For everyone who keeps asking what I “owe” the rest of the world, let me put some numbers on the table.
Last year I opened one hundred thousand visa slots into the Freehold. No fee to apply, relocation paid if you were accepted, a clear contract about what life here looks like.
We received seven thousand three hundred fifty six adult petitions.
We accepted five thousand eight hundred seventy nine of those, plus their families, for a total of eleven thousand two hundred forty three new residents.
In other words, we filled a little over ten percent of what we offered.
This year, as of May 1, there have been nine hundred fifteen visa applications.
Nine hundred fifteen, in a world where I keep hearing how hopeless and broken everything is, and how I am personally failing you by not fixing your port, your power grid, or your school board.
Let me be very clear.
I run Marmaduke Freehold out of Missouri. I am responsible for the people who live and work under my law and my contracts. I am not the governor of Earth, and I am not your father. If you want the kind of stability we have built, you are welcome to apply to join us.
This year there are at least twice as many visa slots open as last year, and if we see real demand from people who are serious about moving and working, we will open more.
The expectations have not changed.
You work, or you bring something real to the table. Skill, trade, language, caregiving, agriculture, engineering, teaching, maintenance, logistics, art that builds community. A willingness to learn and to carry your share of the load counts. Complaints without effort do not.
If you choose to stay where you are, that is your right. I am not here to drag anyone out of their home. But if you stay, your fight is with your own institutions, not with mine. I will trade with you, I will sign fair contracts with you, and I will honor every one of those contracts. I will not, however, pretend that you were never offered a door.
You want what we have, come help build it.
