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Vermont Commons is a print journal and online forum for exploring the idea of Vermont independence – political, economic, social, and spiritual. We welcome your letters, thoughts, and participation.
Issue 23 - Spring 2008
KEEP IT IN VERMONT: HOW A $150 MILLION FEDERAL WINDFALL MIGHT STIMULATE THE VERMONT ECONOMY by Robin McDermott and Rob Williams
Just a day before Valentine's Day, the current occupant of the White House demonstrated his love for United States citizen/consumers by signing the so-called “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008” into law. Sitting behind a small desk with a banner that shouted "Boosting Our Economy," he inked a $107-million spending package that will send (any week now) tax “rebate” checks ranging between $300 and $1,200 to middle- and low-income taxpayers (which is to say, most of us). Joining in the photo-op were Congressional Democratic leaders Nancy
AN INTERVIEW WITH GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ANTHONY POLLINA (P) conducted by Ron Miller
Anthony Pollina of Middlesex is the Progressive candidate for governor of Vermont.
Vermont Commons: Let’s start with a very broad question. As
you’re considering becoming governor of Vermont, what is your vision
for our future? What direction would you like to see our state take?
THE MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE: If Kosovo, Why Not Vermont? by Kirkpatrick Sale
Dispatches from the Fronts
1. Associated Press, February 16, 2008. By William J. Kole
Sean Connery thinks a Scottish nation is a bonnie notion.
How about Spain’s Basque country becoming a real country?
And what’s wrong with a People’s Republic of Vermont?
Kosovo’s looming independence raises all those questions and more. For starters: why is statehood okay for some people but frowned on for others? After all, isn’t the right to self-determination the essence of democracy itself?
FREE VERMONT MEDIA: "The Shell Game" and Other Of Empire's Errata by Jim Hogue
The following article discusses a work of fiction, The Shell Game. The article presents the case made by author Steve Alten, and some experts on international affairs, that the government of the United States is planning a false flag attack on American soil. This attack is to be blamed on Iran, and would be used as an excuse to impose martial law and to attack Iran in order to take out the last remaining hurdle to the successful completion of the Project for a New American Century. The term “false flag” is a both a common term, and a specific term of
LOCALVORE LIVING: In the Face of "Agflation," Grow Your Own Food! by Robin McDermott
Food prices are on the rise. In 2007, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of food rose 4 percent, the
highest single-year increase in two decades, and it looks like food
costs will go up another 4 percent in 2008. The prices for corn
and soybeans are skyrocketing because of the increasing demand of crops
for fuels such as ethanol. In addition, with higher
transportation costs, it is costing more each day to ship food across
the country and around the world.
LOCALWEAR: "CLOTHING" THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE by Jeff Bickart (Part 1)
To reference and adapt Barbara Kingsolver's newest book on localvore living...
Animal.
Vegetable.
Pants.
Or underpants.
EDITORIAL: Time To Cast Off And Dream Anew by Publisher Ian Baldwin
In her letter to the Editor in this issue of Vermont Commons, Lisa
Nash makes a number of sensible arguments regarding Vermonters and
Americans, Vermont and empire, and the general readiness of Vermonters
to embrace their own independence. In particular I was struck by Ms.
Nash’s assertion that “Vermonters, like most Americans, are far from
coming to terms with the reality that the U.S. is an empire.”
VOX POP INTERVIEW: Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design, Inc.
Whole Systems Design, Inc. describes its work as “occurring at the interface of people and land -- where the built and biological environments meet.” Based in Vermont’s Mad River Valley, Whole Design Systems integrates ecology, landscape architecture, site development, construction, farming, education and other disciplines. Founder Ben Falk holds a master’s degree in landscape design and has taught at the University of Vermont and Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. Vermont Commons Editor Rob Williams conducted this interview.
STIMULATING SHOPPING IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS by The Greenneck
He prefers not to think about money but he doesn’t have that luxury.
The trust-fund gene skipped his family, and it’s been thus far a life
of fiscal constraint. Not that he’s complaining: He’s done good enough
to keep gas in the Chevy and shoes on the boys. The roof doesn’t leak,
even when it’s raining. There’s milk in the fridge and ammo for the
rifle. He is not impoverished.
THE OBAMA EFFECT by Thomas Naylor
A recent survey by the UVM Center for Rural Studies found that 77.1 percent of the eligible voters in Vermont, up from 74.3 percent a year earlier, believe that the U.S. government has lost its moral authority. This is hardly surprising when you consider the fact that our government is owned, operated, and controlled by Corporate America. National elections are bought and sold to the highest bidder. It was the loss of moral authority that brought down the apartheid government of South Africa, the communist regimes in six
DISPERSIONS: "You Know Your Empire Is Collapsing When" by Kirkpatrick Sale
(In our “Mud Season” issue, published in March 2008, Vermont Commons presented Part I of Kirkpatrick Sales’ “Dispersion” column – “You Know Your Empire Is Collapsing When…” Sales wrote, “Empires usually make the same set of mistakes,” and observed from his historical reading that there were four basic reasons that empires collapse. First was environmental degradation (examples, Sumeria and the Roman Empire). Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson has written of the U.S. that its “ecological footprint is already too large for the planet to sustain.” Second was
SPRING WEB EXCLUSIVE: On Racism, Tolerance, and Secession - Editor Rob Williams talks with the Southern Poverty Law Center
What follows is an edited interview based on a series of email conversations between Vermont Commons editor Rob Williams and Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, conducted during late winter, 2008. Both parties agreed on the final transcript.
SPRING WEB EXCLUSIVE: Tom Young on Nurturing School-Community Agriculture
How Does Your Garden Grow?By Tom Young
Thomas Fuller once said, “Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there.” This is certainly true at the Waitsfield Elementary School. Thanks to the work of many, the Waitsfield Elementary School’s garden has been “reincarnated” over the past three years. This garden initiative has offered both children and adults alike a chance to explore the growing process, to think about the benefits of growing locally, and to use the garden as a community place.