The Center is now open!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Robert Wagner, Ripton VT  robert@senatorwagner.com

CENTER FOR VERMONT INDEPENDENCE: RIBBON-CUTTING & SUMMIT

Hancock, VT (December 13, 2010) –  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).

Kathleen Byrne, a local business owner, cut the ribbon and gave the Hopi message from First Nations Elders, encouraging us that it is no longer the eleventh hour, but that the hour has arrived.  We must find out leaders within ourselves. Gus Jacacci, an Independent candidate from Thetford, called this an historic moment in Vermont’s evolution.

A traditional potluck meal followed as presenters updated other working groups on progress since the First Goddard Conference of 2009.  Topics covered included Finance, Education, Surviving Economic Collapse, Food Sovereignty, State Sovereignty, Energy Sovereignty, Tax Policy and Green Burial. A legislative campaign update was given, as well as a glimpse into the developing 2012 strategy.

Footage from an in-production film called Green Blooded: Vermont at a Crossroads, was shown.  Green Blooded is to be released in 2012 by Vermont filmmakers Teo Žagar & Christopher Piana of Longshot Productions, and is sponsored by Rural Vermont, “activating, advocating and educating for living soils, thriving farms & healthy communities”.

Žagar’s original film about Slovenian Independence, Ten Days Ten Years was shown in its entirety the evening before for early arrivals, and will be reshown periodically at the 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.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Learn more about the Center for Vermont Independence at http://Vermont600K.com

Green Blooded: Vermont at a Crossroads http://GreenBloodedVT.org

Rural Vermont http://RuralVermont.org

Earnest Productions: http://EarnestProductionsVT.org

Longshot Productions: Ten Days Ten Years by Teo Žagar: http://www.LongshotProductions.org

Stop the F-35 in Burlington http://StopTheF35.com

The Vermont Commons, our state-wide independent news journal: http://VTCommons.org

Free Vermont Radio http://FreeVermontRadio.org

Vermont Finance: http://www.CurrencyCommonsVT.org

Provisional Vermont Council of Censors: http://www.VermontCouncilOfCensors.org

The government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community, and not for the particular emolument or advantage of any single person, family, or set of persons, who are part only of that community; and that the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible right, to reform or alter government, in such manner as shall be, by that community, judge most conducive to the public weal.

-Vermont Constitution, Article 7