It seems that Vermont likes nothing more than reinforcing other Americans' stereotypes of the Green Mountain State. An unlikely crusade, which advocates for the secession of Vermont from the United States, actually has been gaining converts -- most likely dreadlocked, pot-smoking Dead Heads sporting Birkenstocks.
The self-proclaimed "Second Vermont Republic" movement hopes to peacefully return the state back to the independent status it enjoyed from 1777 to 1791 -- the 14-year span between the time when Vermont left the British Empire and became the 14th state in the Union. The budding secession movement has already hosted a convention in Burlington -- and plans to convene another one next March -- lobbying the state legislature to declare independence. The Confederacy-wannabes even boast a flashy website that allows fellow secessionists to purchase the official flag of the impending Republic of Vermont for $40. Who said freedom was free?
But why do these Vermonters want out of the Union in the first place? In their view, the American ship of state is sinking. The United States is going the way of the Roman Empire.
"Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big, too corrupt and too aggressive...It has abandoned the democratic vision of its founders and eroded Americans' fundamental freedoms," proclaimed the aspiring armchair revolutionaries in an April 2007 manifesto that appeared in the Washington Post.
Just imagine how the founding of the Republic of Vermont would dramatically change life at Dear Old Dartmouth. Passports would be required to go shopping at Dan and Whit's just across Ledyard Bridge in Norwich. Incoming freshmen from Vermont would attend International Orientation each September to acclimate themselves to the exotic ways of America. Then again, if the Connecticut River became international waters, Safety and Security would not be able to touch Tubestock. Hmmm.
Without a doubt, most will simply write off the secession movement as just another half-baked scheme dreamt up by a few wacky Vermonters who are high off gas fumes from their Subarus. However, the radical crusade in New Hampshire's neighbor to the left -- geographically and politically -- has gathered surprising popularity. Up five points from one year ago, 13 percent of Vermonters -- approximately one in eight -- support saying sayonara to the U.S.A., according to a recent University of Vermont survey.
Despite being an unrealistic pipedream with nil chance of success, Vermont's flirtation with following the route of the Confederacy actually does provide something more meaningful than comedic fodder. To some degree, the secession escapade is a sobering sign of the times in the United States. Just look around. The approval ratings of both the president and Congress are rock bottom. Nothing gets done in Washington. And on top of the domestic morass, America faces an endless war against Islamic radicalism.
Feeling that the United States has been drifting in the doldrums, Many Americans actually share similar frustrations with Vermont's secessionists. A June 2007 Gallup poll found that an overwhelming 74 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. While the vast majority of the restless Americans do not support secession, more, albeit still very few, moderates have been lured to the extremism -- as the Vermont secession campaign offers just one amusing example.
Ironically, the extremists in Vermont need not look further than the nearest mirror to explain why the United States has become seemingly dysfunctional and ungovernable. In short, they helped create the exact problem that they are rebelling against.
Explaining their disproportionate influence on American politics, comedian-cum-political philosopher Jon Stewart eloquently once said that "Extremists run this country because moderates have shit to do." This is part of the reason why the federal government seems impotent and unfixable. These days, the bomb-throwing Ann Coulters and Michael Moores of the country have demonized their political opponents into "enemies of the state," making cooperation all too difficult. And when Democrats and Republicans finally unite, as seen with the current immigration reform bill, the fringes of both parties often place the compromise measures in their crosshairs.
Vermonters should realize that in the face of such daunting challenges, it is a time for moderation and not extremism. More radicalism will just make the United States feel even more ungovernable.
So, don't go, Vermont. Do not let extremists make the Green Mountain State America's laughingstock -- that role is already reserved for New Jersey.
