Open our governance doors to young people

  Public domain image “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And… Read More

In response to the commentary by former UVM President Tom Sullivan regarding healthcare in Vermont.

Courtesy UVM Medical Center Hospital A recent VTDigger commentary by UVM former President and current professor of Law and Political Science Tom Sullivan raises debatable questions. In his “meeting of… Read More

Green Burial in Vermont

      Courtesy Vermont Forest Cemetery Bob Stannard’s recent commentary about death and dying in VTDigger prompted this octogenarian friend to do some thinking. My wife and I have… Read More

My New Year’s Wish List for Vermont

I take my inspiration for our future from Vermont’s sage motto, “Freedom & Unity,” expressing the balance between what I must do for myself and my family and what I… Read More

The Three Hs: housing, hunger and healthcare

  Photo courtesy VTDigger A basic goal of civil government is that its citizens should have a secure place protected from the elements in which to live and perhaps raise… Read More

We need to rethink our systems of governing

  Vermont State House   On Election Day, as I confronted my voting ballot in the Hinesburg Town Hall, I was daunted to find that for the first time there… Read More

Real leaders don’t amplify differences, they bridge them.

Vermont State Capital Governor Phil Scott pulled off a trifecta win in the latest election. The “most popular” governor in the country, a non-MAGA, conservative Republican in a liberal state,… Read More

Two out of three ain’t bad….

                    UVM Medical Center                                   … Read More

Preventing chronic toxic stress in our communities

Life is stressful. No amount of wealth or privilege protects us from stress. In fact, there’s reason to believe that privilege, insofar as it isolates us from a shared humanity,… Read More

Healthcare regulation elicits blowback, Vermonters need to respond

Courtesy UVM Medical Center Hospital We don’t like change. Change threatens those of us who are privileged to have a part in the status quo, even when it’s dysfunctional and… Read More

Book bans, censorship… what’s next?

Courtesy Morrisville Centennial Library I oppose book bans. Having said that, I don’t believe freedom is an absolute. History has taught us that we need commonly agreed upon limits to… Read More

Healthcare… A Way Home

Shutterstock In the ‘90s, Vermont was among the states with the lowest per capita spending, but since 2010 it’s been consistently among the highest (see slide 14). So, to envision… Read More