Paulville, Texas
, was an American
cooperative
organization as well as the site and
planned community
under its development in the
salt flats
of north
Hudspeth County
, intended to consist exclusively of
Ron Paul
supporters.
[1]
[2]
The Paulville community was named after the
U.S. Congressman
and established in January 2008 following the rise in popularity of his
2008 campaign
(and retained attention through his equally-popular
2012 campaign
).
[3]
The cooperative was modeled on Paul's often
libertarian
ideas.
[4]
[5]
The site was never developed, and the organization is now inactive.
Location
[
edit
]
The Paulville site was located in the undeveloped
salt flats
outside of city limits, located
south-southwest
of
rural
Dell City, Texas
(population 365 in 2010), north of
U.S. Route 180
, and an hour east of
El Paso
.
[1]
It was also 770 miles (1,240 km) from Paul's East Texas office of
Lake Jackson
.
[6]
The organizers said 50 acres (20 ha) had been purchased.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Photos reveal the range of the
Guadalupe Mountains
15 miles (24 km) east, and the local area has occasional deer
[1]
and
tumbleweeds
.
[9]
The mountain area is also noted for
elk
,
coyotes
,
jack rabbits
,
desert cottontails
,
ring-tailed ground squirrels
, and
gray foxes
.
[10]
Another mountain range looms just west.
[9]
The site is located within
Texas's 23rd Congressional district
and is represented by
Republican
Tony Gonzales
.
Organization
[
edit
]
The property became available to the community when offered for sale on
eBay
by its original owner.
[11]
The cooperative was also called "Paulville.org", after its website, which is now inactive,
[12]
and was established on January 27, 2008, by
Ron Paul
meetup
organizer Jason Ebacher of
Farwell, Minnesota
.
[13]
[14]
It was held by a
cooperative
of shareholders, who held a first organizational meeting in April 2008
[3]
and who vote on essentials such as utilities.
[15]
Ebacher appeared in a one-hour conceptual video, created for Ron Paul Television prior to the purchase; captioned "Television for the revolution", it was carried by
The New York Times
, which meanwhile chided the website for a
libertarian
"view of the laws of grammar, spelling and punctuation"
[11]
[16]
and noted its lack of contact information.
[4]
On May 12, 2008, web content formerly at Paulville.org became unavailable,
[17]
which
Politico
considered as possibly suggesting "a perilous time for the infant community."
[18]
The website and organization have remained inactive since.
Development
[
edit
]
Planners claimed to metaphorically raise the Paulville town sign
[12]
[
dead link
]
and planned to establish septic
[3]
and electrical systems on an opt-out basis reflective of principles of
individualism
:
[1]
citizens would not be required to use the cooperative's water and energy supplies
[18]
and may choose to live
off-grid
.
[15]
Members say they chose the
West Texas
plot for its high amount of sunshine, favoring off-grid
solar panels
.
[18]
Buying in and homesteading the land from scratch
[19]
was expected to take significant work, which the organizers warned is "not for the faint of heart".
[15]
In his conceptual video, Ebacher described the ease of raising
sheep
and
chickens
, and the relative merits of energy from solar power, wind, water, and
biodiesel
fuels.
[11]
Members also discussed alternatives for conveniences like
cell phones
and
internet
connections. Little to none of this infrastructure was ever built, and the site remains empty and uninhabited as of 2021.
A gated community unhindered by planning regulations was intended, followed by additional communities
[3]
in sites like New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska,
[8]
or Montana;.
[15]
[9]
Members' beliefs that ideologically like-minded individuals can form a detached, thriving community have been echoed by experiments such as the
Free State Project
in
New Hampshire
,
[18]
[20]
New Australia
in
Paraguay
, the
Findhorn Foundation
community in
Scotland
,
[3]
and
Celebration
and
Ave Maria
in
Florida
. Ideology-based communities have ranged from
communism
to
environmentalism
.
[5]
Jonathan Dawson, an educator based at
Findhorn
, questions the point of inward-facing micro-communities, but talks about "providing an example" to others: "It's not useful to retreat just for the sake of it."
[3]
Reaction
[
edit
]
The site was chosen by and for the large market of "100% Ron Paul supporters and or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty";
[12]
motivated followers of Paul have been estimated to number several hundred thousand,
[21]
have had fundraising history that suggests "seemingly bottomless bank accounts",
[9]
and appear not to be giving up in pursuing his 2008 and 2012 campaign goals.
[15]
[22]
Paulville has attracted mixed reviews.
[15]
The alternative Seattle
Stranger
found it suitable for those who have "the covenant of freedom espoused by Ron Paul guiding their every decision".
[23]
The
Houston
-based
Lone Star Times
referred to founding members as "Paulvillains" and as creating "an insane asylum", and presented diverse posts from forum members,
[1]
while
Philly.com
and
Reason
anticipated other "dusty exurbs" named after presidential candidates, both citing "
Bidentown
" as an imaginary example.
[9]
[17]
The
Guardian
expects shareholders to be interested in
libertarian
views like "the right to wield semi-automatic weapons and the abolition of income tax",
[3]
and the
Economist
wonders whether the new town constituted "a framework for utopia, or just a hilarious catastrophe".
[24]
Paul himself was ambivalent about Paulville: "You want to spread out and be as pervasive as possible .... I don’t see [Paulville] as a solution, but it can't hurt anything either." He believes that "it shows how desperate people are for freedom."
[18]
[25]
He found the prospects for additional communities entertaining, but said, "I don't know how much [Paulvilles] would do."
[26]
Andrew Sullivan
of the
Atlantic
said, "Who wants to live around people who agree with you on everything? Not my kind of libertarian";
[27]
he was echoed by
Jesse Walker
of
Reason
.
[17]
The
Libertarian Party of Texas
believed Paulville had potential for demonstrating practical
libertarianism
in action.
[5]
[
dead link
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Bramanti, Matt (2008-04-18).
"Ron Paul supporters plan West Texas commune"
.
Lone Star Times
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-24
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
Special Report with Brit Hume. Broadcast: May 16, 2008.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Evans, Paul (2008-04-14).
"Paulville: the town where rightwingers will be free"
.
Guardian
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
a
b
Williams, Alex (2008-05-25).
"It's Not a Campaign, It's a Mission"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
2008-05-26
.
- ^
a
b
c
Barton, Patrick (2008-04-17).
"Paulville"
.
Lone Star Liberty
.
Libertarian Party of Texas
. Retrieved
2008-05-07
.
- ^
a
b
Brendel, Patrick (2008-05-07).
"Last Train to Paulville"
.
Texas on the Potomac
.
Houston Chronicle
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
Smith, Ben (2008-05-07).
"Documentarian alert: Paulville"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
2008-05-07
.
- ^
a
b
Guzman, Monica (2008-05-07).
"Ron Paul supporters: Would you move to Paulville?"
.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
. Retrieved
2008-05-07
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Bunch, Will (2008-05-07).
"Don't go back to....Paulville?"
.
Philly.com
.
Philadelphia Newspaper, L.L.C.
Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
Uhler, John William (2007).
"Guadalupe Mountains National Park Flora and Fauna Guide"
.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-12
. Retrieved
2008-05-23
.
- ^
a
b
c
Mackey, Robert (2008-05-08).
"A Gated Community for Ron Paul Supporters?"
.
the Lede: Notes on the News
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
a
b
c
Weber, Christopher (2008-05-01).
"The Road to Paulville"
.
AOL News
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
"WHOIS Search Results"
.
Network Solutions
. 2008-03-28
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
Ebacher, Jason (2008).
"For what it's worth with Jason Ebacher"
.
Ron Paul Television
.
Justin.tv
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Brown, Kellyn (2008-05-14).
"A Revolution Beyond Ron Paul: The Road to Paulville"
.
Flathead Beacon
. Retrieved
2008-05-15
.
- ^
Ebacher, Jason (2008).
"Paulville conception"
.
Ron Paul Television
.
Justin.tv
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
a
b
c
Walker, Jesse (2008-05-14).
"Cities on a Hill"
.
Hit & Run
.
Reason
. Retrieved
2008-05-14
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Grim, Ryan (2008-05-12).
"Paulville? Count Ron Paul out"
.
the Crypt
.
Politico
. Retrieved
2008-05-12
.
- ^
Bullard, George (2008-05-08).
"Ron Paul: New town called Paulville"
.
Detroit News
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-06-12
. Retrieved
2008-05-19
.
- ^
Stooksbury, Clark (2008-04-19).
"Paulville"
.
American Conservative
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
Malcolm, Andrew (2008-05-01).
"Ron Paul, political loser, now best-selling author"
.
Top of the Ticket
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
2008-05-02
.
- ^
Green (2008-05-09).
"Sticking together"
.
State Line Observer
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-06-25
. Retrieved
2008-05-14
.
- ^
Jackson, Ryan S (2008-05-07).
"Homesteading for Ron Paul"
.
Stranger
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
"The road to Paulville"
.
Economist
. 2008-04-19
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
Guzman, Monica (2008-05-12).
"Ron Paul rejects 'Paulville'
"
.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
- ^
Selby, W. Gardner (2008-05-18).
"Paul not planning to endorse a presidential contender: Presidential candidate to sign best-selling book in Austin on Monday"
.
Austin American-Statesman
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-04
. Retrieved
2008-05-19
.
- ^
Sullivan, Andrew
(2008-05-07).
"Paulville"
.
Daily Dish
.
Atlantic
. Retrieved
2008-05-13
.
External links
[
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]
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