Slipping Into Pottersville
The rhetoric from the NH Libertarian Party’s official social media accounts is truly shocking. They have posted profoundly cruel statements, including suggesting that anyone who cannot afford cancer treatment should simply “die,” advocating to “legalize child labor,” and publishing racially charged comments on Columbus Day.
This disturbing cruelty brings to mind Pottersville, the fictional town from the beloved film It’s a Wonderful Life. Pottersville is the dark side of society — a place where cynicism and a ruthless survival-of-the-fittest mentality replaces community and empathy.
The core philosophy is clear: Empathy for others is non-existent. This thinking leads directly to policy goals that dismantle support systems. If you can’t pay for healthcare, you perish. Defund public education to starve the schools. Dismantle every service that invests in our people because “all taxation is theft.” Money and the bottom line is all we really care about. If Mr. Potter were a live person instead of a fictional character, he’d be a member of the NH Republican Party presently controlled by Free State/Libertarians like House Leader Jason Osborne.
The essence of Mr. Potter’s dark vision is alarmingly close to becoming our reality as Free State and Libertarian ideologies shape the NH Republican Party platform.
Project 2025 threatens to turn our state and country into Pottersville. Sadly, there is no George Bailey coming to save us. To reclaim our state, we must all find the compassion and courage to become George Bailey. We must reject the politics of indifference and choose a community built on shared responsibility.