Thomas H. Naylor

When I moved to Vermont in 1993 I thought Vermont was the most radical state in the Union in terms of its commitment to human solidarity, sustainability, direct democracy, egalitarianism, political independence, and nonviolence. Seventeen years later, I’m not so sure. Politically speaking, Vermont has become more and more like every other state—a mirror image of the Empire of which it is a part. Above all, it is one of the most politically correct states in the nation. The academic, political, spiritual, and media leaders of the Green Mountain State, once known for their fearless independence, behave as though they were experimental mice on an electric floor after experiencing learned helplessness from repeated shocks, waiting to be rescued by Barack Obama. But Barack Obama is nowhere to be found.

Although eleven and a half percent of Vermont voters support Vermont political independence from the United States, almost ninety percent remain firmly committed to the largest, wealthiest, most materialistic, most militaristic, most violent empire in history. Vermont’s once militant peace movement has lapsed into complete ambivalence towards the illegal wars in which our government is engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine, the latter through our proxy Israel.

Opinion leaders such as Governor Jim Douglas, Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Patrick Leahy, former Governor Howard Dean, Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, UVM Professor Frank Bryan, and environmentalist Bill McKibben are all first and foremost American loyalists. The same is true for the Vermont Business Roundtable, the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, the Peace and Justice Center, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Progressive Party.

Although there are several known closet secessionists in the Vermont legislature, not one of them has ever publicly acknowledged that fact. No member of the Governor’s Council of State has ever seriously questioned the morality of Vermont remaining in the Union. Our state government officials appear to be in a state of complete denial as to the degree of corruption of the U.S. government.

Although John McClaughry and the affluent elites who support his Ethan Allen Institute like to bitch about federal spending, deficits, and taxes, they are all supernationalists who fully support our nation’s foreign policy of full spectrum dominance. Whining liberals who were seduced by Obama’s message of “hope and change,” think all they need do to save America is buy a Prius and build a root cellar. Globe trotting Bill McKibben, their hero, assures them everything will be just fine.

Listening to Vermont Public Radio and viewing Vermont Public Television are a lot like tuning in the Voice of the American Empire. VPR’s noonday program known as “Vermont Edition” is the official propaganda arm of Vermont’s duplicitous Congressional Delegation. At least one member of the Delegation is on the show nearly every week.

By far the most zealous Vermont supporter of the technofascist policies of the Obama administration is Green Mountain Daily blogger John Odum. Odum, who is closely tied to Bill McKibben, works for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, a staunch supporter of big government. In the eyes of Odum, Obama is beyond reproach.

Whether caused by a collapse of the dollar, failing infrastructure, or imperial overstretch, the Empire is going down. Experiencing the unbearable likeness of being part of a failing empire while living in an idyllic state such as Vermont, but subsumed by denial, is to experience what Albert Camus called “the absurd.” Therefore, peaceably rebél, and try to die happy!

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Thomas H. Naylor http://www.vermontrepublic.org/the_unbearable_likeness_of_being_part_of_an_empire