Vermont separatists seek new nation freed of Corporate America

by Thomas H. Naylor

	The Vermont Republic was an independent republic founded in 1777 that continued until 1791, when it became the state of Vermont - the fourteenth state of the United States.

Canadians are familiar with separatists movements in Quebec, Canadians are much less familiar with such movements in the United States. Indeed, while separatism seems to be in decline in Québec, the apparent self-serving corporate agenda of the U.S. Bush administration is inspiring the growth of separatists movements in the United States from Alaska, and scattered in different parts of the continental U.S., as well as in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. In the United States such movements have historically been called "secessionist", rather that separatist, as in Canada, and other parts of the work. Vermont is one such evolving and articulate American separatist movement:

A unipolar world has one single center of power, one single centre of force, one single center of decision-making, one master, and one sovereign. At the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within. It lacks the moral foundations of modern civilization. -- Vladimir V. Putin10 February 2007 .

If Vermont is to remain true to itself, it has no choice other than to maintain its commitment to a human scale lifestyle. To remain small, rural, radical, clean, green, democratic, and non-violent, it must continue to resist being subsumed by an undemocratic, materialistic, militaristic, megalomaniac, robotic, imperialistic, global empire of which it is a part. Does it really have any other viable option than to extricate itself from the United States of America? If that is the case, what is stopping Vermont from separating itself from the Union and going its own way as a small but mature independent Republic?

The answer lies in the politically correct, Vermont Democratic Party and its clone, the Progressive Party, neither of which has the guts to confront the fact that the American Empire has lost its moral authority and is going down. Few Vermont voters seem to realize that every time thy cast a vote for either Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders, or Congressman Peter Welch, they are lending their support to the largest, most powerful, most violent empire of all time - an empire which is thoroughly grounded in materialism, racism, and imperialism.

The U.S. government is owned, operated, and controlled by Corporate America. By running for public office individual members of the Vermont Congressional delegation have implicitly cast their lot with the Empire. No matter how individual members may vote on particular issues, our Congressional delegation is an integral part of a very corrupt system and not part of the solution. By agreeing to serve, individual members of the Vermont delegation legitimize a government which condones preparations for war against Iran, the annihilation of Afghanistan and Iraq, a convoluted war on terrorism, the illegal rendition of terrorist suspects, prisoner abuse and torture, citizen surveillance, the suspension of habeas corpus, corporate greed, a culture of deceit, and a foreign policy based on full spectrum dominance and unconditional support for the apartheid government of Israel.

Although tens of thousands of Vermonters truly despise George W. Bush, most are prepared to do absolutely nothing about him or the Empire other than support some mindless, liberal Democrat for president in 2008, which is tantamount to doing nothing at all. Vermont progressives all know in their heart of hearts that only the federal government can solve all of our problems. Unfortunately, the federal government is the problem! They fantasize about the Pollyana-like myth of campaign finance reform, the liberal cure-all for everything. But that will surely never come to be, because Corporate America likes things just the way they are.

Most Vermonters are too fat and happy to ever consider the possibility of actually confronting the Empire. So engrained is the myth of Abraham Lincoln in Vermont culture that our problems will have to become a lot worse before a majority of Vermonters will seriously consider secession as the ultimate form of rejection of a doomed, unsustainable nation. Lincoln convinced us all that secession is immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional and that it should be avoided at all cost. There is only one problem He was dead wrong. When all is said and done, there is one and only one morally defensible option for Vermont regarding the American Empire - secession. Rebél Thomas H. NaylorMarch 15, 2007

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