As I look at the aspects of sovereignty, I see three that must go hand in hand if VT is to prosper in the coming years: public banking, food sovereignty and local generation of energy. I am not suggesting isolationism, as bioregionalism is an important factor in all this. I am suggesting preparedness.
Sovereignty, in the political sense, puts the discussion on the table, but no politician today is willing to meet that head on. (Though they have done so in Ohio via the nullification of the mandatory insurance premiums.)
Let us move foreward in the knowledge that being ready is not quite the same thing as jumping in all the way.
John Ford's fiscal preparedness bill is the first cautious step. And it has not come a moment too soon as Irene has, hopefully, pointed out. There has been some discussion in government circles and the press as to how to solve the financial dilemmas of the state, and many suggestions that we have proposed in the pages of Vermont Commons have not found an ear in Montpelier. Thanks to John, assuming the bill passes, they will have to find an ear, and that ear will be filled with in-state solutions. It will also be filled with the old paradigms of begging for funds and floating bonds on Wall Street, but, for the first time, the voices advocating public money and alternative currencies will be heard.
I testified on these points two years ago to the House Ways and Means Committee and was opposed, to a large degree, by the banking establishment. Now we are more prepared, and Montpelier is more receptive.
Please stay tuned, as your voices will be crucial if we are to get to meaningful monetary reform. And while you are at it, run for office on the platform of public banking, food sovereignty and local generation of energy. You can read about the food sovereignty movement at The Vermont Coalition for Food Sovereignty.