Vermonts Genetic Code

I went to a lecture by Frank Bryan who authored The Vermont Papers a secessionist guide of sorts. He spoke of the unique nature of Vermonters and attributed it to our having missed the Urban Industrial period of America from the late forties through the early sixties. He spoke of our differences being in part due to the large number of diary farmers who by nature are more empathetic and nurturing than the average man. These qualities made for a better democracy and helped keep the tradition of town meeting alive. He also talked about how centralization is bad and small is almost always better. This has all been covered in his book and in many others that deal with the benefits of direct democracy. I asked how we could ever expect decentralization to cease and revert to smaller community based government in the face of corporatism which is antithetical to these policies. His answer was vague but he believes people will come around when they realize that the old way of smaller government works better. After the talk I introduced myself and we talked briefly about secession. He said that he still feels patriotic in many ways, in the old sense, but if he was raising kids he would push them towards independence.