Read more about the Keep It In Vermont campaign in this April 11 Times-Argus article.

Take the Keep It In Vermont pledge here.

A review of the 2008 novel by James Howard Kunstler (Atlantic Monthly Press)

“The world has become such a wicked place,” she said quietly, just a statement of fact.

“There’s goodness here too.”

“Where is it?”

“In all the abiding virtues. Love, bravery, patience,
honesty, justice, generosity, kindness. Beauty too. Mostly love.”

“I’m afraid sometimes that we drove those things out of
existence.”

“No, we carry them in our hearts. They’re always with us.”

“I don’t know what’s in my heart anymore. It’s too dark to
see.”

Our little newspaper made its statewide debut last issue – with
15,000 copies of our winter 2008 “Reviving Town Meeting” issue
circulating all over the once-and-future republic of Vermont in close
to 200 locations (and 500 subscribers receiving the newspaper through
the mail).

As we approach our third anniversary in print, this seems an
appropriate time to introduce our newspaper’s mission and vision to the
citizens of Vermont, since we are still fairly new in the Green
Mountain neighborhood.

Oil. We’re using it up like there’s no tomorrow. But there is.

Why is it, then, that nobody wants to talk about peak oil?
We’re willing to discuss climate change; even send a tri-partisan
proposal to the governor in an attempt to move Vermont toward a less
fossil-fuel driven energy portfolio. But the “P” word hardly ever
gets any press. At what cost, this silence?

Like all Americans, Vermonters are familiar with private wealth
(even if they don’t have much). By private wealth, of course, we
mean the stocks, bonds, and real estate people inherit or acquire
individually, including fractional claims on cor¬por¬ations and mutual
funds.

Most Vermonters don’t think much about the water that flows from our
taps – groundwater, primarily – until there’s a problem. Like
contaminated water. Or no water at all.

The idea that the free flow of this seemingly inexhaustible
resource might be an issue in Vermont – that Vermonters’ wells could
run dry – has not crossed many people’s minds. Until recently, that is,
when the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) identified and began
to raise serious questions about a gap in the state’s water laws.

When Vermont peaceably secedes from the U.S. Empire, we will have a
great opportunity to re-imagine all aspects of our life here. We
can re-make the government, the transportation system, the
environmental regulations, the education system, the services for the
people who need help, and the health care system. What a gift
that will be! In the meantime, let’s share what we think might
work.

Consider the nation’s health care system.

Award-winning Vermont filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who took top honors
at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival for his must-see documentary “Why We
Fight” (now out on DVD), has spent the past several years researching
the nature of the United States and the motivations that lie behind its
war-making capabilities. As the world marks the beginning of the fifth
year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, he reflects on the costs of war,
the nature of the United States Empire, and the notion of non-violent
secession - the peaceful dissolution of the United States. Eugene lives

Bruce Levine: In today's world, how realistic is the idea of secession?