Vermont

Christmas Wish List or New Year’s Resolutions?

It’s the end of what has been for many a devastating year. 2020 has magnified and amplified the damaging toll that our persistent socio-economic and environmental inequities have exacted on… Read More

Comments to Sheldon Museum Annual Meeting 11/12/19

We have over 6000 non-profits in Vermont with annual revenues of some $6.5B and assets of over $13B. That’s one non-profit, or “for-mission,” as some prefer to say, for every… Read More

Role of the Arts & Humanities in Addressing Society’s Problems

I recently attended a quiet conference that brought together leaders and innovators in the arts, humanities, and public broadcast. We met for two days to explore how the arts and… Read More

Vermont’s Forgotten History of Racial Bigotry

It’s hard for a veteran opinion writer to admit confusion. But the recent chaos in Virginia has humbled this writer and it has nothing to do with politics. Growing up… Read More

An Open Letter to the Vermont Legislature

Dear Legislators, First, thank you all for your willingness to serve your constituents and all Vermonters. You are appreciated by most of us. But please remember, you serve both the… Read More

Children and Families

The nation was appalled by televised scenes on America’s southern border of ICE forcibly separating children from their parents after a Justice Department ruling that to do so was legal… Read More

A Tree Falls in our Woods

I love working in the woods and I’ve come to know all the great trees on our land. They’re like friends – the surviving American elm that looks like a… Read More

When reverence for our past blinds us to our future….

I love Vermont. I’ve lived here seventy years, and like my father, I’ve turned down opportunities to move away and earn more money. But I don’t trust the Vermont myth… Read More

Creative Invention: Plan for the future, learn from the past

Many small colleges are struggling with low inquiry, application, and admission rates, including here in the Northeast. Rising tuitions, student loan abuses, and radical change in employment patterns have discouraged… Read More

Ethics Meltdown in Legislature

The Legislature is at an impasse trying to decide whether to establish and adequately fund a statewide ethics commission that has real enforcement capability. There’s been considerable favorable testimony by… Read More

Vermont’s Ageing Legacy Systems

Vermont’s Ageing Legacy Governing Systems How we understand our complex systems affects the quality of our discussion about them, as well as any agreements we might make toward progress. Too… Read More

Vermonters Want a Real Ethics Commission

The Vermont legislature is at an impasse trying to decide whether to establish and fund a statewide Ethics Commission. There has been considerable favorable testimony by Vermonters, ethicists, and our… Read More