves.

The easy punchline there would be something about top-rate hair salons.

Tutu Tutu | May 14, 2008, 11:26am | #

Will Paulville mandate listening to Coast-to-Coast A.M. with George Noory? And attending weekly lectures on " FED up. Why the banking cabal profits while you lose money, liberty, and property"?
I can deal, so long as they have marijuana vending machines . . .
Can I get a what-what?

Jonathan Hohensee | May 14, 2008, 11:28am | #

Gravel-ville would just feature one old man wondering around aimlessly in an abandoned village, occasionally spending hours at a time staring at pieces of technology that confuses and intimidates him. Then turning around, sporting a perplexed yet wounded look when he spots a group of raucous teenagers pointing and laughing at him.

Reinmoose the reporter | May 14, 2008, 11:28am | #

"We should all be making more money than we currently are!" said 100% of the residents of Edwardsville, a closed economy located somewhere in Indiana. They are all on strike until they all agree to pay themselves what they collectively deserve.

Drooples the Retarded Kitten | May 14, 2008, 11:34am | #

In Drooplesville, everybody eats ham every day, has pudding for dessert, and votes for God every four years. It's happy here.

D.A. Ridgely | May 14, 2008, 11:35am | #

Spitzerville. Home of Eliot Spitzer, his family, and 10,000 high-end prostitutes. Excellent fodder for his new gig as Whore Critic for The New York Times. Hmmm, I think he needs to write another article soon.

So, does this mean that Spitzer will be covering the opening of all new Andrew Lloyd Webber shows for the Times?

Pickles | May 14, 2008, 11:38am | #

Pickles: I don't want any more ham, drooples, I'm sick of ham!
Drooples: But ham is so yummy!
Pickles: You, Drooples, once again are the master of the persuasive argument. I shall give ham a second chance.

thoreau | May 14, 2008, 11:39am | #

I can only imagine what the community newsletter for Paulville will be like.

jimmy | May 14, 2008, 11:43am | #

good thing it will be a gated community. i'd hate to see the consternation in the paulites' faces if a mexican lesbian showed up in town trying to get an abortion.

Drooples the Retarded Kitten | May 14, 2008, 11:59am | #

Thanx Pickles! Ham all time makes everyone, and sisters too, happy as a spider monkey.

Kolohe | May 14, 2008, 12:03pm | #

Actually, if you've ever lived on a Navy base -or any other military base for that matter - you have seen life in a 'McCain Towne'

Drooples the Retarded Kitten | May 14, 2008, 12:10pm | #

Will McCain give Drooples and friends ham every day? Maybe he can be the He . . . the God of every four years.

china | May 14, 2008, 12:20pm | #

Jesse said:

"I don't want to live in a town filled with ideologues, even (or especially) if they're ideologues I agree with."

I realize this is just a throw away line, but there is no way that (if forced to choose between two evils) you would prefer the town consisting totally of ideologues with whom you disagree to a town housing 100% ideologues with whom you agree.

consider a true Stalingrad?
or a real Ho Chi Mihn City?
.... Pol Pottsdam
David Dukeville?

I'll take a town filled with fans of Milton F. or T. Jefferson over any of the above, even if all my neighbors were nerdz.

Jesse Walker | May 14, 2008, 12:30pm | #

Let me put it this way: There are unique drawbacks to living in a community where you agree with everyone. That said: You're right, I'd certainly pick a town full of Paulites over New Stalingrad.

James Anderson Merritt | May 14, 2008, 1:00pm | #

I think I should have liked to live in Brownesville ("Our government doesn't work and we admit it!")

Pottsy | May 14, 2008, 1:12pm | #

There are unique drawbacks to living in a community where you agree with everyone.

It'd be an echo chamber. I'd shoot myself if I was never forced to consider someone else's political perspective. How the hell would you evolve?

Dogzilla | May 14, 2008, 1:23pm | #

Is "idealogue" a bad word? Is an idealogue different than someone who has firmly-held opinions, consistent with his/her worldview?
Does it represent something more sinister?
If you're not an idealogue, don't you just vote for the candidate who has the best TV spots?
If the main thing my neighbors and I agreed on was that we should all be free to pursue our own lives, I don't think I would mind that one bit.

Pro Libertate | May 14, 2008, 1:29pm | #

I'd prefer some libertarian echoes, as to opposed to the echoes of socialistic oppression that we hear today.

SugarFree | May 14, 2008, 1:30pm | #

I see the liar is back. Color me shocked.

Edward | May 13, 2008, 12:36pm | #
Holy mother of god are you people stupid. Just keep preaching to the converted and pretend anyone else gives a flying fuck.

I can't deal with this black hole of stupidity any longer. I'm done. I won't be back. Stupid fucking fools.

Pro Libertate | May 14, 2008, 1:35pm | #

A moth drawn to the flame of liberty.

SugarFree | May 14, 2008, 1:44pm | #

I like to think that he just can't resist the rhythm of the night.

robc | May 14, 2008, 1:54pm | #

How the hell would you evolve?

Genetic mutation and generations of breeding?

Like everyone else.

leTerrassier | May 14, 2008, 2:15pm | #

I have to say I would prefer a community of Environmentalists better- the woman are prettier and the sex is great. The smell would probably be about equal, too.

Rick | May 14, 2008, 2:48pm | #

Instead of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "The Wall", would "Loose Change" be the midnight movie at Paulville Cinema?

What is the over/under on how quick CPS would remove all children?

Jesse Walker | May 14, 2008, 3:05pm | #

If the main thing my neighbors and I agreed on was that we should all be free to pursue our own lives, I don't think I would mind that one bit.

Me either. But a neighborhood where politics is really important to everyone's lives -- so important that it's the reason they live there -- would get to be a grind, even if the political views themselves are a-OK. One reason I'm a libertarian is because I think there's a lot of things that are more important than politics.

Tommy_Grand | May 14, 2008, 5:41pm | #

"There are unique drawbacks to living in a community where you agree with everyone."

Word. But I would like to live next door to the lass who sings the rockin' "Ron Paul" song. Aimee Allen? I still hear that in my head sometimes.

Jonathan Hohensee | May 14, 2008, 6:20pm | #

e either. But a neighborhood where politics is really important to everyone's lives -- so important that it's the reason they live there -- would get to be a grind, even if the political views themselves are a-OK. One reason I'm a libertarian is because I think there's a lot of things that are more important than politics.
Personally, I have found that there is no one more depraved or pathetic than the people who have the same politics as me.