Positive News US is a free, not for profit newspaper published four times a year in Ithaca, NY. We report on successful projects around the world in the areas of sustainability, social equality, education and happiness, with a clear message that "another world is possible."
more...
| a part of Positive News International |
Vermont is Hot, Vermont is Cool |
by Stephen Morris
Vermont is a cool state, literally and figuratively. What can you say about a state that has more cows than people and elects the nation's only Socialist Congressman Bernie Sanders? What can you say about a state that banned highway billboards? What can you say about a state that gives you maple syrup, Phish, and Ben & Jerry's?
Ruggedly beautiful, fiercely independent, and entirely comfortable in the role of underdog, Vermont is unlike any other place in America. It has 251 towns tucked away in its lush hills, many of them tiny hamlets consisting of little more than a dirt crossroads, a white church, and a one room schoolhouse. It is a land forgotten by time. Many of the towns were incorporated in the late 1700s when Vermont was the nation's western frontier. By 1826 the population reached just over 600,000. Surprisingly, the population is much the same today.
On the first Tuesday in March, right about the time the maple sap begins to flow and the dirt roads become quagmires of mud, each town gathers for Town Meeting, an exercise in grassroots democracy where all citizens are on equal footing. It's a tradition that the rest of the country would do well to adopt.
Vermont stands out in other important ways. The state has a higher percentage of agricultural acres under cultivation than any other state. In the commercial arena local businesses have been at the forefront of the social responsibility movement. More than 600 businesses belong to the state's trade organization.
For all its "firsts" and "mosts," however, what really makes Vermont stand out is its human scale. The state is smaller than many counties, with well-defined boundaries that result in sharply-etched local personality. You can drive from one side to the other in less than two hours. You can hike one end to the other on the Long Trail or ski it on the Catamount.
Vermont is the best of both worlds with great natural beauty, but convenient to everything. Ocean beaches, cosmopolitan Montreal, Boston and the Red Sox, and even New York City are within hours of its borders. But why would anyone ever want to leave?
Stephen Morris is Editor and Publisher of Green Living:
A Practical Journal for Friends of the Environment
www.greenlivingjournal.com
Vermont is a cool state, literally and figuratively. What can you say about a state that has more cows than people and elects the nation's only Socialist Congressman Bernie Sanders? What can you say about a state that banned highway billboards? What can you say about a state that gives you maple syrup, Phish, and Ben & Jerry's?
Ruggedly beautiful, fiercely independent, and entirely comfortable in the role of underdog, Vermont is unlike any other place in America. It has 251 towns tucked away in its lush hills, many of them tiny hamlets consisting of little more than a dirt crossroads, a white church, and a one room schoolhouse. It is a land forgotten by time. Many of the towns were incorporated in the late 1700s when Vermont was the nation's western frontier. By 1826 the population reached just over 600,000. Surprisingly, the population is much the same today.
On the first Tuesday in March, right about the time the maple sap begins to flow and the dirt roads become quagmires of mud, each town gathers for Town Meeting, an exercise in grassroots democracy where all citizens are on equal footing. It's a tradition that the rest of the country would do well to adopt.
Vermont stands out in other important ways. The state has a higher percentage of agricultural acres under cultivation than any other state. In the commercial arena local businesses have been at the forefront of the social responsibility movement. More than 600 businesses belong to the state's trade organization.
For all its "firsts" and "mosts," however, what really makes Vermont stand out is its human scale. The state is smaller than many counties, with well-defined boundaries that result in sharply-etched local personality. You can drive from one side to the other in less than two hours. You can hike one end to the other on the Long Trail or ski it on the Catamount.
Vermont is the best of both worlds with great natural beauty, but convenient to everything. Ocean beaches, cosmopolitan Montreal, Boston and the Red Sox, and even New York City are within hours of its borders. But why would anyone ever want to leave?
Stephen Morris is Editor and Publisher of Green Living:
A Practical Journal for Friends of the Environment
www.greenlivingjournal.com
Announcements
What do You find hopeful in the world today? Please contribute a short paragraph and be published in Positive News. We are currently selecting...
more >
The California Edition of Positive News is well on the way! We are looking for volunteers to help make it happen. To join our team contact...
more >
