In 1777, in the midst of the revolutionary turmoil of colonial America, a small tract of land, claimed by all its neighbors, declared itself an independent republic capable of regulating all internal affairs. For fourteen years, the people of Vermont stood alone against the world controlled by its powerful neighbors as a beacon of freedom. Indeed, their constitution was among the first in the world to ban the practice of human slavery. Finally, it submitted to the terms of statehood under severe pressure from the Continental Congress. The Vermont Republic was no more.
The relationship between Vermont and the United States continues to hamper the proper growth of our state. After the Industrial Revolution, the focus of American power moved to the cities, and Vermont became a nowhere land in the woods of the north. Indeed, the land of the Green Mountains was forgotten, and was left unpaved by the progress of industry. We moved directly from the agrarian age to the information age, leaving ourselves free of the taint of the invading corporate monoculture which seeks to transform diverse human populations into mutually exchangeable economic units of consumers.
However, with the dawn of information technology, Vermont again has become a viable marketplace for the Urban-Industrial complex. It has begun to subvert the true Vermont, and replace it with a quaint and picturesque countryside peopled with smiling flatlanders and quaint bumpkins, while pushing the true people of Vermont out of the way. Resistance to this plan makes one a “redneck” or a “radical”.
Worst of all, this monoculture must target our political institutions: the town meeting, civic participation, and true democracy. These institutions cannot exist if we are to be exploited fully by a Congress in which we have virtually no representation. These political traditions allow our voice to be heard in a real way, in a way that we can feel. We must choose to act while we still have the ability to do so! We MUST free Vermont!
A free Vermont would allow us not only to continue our long standing tradition of freedom and independence, but also to move forward with ease into a future free from the embraces of the Urban-Industrial monoculture.
