VT: Independents Launch Center for Vermont Independence

From Robert Wagner, an Independent candidate for VT State Senate:

A diverse group of Independence-minded Vermonters, state-wide political, social and economic organizations, political office candidates and private individuals came together in solidarity and support for Vermont’s sovereignty, independence and constitutional rights, at noon on Sunday for the formal opening of the Center for Vermont Independence (CVI) . . . 



Rob Williams, editor of the Vermont Commons, introduced a new ‘Cooperative Independent News Model’. It was duly noted that Radio Free Vermont also plays an important part in public awareness of Vermont issues, and that the public outcry for Independence in Slovenia had a powerful catalyst: the independent press.

Peter Garritano, retired business manager and 2010 candidate for Lt. Governor, spoke on peace, and the necessity of ending Vermont’s cooperation with the ongoing militarization of our state economy, drawing attention to the immanent deployment of the new and environmentally disastrous F-35 fighter-bombers to Burlington Airport.

With the breakdown of the national truck transport system, and reduced availability of fossil fuels. how can Vermont feed itself?  Decreased agricultural dependencies on feed, fuel, and chemical inputs, as well as widespread use of agricultural techniques which mimic natural systems, is one possible strategy. To achieve this, the influence of Monsanto, USDA and FDA would need to be curtailed and nullified within the borders of Vermont, according to state sovereignty guaranteed by the tenth amendment.  Draft legislation and a resolution were presented, and work will continue.

A new political order, the Vermont Independence Alliance, was announced by Matthew Cropp and Dan Murphy. The Vermont Independence Alliance (VIA) will encompass and champion ‘a truly staggering diversity in the beliefs and world-views of Vermont’s separatists – amongst our ranks we can count substantial numbers of libertarians, socialists, liberals, and conservatives, in addition to folks who are completely uncatagorizable’.

‘Such diversity has risks, [but] a consensus seems to have emerged which has transformed our respective differences from a liability into a source of strength.  Essentially, it is this: though we may have very different visions for the nature of the society in which we would like to live, we recognize that none of our visions will receive a fair shake as long as we’re part of the United States’, said Cropp.

Participants received a strong schooling in the necessity of public participation in a democracy, by Vermont Campaign for Liberty (C4L) coordinator Steven Howard,  Rick Scharf introduced the provisional Vermont Council of Censors, reconstituted to re-examine Vermont’s laws for their constitutionality and fairness: “to enquire whether the constitution has been preserved inviolate… whether the legislative and executive branches of government have performed their duty as guardians of the people… also to enquire whether the public taxes have been justly laid and collected… in what manner the public monies have been disposed of.”

Gary Flomenhoft of UVM presented the results of a state-wide survey indicating an increased dissatisfaction and despair with the federal government, and a consequent increase in interest and support of an independent Vermont.

Recent progress on the formation of a Vermont State Bank was delivered by playwright Jim Hogue, the ‘Vaclav Havel of Vermont’. Jim presented the evidence pointing to the necessity of a State Bank such as the Bank of North Dakota, in order to enable the survival of Vermont’s economy as the federal reserve currency devalues and collapses.

Finance expert Eric Plump of Woodstock spoke briefly on the ‘inevitability of our freedom’, as long as we proactively build our own economic structures as the centrally-planned economy unwinds. Details on economic structures and finance were given by John Ford & Gary Flomenhoft.

Dennis Morrisseau, State Senate candidate from Rutland County, performed a Gap Analysis, in which missing pieces and work needing to find able hands, were brought to light and recorded for future action.  Finally Michael Patno, a founder of the Second Vermont Republic, closed the conference with a brief note on the importance of accountability.

No binding decisions or resolutions were made, except to meet again in subgroups with different focus areas, and a periodic summit, and to promote Vermont farmers, apprentices, artisans, filmmakers, artists, poets and musicians in the space of the CVI as an expression of our unique cultural identity.