Blessed Unrest In Vermont
Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 04:07PM In his best selling book Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawkens lays a convincing case for labeling the global environmental and social justice community “the largest movement in the world.” Fair enough, but this description also begs the obvious question: if this movement is so massive why isn’t it also more powerful?
By every measure in national politics the johnny-come-lately Tea Party just demonstrated some serious clout in the midterm election. So why did the largest electoral group in the world get sent to the woodshed – to the point where they’ll be playing all out defense for years to come?
The members of this movement regularly voice frustration with congress and the international community for the failure to address climate change. Understandable. But in a movement where the famous Gandhi quote, “be the change you hope to see in others,” is a familiar rallying cry, shouldn’t they lead this effort by first unifying their ranks into a powerful mandate with a cohesive plan to advance a specific agenda?
Imagine the stir this “blessed unrest” would unleash if they managed to pull this off.
By all accounts Vermont is fertile ground to advance this effort: a new governor who supports this movement’s goals; a congressional delegation known for leading on environmental and social justice issues; a sympathetic state legislature—all supported by a demographic and economic sector ridiculously rich in all things green. If this isn’t a hotbed of social and environmental change, then what is?
With these gifts Vermont should be able to unify its many progressive organizations and initiatives into a strong coalition capable of advancing bold initiatives for human rights, health care, clean energy, growing the green economy and leading climate change solutions.
Vermont’s culture possesses another unique dimension that is vital to achieving true and lasting social change. As we’re seeing today with the newly energized drive to repeal the health care bill, winning elections or even major legislative victories is not enough to effect true social change. A house divided—whether at the popular or congressional level—on the elements of any plan, ultimately lacks the will to implement real solutions.
In its unique town meeting process Vermont reveals deep roots in a more participative democracy born in the small towns and tight communities of its green mountains. The ownership Vermonters feel around their government can now be tapped to foster a next generation democracy capable of driving a level of social change other municipalities can only dream of.
This is the time for Vermonters to form a robust grassroots coalition that, working in concert with political leaders, drives an ambitious, innovative and fully participatory statewide planning process—tasked with generating a bold plan to propel Vermont to the forefront of the global sustainability movement. A plan that will have aggressive targets to keep pace with accelerating climate change, but is also detailed enough to be held accountable; a plan that builds a more durable, greener economy, but also empowers healthy communities; a plan that the people understand because they have actively designed it; a plan that can be rapidly approved and successfully implemented.
It’s no secret that as a nation we have long possessed adequate knowledge about climate change and other major social and environmental challenges. The fact that we have not sufficiently acted on this knowledge to date does not point to poor science or limited understanding. It speaks directly to the utter failure of our democratic processes.
Accepting this, it stands to reason that any real progress on these and the other vital issues of our day requires also improving the process by which we reach conclusions as a people and make decisions as a government. The problems and the process must both be addressed simultaneously.
The world today needs both a more robust dimension of democracy and bolder action plans to meet accelerating global challenges. Vermont is uniquely equipped and eminently poised to lead in both arenas.
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