eden

I came to Vermont to earn my living connected to the woods. I have seen my neighborhood swamped by people who are opposed to almost every element of earning a living from our woodlands. I no longer know what Vermont means.

As people try to control how I use my land, what kind of business I run on my own land, how much water I can use, even what temperature I can store the hot water in my own home, whether I can get cell phone service, whether a road can be straightened, I have come to doubt whether we do share any values whatsoever.

If the basic creativity of our own people could be unleashed and set free from the dead hand of the past which so many people among "the brightest and the best" now support; if the genius of Vermonters could be released, I think Vermont has a very bright future.

First is to reduce the taxes which drain capital from young entrepreneurs precisely when they most need it, and secondly eliminate the endless regulatory second guessing which constantly cripples innovation and development of human capital.

Eden is burdened by lousy regulation, lousy infrastructure, lousy tax policy, and lousy government policies. Fifty years ago two thirds of the population were employed in town. Today, absent the school, only about 5% is. That change resulted from deliberate government policies at all levels -- and it has destroyed Eden as a community.