As goes Kosovo, so goes Vermont

"It's a tough sell. This is not kid stuff."

Turns out that the Vermont secession movement is part of a global trend. 

Comments

[Jon Harrison]

I missed this in the Times, so I'm glad you posted it.

It's true that parts of several nations have obtained or are seeking more independence -- Scotland is a great example. What we should realize, however, is that while the nation-state is becoming less desirable as a model in many people's minds, its component parts are being subsumed into even larger units. Scotland may want to break away from England -- thus ending the concept of "Great Britain" -- but it doesn't want to leave the EU. While some nation states have broken up or may be in the process of doing so, virtually everybody in Europe is clamoring to join the EU.

It's really a question of local autonomy. Many people are tired of having their local affairs dominated by a distant central point -- the Scots don't want to be ruled by London. However, they realize the advantages of being part of a united Europe -- and this despite the absurd regulatory regime that the EU imposes on its members.

I would liken the United States to the EU in this sense -- it's much better being part of it than being out on your own. We just need less federal interference in what should properly be state and local matters.

Vermont on its own is an absurd proposition. The leadership class that would form in an independent Vermont would run the state -- I mean, country -- into the ground in no time. The UN, the EU, and the remaining "United States" are not going to pour aid into an independent Vermont to keep it going. Vermont's a proto-basket case now. Declare independence and you're a total basket case the next day.

What we need is a return to the balanced federalism that prevailed in the U.S. until the 1930s. That could allow Vermont to blossom (though, given our political class, I doubt it), while retaining the advantages that belonging to the Union provides. I don't see the EU as a direct model for Americans - too much regulation, taxation, etc. But the concept of a large but looser structure of Union would I think be ideal for us. There are security concerns as well. World politics didn't end when the Soviet Union collapsed. There are people and countries in the world that would love to exploit or even destroy a disunited United States.

The trend worldwide (or in the civilized world, at least) is for local autonomy within very large politico-economic units. The EU is the model for the future, like it or not. Vermont on its own is not a model for anything except failure. An independent Vermont would be a third-world country in no time. It would almost immediately have to seek to rejoin the Union or become part of Canada, assuming either would take us.