Folks,

Originally I had thought that secession would occur in the natural course of events, as the Empire broke up. Now I'm not so sure. The US Empire might just hang on until we've no food or transportation left.  If the pig-headed politically-correct ideologically-pure American patriotism refuses to dissolve early enough.

After reading a thoroughly Orwellian article about the Stonewalling of Peak Oil, in which oil industry alumnus Bob Hirsch stonewalls Peak Oil through a kumbaya affirmation and then recommending to 'reasonably get more decision-makers involved in

• 1) recognizing the problem and
• 2) helping to elevate it to the highest levels of
  government, so serious action can begin.' 

...I asked, what happens to the truth, when elevated 'to the highest levels of government'?

Stonewalling a problem though affirmation of the problem is a thoroughly American impulse, recognised by George Orwell.  For example, to place those with a conflict of interest in charge of a regulatory board; the James Watts and Robert Burfords of the world.  Or, the relationship between CVPS and the Public Service Board. Or, the Bernie Sanders of the world, whose votes on Capitol Hill and public actions are firmly pro-Empire, while he tells environmentalists, leftists, and people who are losing their homes or otherwise hurting, what they want to hear.  More on 'Bernie' later, we'll discuss whom he is really representing (but you don't need me for that, just look at his voting record, pro-Empire to the hilt).

The recent secessionist conference, Dreaming Vermont's Destiny, was an excellent start.  However I had to remind participants periodically of a larger context; surviving Peak Oil.  Peak Oil sure does place a lot of the lefty stuff in context; that is, buying green products (to fill the landfills even higher), buying a hybrid (utterly dependent on spare bits from China), putting some solar panels and windmills (utterly dependent on spare bits from China), and driving real slow (you're holding me up and causing total energy consumption to increase).

Guilt, feelings of general malaise in the face of (phoney) Global Warming, pervade. If you feel powerless, you'll never go for secession, never take a risk, just stay 'safe'. After all, Malthus was right, the textbook says so!  (I beg to differ.)

The other factor that scares me about the Left, is that the Left fundamentally opposes free trade, has no understanding of technology, comes out in droves to protest against 'globalisation' (then scarpers off to go shopping).  Against many of the factors that would enable Vermont to survive (and do well, compared to other collapse-hit regions) Peak Oil.  The Left advocates fixing Peak Oil by actually increasing energy dependencies and buring more oil.  Middlebury just blew its chance at acquiring a water turbine for a mere $500k --- a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of public money spent on repaving streets that don't need it, building an extra bridge that they don't need next to the old bridge (while failing to restore two others that would have saved miles of driving per car daily).  Not a single protester stepped out of the hybrid to wave a sign.

We need a second conference, and we need it soon.  Our current representatives at both the Empire level and at the Montpelier level need to be replaced because they are commiting actual acts sabotage against Vermont's infrastructure, and for the most part doing their best to stonewall any serious discussion of Vermont's future as anything but an outlying economic colony of the Empire, and a tourist trap.