WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.480 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. This is the place 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.040 where we take a huge stack of sources. And today, 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.279 it's a really comprehensive profile on Vermont's 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.560 history, its economy, its politics, and we just 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.800 pull out the absolute key things you need to 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.559 know about what makes a place tick. And today, 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:18.339 yeah, we're looking at Vermont, a state that 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:20.420 I think for many people gets boiled down to, 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.980 you know, a few charming cliches. Maple syrup. 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.440 Maple syrup, fall foliage, covered bridges, maybe 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:29.179 a certain ice cream brand, we all know. But if 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:31.260 that postcard is all you see, you are missing 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:35.280 the really radical heart of the place. That's 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.359 the perfect way to frame our mission here. We're 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.539 using this detailed survey to unpack that fierce 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:43.619 independence, its role as a sort of testing ground 00:00:43.619 --> 00:00:46.159 for progressive policies, and how its really 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.740 unusual geography shaped everything. From its 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:51.479 politics to its very specialized economy. We 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.140 really want to get into why the Green Mountain 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:55.380 State is the way it is. And why that matters. 00:00:55.539 --> 00:00:57.299 Yeah. So I think a good place to start is just 00:00:57.299 --> 00:00:59.710 the scale of it. Or maybe the lack of scale. 00:00:59.829 --> 00:01:03.329 Exactly. Vermont is the 49th most populous state. 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:06.709 So only Wyoming has fewer people. Its capital, 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:09.750 Montpelier, is the least populous state capital 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:11.989 in the entire country. It's got, what, about 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:15.209 8 ,000 residents? It's tiny. And even its biggest 00:01:15.209 --> 00:01:17.950 city, Burlington, has a smaller population than 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:20.150 the biggest city of any other state. It just 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:23.090 completely subverts that American idea of, you 00:01:23.090 --> 00:01:25.719 know. big urban centers and soaring buildings 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:28.659 right and i love this fact from our sources vermont 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:30.640 is the only state that doesn't have a single 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.439 building taller than 124 feet that's amazing 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:36.140 what's so fascinating is how a place so small 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:38.519 so landlocked and so you know sparsely populated 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.500 has this this huge reputation for being bold 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.379 both politically and socially our deep dive is 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:47.299 all about finding the roots of that attitude 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.980 okay let's unpack this where does this deep -seated 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:52.480 independent spirit actually come from You don't 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.219 just accidentally become a policy laboratory. 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:56.180 We have to go back to the beginning, right, to 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.260 this history of just aggressive self -determination. 00:01:59.459 --> 00:02:01.239 And even the name tells you a lot about that 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.299 streak. Vermont is just a French translation 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:05.799 of Vermont. Green Mountain. Green Mountains, 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.719 exactly. It was adopted in 1777, and the suggestion 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:13.039 came from a man named Dr. Thomas Young, who was 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.639 an ally of the very militia that defined the 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.800 whole region, the Green Mountain Boys. That's 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.090 such a critical point. The state isn't named 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:23.409 for a king or someplace in Europe. It's named 00:02:23.409 --> 00:02:27.669 after an illicit, armed vigilante group. Before 00:02:27.669 --> 00:02:30.169 it was Vermont, it was even briefly called New 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:32.449 Connecticut. And changing the name to Vermont 00:02:32.449 --> 00:02:36.030 in 1777, that was a statement. It cemented the 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.069 influence of the Green Mountain Boys on the state's 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:40.250 identity right from the start. Before we get 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:42.210 into all the colonial fighting, we should probably 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:45.069 look back even further. I mean, 11 ,000 years. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.479 right as the glaciers were receding. That's right. 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:49.860 The first people there were paleo -Indians. They 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:52.539 were hunters. And the landscape included a saltwater 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.800 body, the Champlain Sea, which eventually turned 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.939 into the freshwater Lake Champlain we know today. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:59.300 And the whole environment changed, right? About 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:01.740 8 ,000 years ago, you get the archaic period. 00:03:01.979 --> 00:03:04.639 The big game like mastodons are gone and people 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.180 start relying more on smaller game, on plants. 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:09.300 Our sources really paint a picture of a very 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:12.259 developed culture. Sophisticated fishing, stone 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:15.419 cookware, food storage. It suggests... a pretty 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:17.900 stable and successful indigenous society. And 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.199 then comes the woodland period, maybe 3 ,000 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:22.120 years ago, and that's when agriculture really 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:25.120 takes hold. Right, the three sisters, maize, 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:28.759 beans, and squash. That allowed for larger, more 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.259 permanent settlements. The main groups were the 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:33.719 Algonquian -speaking Abenaki, and then bordering 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:35.939 them, you had the Mohicans and the Iroquois -speaking 00:03:35.939 --> 00:03:39.439 Mohawk. And contact with Europeans in the 1600s 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.979 was, well, it was a catastrophe, just like everywhere 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:46.360 else. The diseases, things like smallpox, they 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.439 just raced ahead of the actual settlers. The 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:50.300 estimates are devastating. Of the roughly 10 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:52.599 ,000 indigenous people in the area, somewhere 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.699 between 75 and 90 percent died before any major 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:58.080 European settlement even got started. And the 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.159 survivors were completely disrupted. They either 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.379 had to move north towards French territory in 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:05.120 Canada or try to assimilate. And you see the 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.669 legacy of that today. Vermont is unique in that 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:11.270 it has no federally recognized tribes. The state 00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:13.889 itself has formally recognized several Abenaki 00:04:13.889 --> 00:04:17.089 bands. but not the federal government. So the 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:19.910 colonial era itself, after 1600, it's this kind 00:04:19.910 --> 00:04:22.490 of low -level competition. You have French military 00:04:22.490 --> 00:04:25.250 interests around Lake Champlain and English settlers 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:27.329 creeping up the Connecticut River. Then France 00:04:27.329 --> 00:04:30.470 gives up its territory to Britain in 1763 after 00:04:30.470 --> 00:04:33.209 the Seven Years' War, and boom, suddenly this 00:04:33.209 --> 00:04:36.850 huge forested land is up for grabs by the colonies 00:04:36.850 --> 00:04:38.990 to the south. And this is the moment, this is 00:04:38.990 --> 00:04:41.269 the critical point that really defines Vermont's 00:04:41.269 --> 00:04:44.019 anti -authoritarian future. The land dispute 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:46.000 over the New Hampshire grants. It's a fantastic 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.579 story. The New Hampshire governor, Benning Wentworth, 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:51.259 he starts auctioning off huge areas of land between 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:53.180 Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River back 00:04:53.180 --> 00:04:56.620 in 1749. So settlers buy these grants. They set 00:04:56.620 --> 00:04:58.879 up towns. They think they have a clear legal 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.779 title to their land. But here's the problem. 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:02.959 The colony of New York claimed the exact same 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.819 territory. And in 1764, King George III issues 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.399 a proclamation and sides with New York. A disaster 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:12.180 for the settlers. A total disaster. New York 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:14.540 immediately starts selling the land all over 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:17.720 again, this time as land patents, to wealthy 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.379 New York speculators. So people who have built 00:05:20.379 --> 00:05:22.980 homes, cleared farms, they're suddenly facing 00:05:22.980 --> 00:05:25.399 eviction by authorities backed by the king. And 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:27.740 this is where that independent spirit just, it 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.120 takes a violent turn. The response wasn't to 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.480 write a letter to the king. The response was 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.920 Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in the 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.500 early 1770s. And we have to be clear, this was 00:05:37.500 --> 00:05:40.230 not a formal army. This was an illicit. private 00:05:40.230 --> 00:05:43.689 militia whose entire purpose was to protect the 00:05:43.689 --> 00:05:46.029 New Hampshire grant holders from New York authorities 00:05:46.029 --> 00:05:49.959 by any means necessary. Their methods were. genuinely 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:52.560 brutal. They used arson, mob violence, harassment. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.240 They'd kidnap and beat New York settlers and 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:57.579 sheriffs to drive them out. They were armed vigilantes 00:05:57.579 --> 00:05:59.660 and they were successfully resisting colonial 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:02.339 legal authority. That history of self -defense 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:05.240 against what they saw as unjust government overreach, 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:07.259 I mean, that fuels the state's identity even 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:10.740 now. And that internal fight perfectly prepared 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:13.540 them for the bigger fight against Britain. The 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:15.600 Green Mountain Boys got famous almost overnight 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.560 when they captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:21.160 A huge early victory in the Revolutionary War. 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.839 It showed they were effective and just solidified 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.740 their reputation for, you know, decisive, independent 00:06:26.740 --> 00:06:29.779 action. All of this anti -authoritarian action 00:06:29.779 --> 00:06:33.180 leads directly to one thing. The Vermont Republic. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:38.180 January 15th, 1777. The representatives of the 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:39.800 New Hampshire Grants realized they're fighting 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:41.939 New York and Britain, so they just declare full 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:43.899 independence from both. And what they wrote that 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:46.220 summer in a place called the Windsor Tavern was 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:48.459 revolutionary in the truest sense of the word. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:50.839 The Constitution of the Vermont Republic was, 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.399 you could argue, the most radically liberal political 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:55.759 document in North America at the time. Absolutely. 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.060 I mean, think about the era. This Constitution 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:00.560 was the first one in North America to explicitly 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.000 ban adult slavery. That's right. It had a provision 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.459 that said male slaves were free at 21 and female. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:09.939 males at 18. A huge monumental step for the 1770s. 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.319 But maybe even more groundbreaking was the voting. 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:15.579 The Vermont Republic granted universal adult 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.699 male suffrage. They gave the vote to men who 00:07:18.699 --> 00:07:21.490 didn't own property. which was decades ahead 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:24.250 of the rest of the United States. This little 00:07:24.250 --> 00:07:27.189 landlocked territory was experimenting with democracy 00:07:27.189 --> 00:07:30.230 on a scale that the big, powerful states were 00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:32.810 just too conservative to even try. And they weren't 00:07:32.810 --> 00:07:35.209 just writing it down on paper. Vermont was a 00:07:35.209 --> 00:07:38.129 fully independent nation for 14 years. A full 00:07:38.129 --> 00:07:40.329 -on nation. They had their own postal service. 00:07:40.370 --> 00:07:42.930 They issued their own coinage, the Vermont Coppers, 00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:47.250 from 1785 to 88. And the only reason it ended... 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:49.959 That 14 year experiment wasn't because they were 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:52.860 defeated. It was just political necessity. They 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:54.800 wanted to join the union, but New York was still 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.199 blocking them over the land claims. The solution 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:00.740 was purely pragmatic. In 1790, they reached a 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:04.060 deal. Vermont had to pay New York $30 ,000 to 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:06.279 settle all the outstanding claims. So they literally 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:07.920 had to buy their way into the union. They did. 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:10.620 That payment cleared the way. And on March 4, 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:14.439 1791, Vermont became the 14th state. The very 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.339 first one admitted after the original 13. And 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:20.100 that entire founding story resisting authority 00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:22.920 governing themselves for 14 years, paying off 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:25.300 their rival, it just left this permanent mark. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.699 A deep inherited skepticism of outside government 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:31.019 control that you can still see in their policies 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.519 today. And that fighting spirit moving into the 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:36.940 1800s, it got channeled into the Civil War. Vermont's 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:39.539 contribution for its size was just astonishing. 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:44.120 Over 33 ,000 troops. and more than 5 ,200 deaths. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:47.600 That's a casualty rate of over 15 % of the soldiers 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:50.000 they sent. And it was also the site of the northernmost 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.620 land action of the whole war, the St. Albans 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.799 Raid in October 1864. This wasn't a battle, though. 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:58.440 It was more like financial terrorism. About 20 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:00.379 Confederate agents crossed the border from Canada, 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:03.360 robbed three banks in St. Albans, and then fled 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.700 right back into Quebec. And the local posse that 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:08.320 chased them into Canada, a neutral country, caused 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:11.000 this huge international incident. Right. But 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.500 it's interesting. The Canadian government eventually 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.720 reimbursed the banks. They basically admitted 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.919 their neutrality had been violated. It just highlights 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:19.480 that unique position of Vermont right up against 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:22.059 an international border. So the state inherits 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:24.539 this tradition that's both radically democratic 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:28.220 and at the same time violently anti -authoritarian. 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.039 It's a complex heritage, but it's completely 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.679 tied to the land itself. That's a perfect transition. 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:36.519 Let's move from that revolutionary history to 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:39.919 the physical reality of the state. If you connect 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:42.580 the history to the geography, the key thing is 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:46.019 that Vermont is the only landlocked state in 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:48.779 New England. It's the easternmost landlocked 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:51.340 state in the entire U .S. It's geographically 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:53.019 small, right? Right. About the size of a country 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.320 like El Salvador. But the mountains, they just 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.460 dominate everything. The Green Mountains are 00:09:57.460 --> 00:09:59.559 the spine of the state, running north -south. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:01.740 And that spine divides everything up. You have 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:04.259 the fertile Champlain Valley to the west by the 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.919 lake. And then the eastern side is all dominated 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.240 by the watershed of the Connecticut River. And 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.399 those mountains dictate where people live, how 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.600 they get around, the weather, everything. The 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:16.899 highest peaks, like Mount Mansfield, they even 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:19.700 have these rare alpine ecosystems above the tree 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:22.019 line. Speaking of the mountains, the geology 00:10:22.019 --> 00:10:25.419 is just. It's a cosmic story. The oldest rocks 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:28.019 in the Green Mountains are nearly a billion years 00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:31.740 old. But get this. About 400 million years ago, 00:10:32.539 --> 00:10:35.120 Those same peaks were estimated to be between 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.960 15 ,000 and 20 ,000 feet tall. Wait, so as tall 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:41.600 as the Himalayas are today. Exactly. We are talking 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.899 about Himalayan scale mountains that have just 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:46.679 eroded down over hundreds of millions of years. 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.639 And you can still see the evidence of that geological 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.279 violence. One of the most famous examples is 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.480 the Champlain Thwest. It's a visible fault line 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:57.940 where ancient bedrock was literally pushed up 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.840 and over younger rock formations. It's a classic 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:03.480 example of tectonic. pressure I've read. Geologists 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.679 love that spot. They do. And if you want to go 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.179 even further back in time, you can go to a place 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:11.019 called Isle Lamotte, an island in Lake Champlain. 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.340 It holds the remains of the Chezy Formation. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.440 Which was one of the world's very first tropical 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.740 reefs. One of the first. You can go to a quarry 00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:20.519 there and see 200 million year old marine fossils. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.259 It's this incredible reminder that this cold 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:26.059 granite state was once part of Pangaea, floating 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:28.980 in a tropical senior Africa. So the geology set 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:31.659 the stage. And that stage dictates the climate. 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:34.720 It's a humid continental climate, right? Big 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:37.840 seasonal swings. Legendary winters, cold, long, 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:40.659 snowy. You're looking at an average of 60 to 00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:43.120 100 inches of snow. And it's not the same everywhere. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:45.580 The Northeast Kingdom, that rural corner of the 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:48.600 state, is way colder. It is about 10 degrees 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:50.360 Fahrenheit colder in the winter than the southern 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:52.820 part of the state. So even within this small 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:55.399 state, you have these distinct microclimates. 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:57.720 But that climate is changing. And the consequences 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:01.120 for Vermont are... They're severe. Over the last 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.500 50 years, they've seen more rainfall and more 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:06.220 intense storms, which leads to major flooding. 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:09.360 The Great Vermont Flood of 1927 was a generation 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.299 -defining disaster. And we saw the modern version 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:15.200 of that in 2011 with Tropical Storm Irene, which 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.860 caused just massive damage. And all this leads 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:20.059 to the core economic threat, which is the warming 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:22.940 trend. Warmer, shorter winters are predicted 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.059 to have a catastrophic effect on the two things 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:27.860 Vermont is most famous for. Skiing and maple 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:30.440 syrup. The ski season is already getting shorter, 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.139 which hurts tourism. And the maple sugaring industry 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:35.740 is facing an existential threat. Why is that? 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.440 What's the mechanism there? Sugar maples need 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.220 a very specific cycle of freezing nights and 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:44.580 warm days for the sap to run properly. As winters 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:47.080 get shorter and more erratic, that cycle gets 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:49.909 disrupted. The trees are stressed. So the trees 00:12:49.909 --> 00:12:51.929 themselves are in trouble. Some research suggests 00:12:51.929 --> 00:12:53.990 the sugar maples are essentially being forced 00:12:53.990 --> 00:12:56.590 to migrate north into Canada to find the climate 00:12:56.590 --> 00:12:58.870 they need. This isn't just an economic problem. 00:12:59.009 --> 00:13:01.269 It's a threat to a core piece of their cultural 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:05.070 identity. This landscape, this climate, it also 00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:07.490 dictates how people live and how the state is 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:10.149 governed. The urban structure is really unusual. 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:13.490 Vermont only has 10 incorporated cities total. 00:13:13.809 --> 00:13:15.769 And most of the population centers are legally. 00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.940 For example, the town of Essex has over 22 ,000 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.100 people, which is way bigger than many of the 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.460 actual incorporated cities. The town meeting 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:26.639 is still a huge part of their governance. It's 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.740 just so decentralized. It values small local 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:31.820 government over the big city political machines 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.460 you see everywhere else. And that local control, 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:36.919 it feeds right into their very unique economy. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.419 Vermont's economy is this, this immediate contradiction. 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:45.019 Its nominal GDP, about $45 .7 billion, is the 00:13:45.019 --> 00:13:48.539 lowest of any state. But its GDP per capita is 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:51.379 a very strong 21st in the nation. Which tells 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.000 you the economy isn't about massive volume. It's 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.620 about small -scale industries making really high 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.879 -value products or servicing a very wealthy clientele. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.240 And you can see that ethos perfectly in agriculture, 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:04.960 even as traditional farming is in decline. Dairy 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:07.500 farming is a classic example. It's central to 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:09.659 the state's image, right? The big white dairy 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:12.620 barns everywhere. But the number of farms has 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:15.940 just plummeted. It's a nearly 95 % decline between 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:19.960 1947 and 2021. Just over 500 farms left. And 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:21.919 that's not just a number. That's a huge cultural 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.120 shift in rural life. The family farm is mostly 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.100 gone. And now preserving those iconic barns is 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:29.039 more of a historical project than an economic 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.259 one. And here's the paradox. While the number 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:33.659 of cows has shrunk, the total milk production 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:35.740 has actually doubled. It's all because of hyper 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:38.080 efficiency, better technology, better genetics. 00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:40.179 So they're producing more milk with fewer cows 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:43.320 on fewer farms. Exactly. But even with that efficiency, 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:46.620 their share of the bulk milk market is falling 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:48.600 compared to giants like New York and Pennsylvania. 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:51.879 Forestry has a similar story. The state is 78 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.799 % forested now, which is a huge comeback from 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.000 the 1880s when it was mostly cleared for sheep 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.139 pasture. But the industry is struggling. The 00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:01.639 prices for wood products, lumber and wood chips 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:04.720 have been flat for decades. Our sources say the 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.620 price for a thousand board feet in 2017 was the 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:10.759 same as it was in 1994. So the forests are growing 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.360 twice as fast as they're being cut. It's created 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.019 a huge supply that keeps prices down. And that 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.539 pressure is what forced Vermont to adapt. They 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:21.220 had to hyper focus on high value niche agriculture. 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:23.779 And nothing symbolizes that better than maple 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:25.600 syrup. They are the dominant U .S. producer. 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.279 No question. They produce over half of the entire 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:32.200 nation's supply, 2 .55 million gallons in 2022. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.879 That's an industry worth nearly $60 million a 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:37.879 year. And it's not a commodity. It's a premium 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:40.559 brand. Agritourism is another survival strategy. 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.720 Apple growing is a big contributor. But consumer 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.340 tastes have shifted away from the Macintosh apples 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:48.799 that Vermont is known for. So a lot of orchards 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.620 have had to pivot. They now rely on pick your 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:55.159 own experiences and making high value hard cider 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:58.360 to survive. It's all about leveraging that Vermont 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:01.240 brand. And Vermont brand is everything. It's 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.120 like an economic shield. They have successfully 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:07.299 monetized this idea of authenticity and quality. 00:16:07.539 --> 00:16:10.220 Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Burton's snowboards, 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:13.240 Cabot cheese, King Walter flour. These aren't 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:15.940 just companies. They're extensions of the state's 00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:18.299 identity and they command premium prices because 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:20.820 of it. That's how you get a high GDP per capita 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:23.759 with a low overall GDP. But let's set aside the 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.320 pastoral image for a second. The single largest 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.779 private employer in the state is Global Foundries. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:31.820 Right. A semiconductor manufacturer in Essex 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:35.159 Junction with 3000 employees. So there is a significant 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.960 high tech manufacturing base, even in a state 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:40.360 that's known for being expensive and highly regulated. 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:42.620 But the truly unexpected part of their economy, 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:44.980 the thing that leverages their regulatory niche 00:16:44.980 --> 00:16:49.019 is financial services, specifically captive insurance. 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:50.860 This is one of those concepts we really have 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:53.539 to unpack. It's obscure, but it's hugely important 00:16:53.539 --> 00:16:56.039 to Vermont's economy. So what is captive insurance 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.450 and why is Vermont a global leader in it? OK, 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:02.929 so simply put, a captive insurance company is 00:17:02.929 --> 00:17:05.769 when a huge corporation or a group of them creates 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:08.750 its own licensed insurance company just to insure 00:17:08.750 --> 00:17:11.210 its own risks. So they become their own insurer 00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:13.650 instead of paying premiums to Aetna or State 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:15.950 Farm. Exactly. And they do it for control and 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:18.549 for cost. It lets them bypass the volatile commercial 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:21.410 market. It can lower their premiums and it gives 00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:24.670 them huge tax advantages. OK, so why Vermont? 00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:27.539 Why not Delaware or somewhere else? Because Vermont 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.740 got in early and they did it right. They created 00:17:29.740 --> 00:17:32.819 a very flexible but robust regulatory environment. 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:35.559 They have this deep pool of expert lawyers and 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.619 accountants, and they can process applications 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:40.259 way faster than their competitors. The success 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.789 is pretty staggering. By 2010, Vermont was the 00:17:42.789 --> 00:17:44.750 world's third largest home for captive insurance 00:17:44.750 --> 00:17:47.789 companies, right behind Bermuda and the Cayman 00:17:47.789 --> 00:17:50.269 Islands. Over 900 of these companies are based 00:17:50.269 --> 00:17:52.569 there. It's a massive global financial footprint 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:55.869 operating out of a tiny landlocked state. It's 00:17:55.869 --> 00:17:58.650 a brilliant exploitation of an intellectual regulatory 00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:01.829 niche. And finally, let's look at infrastructure 00:18:01.829 --> 00:18:04.569 and energy, where the contradictions just keep 00:18:04.569 --> 00:18:09.200 coming. On paper, Vermont generates 99 .9 % of 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.759 its electricity from renewable sources. The highest 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.240 in the nation. It's a fantastic number and a 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.859 huge point of pride. But there's a huge caveat. 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.099 Which is that Vermont consumes about three times 00:18:19.099 --> 00:18:21.180 more electricity than it actually generates. 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:23.940 Exactly. So while the energy they make is green, 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:27.500 they are a massive net importer of power, mostly 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:30.400 from hydroelectric dams in Canada. So the energy 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.839 independence story is, it's complicated. And 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:35.779 transportation is a huge liability. Half of the 00:18:35.779 --> 00:18:37.900 state's greenhouse gas emissions come from vehicles. 00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:40.680 It's a deeply car -dependent place. Which is 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:42.869 understandable given how rural... it is, but 00:18:42.869 --> 00:18:44.869 the physical infrastructure itself is also a 00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:48.029 problem. Back in 2010, Vermont had the eighth 00:18:48.029 --> 00:18:50.990 worst bridges in the nation. Over a third were 00:18:50.990 --> 00:18:53.809 rated deficient or obsolete. So you have this 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:56.450 state that's a global financial hub, but is also 00:18:56.450 --> 00:18:58.690 struggling to just maintain its roads and bridges 00:18:58.690 --> 00:19:01.650 in a very harsh mountainous environment. That's 00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:04.029 the perfect summary of the contradiction. Okay, 00:19:04.089 --> 00:19:07.569 let's pivot from the economy to the people themselves, 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:11.819 the Vermonter persona. And we have to start with 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:14.220 the demographics of homogeneity. It is consistently 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.079 one of the least racially and ethnically diverse 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:20.859 states in the U .S. About 92 .2 % of the population 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:24.339 identifies as white, non -Hispanic. Only Maine 00:19:24.339 --> 00:19:26.900 is whiter. But even within that homogeneity, 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:29.920 there are distinct threads. The largest ancestral 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:33.259 group is French, right? About 20 % of the population. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.559 Which makes perfect sense given the history and 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:38.160 the proximity to Quebec. And the population trends 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.160 are really key to understanding modern Vermont. 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:44.059 Inward migration really slowed down in the 2010s, 00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:47.000 but then it reversed sharply in the early 2020s. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.259 It did. And this is a pattern. The big influx 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:52.019 of domestic migrants in the 1960s and 70s was 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:54.039 a critical turning point for the state. These 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:56.480 were the so -called back to the landers. Right. 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.259 often highly educated people escaping the cities 00:19:59.259 --> 00:20:01.440 looking for a simpler life. And they brought 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.380 with them fundamentally different political and 00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:05.980 social ideas than the native born moderate Republican 00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:09.160 population. That collision of worldviews is what 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:11.240 set the stage for the state's huge political 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.900 shift. So let's talk about how Vermonters sound. 00:20:14.410 --> 00:20:17.049 The local dialect is Western New England English. 00:20:17.349 --> 00:20:19.130 And the key thing is that they pronounce all 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:22.349 their arse sounds. It's what linguists call a 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:24.769 rurotic accent, which sets them apart from the 00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:26.809 classic non -rurotic Boston accent where you 00:20:26.809 --> 00:20:29.049 pock the caw. And there's another quirk, right? 00:20:29.309 --> 00:20:31.750 Especially the rural areas. The glottal stop 00:20:31.750 --> 00:20:34.369 for the letter T. That's right. So you might 00:20:34.369 --> 00:20:37.970 hear some rural speakers drop the T sound at 00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:40.009 the end of a word. So Vermont sounds more like 00:20:40.009 --> 00:20:42.529 Vermont. It's a very subtle regional marker. 00:20:43.069 --> 00:20:45.490 And because of Quebec, French is still the second 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.069 most spoken language in Vermont homes, one of 00:20:48.069 --> 00:20:49.930 only three states where that's the case. Right. 00:20:50.009 --> 00:20:52.329 The local dialect is New England French, which 00:20:52.329 --> 00:20:54.750 comes from Quebec French. Moving on to the spiritual 00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:57.250 landscape, Vermont always ranks as one of the 00:20:57.250 --> 00:20:59.529 most secular states in the country. The data 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:03.730 is really striking. As of 2022, a plurality of 00:21:03.730 --> 00:21:06.910 the population of 48 % identified as religiously 00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:09.529 unaffiliated, no religion, agnostic, atheist. 00:21:09.849 --> 00:21:13.990 And only 45 % identified as Christian. with Catholicism 00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:16.450 being the largest single group within that. This 00:21:16.450 --> 00:21:19.650 high rate of secularism, it creates an environment 00:21:19.650 --> 00:21:22.990 where there's just less institutional religious 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:25.509 resistance to progressive social policies like 00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:28.049 same -sex marriage or cannabis legalization. 00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:30.769 And finally, let's look at health and safety, 00:21:30.910 --> 00:21:33.769 because there's a real paradox here. By many 00:21:33.769 --> 00:21:37.170 measures, Vermont is a national leader. It was 00:21:37.170 --> 00:21:39.529 ranked number one for health outcomes in 2010. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.220 It has low violent crime rates. It seems idyllic, 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:45.619 but the substance use numbers tell a very different 00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:47.960 story. Vermont leads the nation in the rate of 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.019 young people who've consumed alcohol in the past 00:21:50.019 --> 00:21:52.140 month. And it was ranked second for marijuana 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:55.039 use among young people. About 30 % of adults 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.099 aged 18 to 25 reported using it in the past month. 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:01.000 So you have this paradox, a state that's safe, 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:03.720 healthy, and well -educated, but also struggles 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.059 with substance use among its youth at rates that 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:08.579 are far above the national average. It's a complex 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.160 problem that really defies the postcard image 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:13.579 of Vermont. It certainly does. And that complexity 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:16.200 is front and center in its politics. The political 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:18.799 history of Vermont is one of the most remarkable 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.859 transformations in the country. We talked about 00:22:20.859 --> 00:22:23.420 its founding. But even in the modern era, the 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:26.319 shift has been just tectonic. For most of its 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.519 history, from 1856 all the way to 1988, Vermont 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:32.880 was the most reliably Republican state in the 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.960 entire country. In that whole 132 -year period, 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.400 they only voted for a Democrat for president 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.299 once. Lyndon Johnson's landslide in 64. But since 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:45.420 1992, it has completely flipped. It's now one 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:47.880 of the most reliably Democratic states. And that 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:49.859 is a direct result of that cultural clash we 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.460 talked about, the old moderate Republican base 00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:54.859 blending with the influx of liberal domestic 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:57.339 migrants from the 60s and 70s. And that created 00:22:57.339 --> 00:22:59.740 this unique political ecosystem that welcomes 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:01.799 nontraditional candidates. And you can't talk 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.859 about Vermont politics without talking about 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:06.700 Bernie Sanders. Exactly. An independent, a self 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:08.859 -described Democratic socialist who was represented 00:23:08.910 --> 00:23:11.390 Vermont for decades. His success just speaks 00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:13.289 to a political culture that cares more about 00:23:13.289 --> 00:23:15.670 ideology and personality than it does about strict 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:18.769 party labels. And this fluidity, this willingness 00:23:18.769 --> 00:23:20.990 to experiment, combined with its small size, 00:23:21.230 --> 00:23:25.230 has let Vermont act as a progressive policy laboratory 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:28.069 for the whole country. The list of legislative 00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:31.029 firsts is just profound. In 2000, it was the 00:23:31.029 --> 00:23:33.329 first state to create civil unions for same -sex 00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:36.289 couples, but then they went further. In 2009, 00:23:36.589 --> 00:23:38.920 they became the first state to legalize same 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.420 sex marriage through a vote of the legislature, 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.460 not a court order. They even overrode the governor's 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:47.099 veto to do it. And that boldness just continues. 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:50.480 In 2018, they were the first state to legalize 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.019 recreational cannabis through legislative action, 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:55.539 not a voter referendum. They led on consumer 00:23:55.539 --> 00:23:58.309 issues, too. In 2014, they were the first to 00:23:58.309 --> 00:24:01.009 mandate the labeling of GMOs in food. And on 00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:03.309 national politics, they are still channeling 00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:06.430 that anti -authoritarian spirit. In 2014, Vermont 00:24:06.430 --> 00:24:08.450 became the first state to officially call for 00:24:08.450 --> 00:24:10.890 a constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme 00:24:10.890 --> 00:24:13.509 Court Citizens United decision. That shows a 00:24:13.509 --> 00:24:15.630 real willingness to challenge the highest legal 00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:17.369 authority in the country right from the state 00:24:17.369 --> 00:24:20.099 level. And this progressive tendency is backed 00:24:20.099 --> 00:24:23.380 up by some very strict regulations, all designed 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:25.579 to protect the landscape that defines the state. 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:29.539 The most famous example is Act 250. Act 250 is 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:32.380 a legendary piece of legislation. It was passed 00:24:32.380 --> 00:24:36.220 in 1970 to limit major development and stop suburban 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:38.759 sprawl. It basically says any big development 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:40.839 has to go through this intense environmental 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:43.660 review process. And the result of that is clear. 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:46.240 Vermont was the last state in the nation to get 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:48.970 a Walmart. They made a conscious choice to prioritize 00:24:48.970 --> 00:24:51.970 their small -town image over unchecked commercial 00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:54.609 growth. And that dedication to aesthetics, it 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:57.089 extends to the roads. Vermont is one of only 00:24:57.089 --> 00:24:59.950 four states, along with Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine, 00:25:00.109 --> 00:25:02.769 that has completely banned advertising billboards. 00:25:03.009 --> 00:25:04.829 They just see them as visual pollution that ruins 00:25:04.829 --> 00:25:07.210 the scenic views that are so crucial to their 00:25:07.210 --> 00:25:09.329 tourism economy. And you see it in their environmental 00:25:09.329 --> 00:25:11.869 policy, too. They have a strict ban on spreading 00:25:11.869 --> 00:25:13.950 manure in the winter to prevent agricultural 00:25:13.950 --> 00:25:16.170 runoff from polluting the waterways. Which puts 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:18.440 real economic pressure on those struggling dairy 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:21.099 farms, but they do it to protect the water quality, 00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:23.559 especially in Lake Champlain. Now here's where 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:26.140 the contradictions get really interesting. Despite 00:25:26.140 --> 00:25:29.019 this image of progressive regulation, Vermont 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:32.680 has some striking regulatory quirks, especially 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:34.960 when it comes to personal liberty. You're talking 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.599 about gun laws. I am. It's a genuine outlier. 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:40.460 A reliably blue state with some of the least 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:43.569 restrictive gun laws in the entire country. No 00:25:43.569 --> 00:25:46.450 permit needed to buy or carry a firearm. Open 00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:49.009 and concealed carry are legal for anyone over 00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:52.049 16. Which connects all the way back to that 250 00:25:52.049 --> 00:25:54.990 -year -old tradition of the citizen militia and 00:25:54.990 --> 00:25:57.849 the Green Mountain Boys. Exactly. Another contradiction 00:25:57.849 --> 00:26:00.990 is taxes. The property tax burden is among the 00:26:00.990 --> 00:26:03.869 highest in the nation relative to income. That 00:26:03.869 --> 00:26:06.049 is largely because of a very controversial law 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:08.910 called Act 60, the education funding law. We 00:26:08.910 --> 00:26:13.089 should probably explain this. We should. was 00:26:13.089 --> 00:26:15.910 to create equity in school funding so students 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:18.369 in poor towns had the same resources as students 00:26:18.369 --> 00:26:20.849 in wealthy towns. And the mechanism was redistribution. 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:24.009 The state pooled local property taxes from everyone 00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:26.349 and then redistributed the money based on the 00:26:26.349 --> 00:26:29.190 number of students in each town. This meant wealthy 00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:32.250 towns were, in effect, subsidizing schools in 00:26:32.250 --> 00:26:34.690 poorer towns. And that created huge resentment. 00:26:34.990 --> 00:26:38.309 So much so that the town of Killington, a wealthy 00:26:38.309 --> 00:26:41.170 ski resort town, actually tried to secede from 00:26:41.170 --> 00:26:43.910 Vermont and join New Hampshire over the tax burden. 00:26:44.089 --> 00:26:46.730 It's the modern version of the exact same anger 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:49.390 that fueled the Green Mountain Boys, resisting 00:26:49.390 --> 00:26:52.250 what they see as an unjust external authority 00:26:52.250 --> 00:26:54.950 taking their money. And finally, let's touch 00:26:54.950 --> 00:26:57.920 on one last unique law. that ties back to that 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:01.400 fierce individualism the law protecting public 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:04.240 nudity it's true the state's constitution has 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.440 been interpreted to protect public nudity as 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:09.019 a right as long as it's not lewd and lascivious 00:27:09.019 --> 00:27:11.579 and the context here is fascinating It was done 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:13.559 in part to protect the longstanding tradition 00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:16.140 of skinny dipping in the state's many secluded 00:27:16.140 --> 00:27:18.619 swimming holes. So it's a legal protection for 00:27:18.619 --> 00:27:21.019 a harmless personal liberty, which contrasts 00:27:21.019 --> 00:27:23.059 so sharply with the strict environmental laws 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:25.559 like Act 250. So you have a state where you can 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:27.579 start a global insurance company. You have to 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:30.019 store your cow manure all winter. You're constitutionally 00:27:30.019 --> 00:27:32.400 protected to go skinny dipping. And you can open 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:35.480 carry a handgun without a permit. All of it happening 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:37.839 under the gaze of mountains that were once taller 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:40.099 than the Himalayas. That pretty much sums it 00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:42.640 up. So what does this all mean? When we look 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:44.880 at this deep dive into Vermont, the pattern is 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:48.559 just. It's unmistakable. Its small size and its 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.960 challenging geography have fused with this radical 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:54.940 inherited commitment to self -determination. 00:27:55.369 --> 00:27:57.970 We saw that independence in the original Vermont 00:27:57.970 --> 00:28:01.190 Republic, banning slavery, establishing universal 00:28:01.190 --> 00:28:04.190 male suffrage before the U .S. even did. And 00:28:04.190 --> 00:28:06.250 you see it today in their willingness to be a 00:28:06.250 --> 00:28:08.829 policy pilot program for the country. Whether 00:28:08.829 --> 00:28:11.470 it's social legislation or strict land use policy 00:28:11.470 --> 00:28:14.109 like Act 250, they're often just leaping ahead 00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:17.029 of bigger, more politically stuck states. It's 00:28:17.029 --> 00:28:19.349 fascinating how the Vermont brand works so well. 00:28:19.630 --> 00:28:22.269 precisely because they use regulation, like the 00:28:22.269 --> 00:28:25.269 billboard ban, to aggressively defend that sense 00:28:25.269 --> 00:28:28.190 of authenticity. They legislate to protect the 00:28:28.190 --> 00:28:30.549 very identity they sell to the rest of the world. 00:28:30.730 --> 00:28:32.589 So if we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:28:33.130 --> 00:28:35.750 Vermont's history of self -determination, combined 00:28:35.750 --> 00:28:38.410 with its geographic isolation and small population, 00:28:38.670 --> 00:28:41.049 lets it bypass the kind of political inertia 00:28:41.049 --> 00:28:44.390 that just bogs down larger states. This turns 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:46.789 it into a functional, if maybe limited, policy 00:28:46.789 --> 00:28:49.660 laboratory for the nation. For you, the learner, 00:28:49.779 --> 00:28:52.160 this raises a really important question. Does 00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:54.539 a smaller scale and a strong unified identity 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:57.519 rather than just size or wealth define a state's 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:00.359 capacity for political innovation? Think about 00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:02.200 the challenges of trying to scale Vermont's local 00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:04.539 successes like its tax distribution or its growth 00:29:04.539 --> 00:29:06.960 limits to larger, much more diverse populations 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.279 across the rest of the country.