I take my inspiration for our future from Vermont’s sage motto, “Freedom and Unity,” expressing the balance between what I must do for myself and my family and what I must do to sustain the health of the common good.
We must be free to take care of our own needs and those of our family. But we must also tend to the needs of those with whom we live in our communities, state and country. It’s this latter we sometimes forget, and we can’t enjoy one without the other.
For the most part, we’re pretty good at looking after ourselves here in Vermont. I consider myself privileged. I did not inherit a bundle of money, but growing up in Morrisville, my parents saw to it that I had opportunities and held me to account for taking advantage of those opportunities — good schooling, religious learning, jobs that imbued in me a work ethic, skiing and swimming, both of which were free. I was raised well in a large extended family, and it’s made my life better and easier in old age. I am blessed.
But part of my upbringing was also being aware of the wellbeing of my friends and neighbors, and I was taught to help them as needed. This was made explicit by my parents, but, more importantly, they modeled it in their own behavior. We shoveled snow for those who couldn’t, jump-started cars, shared food or gave people rides. We understood we had an obligation to help those among us who were less privileged.
Now to my wish list!
At the top is leadership. We’ve come to understand the hard way that the business of politics doesn’t always attract altruistic leaders. A vacuum of selfless leadership is at the root of many of our problems. True leaders learn, listen to all points of view, derive a consensus, honor and record dissent and then act boldly. Some of our leaders do the first part but fail at the last part. I’m hoping in the new year we will find and elect true leaders in our civic, nonprofit and business sectors
Also on my list is the hope that Vermonters will come together to preserve the healthcare quality we do have, while fixing what is sadly now a broken system that’s generally inaccessible and beyond the financial reach of far too many in our state, where medical debt is among the highest in the country.
As I’ve written before, Vermont now has among the highest health insurance costs in the country.
I want us to look carefully at the addictions we nourish in the name of “affordability” such as online sports betting, and the sale of alcohol, THC, and ultra-processed sugar-based foods. A friend reports that his grandson has become so addicted to online sports gambling that he’s stolen from his family to feed his addiction. An estimated 2.5 million U.S. adults live with a gambling addiction. Is the licensing income from these promotions worth the cost to our citizens or the downstream costs of treatment?
In the UVM Medical Center Emergency Department, according to Michael Couture, a peer recovery coach and addiction specialist who works there, 83% of the addiction admissions are still for a combination of alcohol and other drugs and 61% are for alcohol alone. Now new psychotic symptoms are emerging from those admitted who are trying to reduce their intake of THC. Here in Vermont, we have woefully inadequate addiction-treatment capacity, given the substance abuse rampant in our families and society at large. Emergency rooms daily see people with substance use disorder and have few if any resources within or without their hospital for recovery referrals.
Next, I would limit the ownership and carrying capacity of certain weapons other than hunting arms. We allow concealed carry of weapons in public places, though guns are not allowed in schools or school buses. Individuals or institutions may ban concealed carry in their buildings, but we have little regulatory oversight that might deter mass shootings.
We must ban flavored tobacco products and protect our young from nicotine addiction that’s known to cause cardiac and pulmonary failure later in life. We must also tax sugar-laden drinks which are causing a spike in obesity and diabetes. Earlier this year, the Legislature passed S.18 banning flavored tobacco products, but Gov. Scott vetoed it, citing loss of retail and state tax income, and the legislature failed to override the veto. So, money again trumps a practical initiative to ensure our children’s future wellbeing.
I understand that communities are loath to close community schools while being pressed to invest in day care centers. My remedy? Reimagine public education, retire the concept of day care and redesign our school infrastructure to be a year-round, community-based, educational system from age six months to end-of-life.
Also on my wish: banning leg-hold traps and GPS-collared bear hounding hunts. I respect Vermont’s legacy culture of hunting, fishing and trapping, but only if it’s one which is humane and diminishes the suffering of our wild fauna. Among my friends are active trappers who support banning practices that cause needless animal suffering.
Finally, we need an equitable tax system here and nationally.
Vermont’s poverty rate was 9.7% in 2023, slightly less than it was in 2000. Vermont’s minimum wage will rise in the New Year to $14.01 per hour, roughly double the federal minimum wage. But poverty statistics don’t tell the whole story. The federal poverty guideline is $15,060 for one person, $20,440 for a two person household, $25,820 for three, and $31,200 for a family of four.
Do you know a family of four that can subsist on $31,200? Vermont health care insurance alone can cost half that amount. Then add in housing, food and transportation.
Income inequality in Vermont has been growing steadily since 1970. The richest 5% of households enjoy average incomes almost 10 times as large as the bottom 20% and 3.7% the size of the middle 20%. In the U.S., the wealth inequality metric, the Gini coefficient, is even worse – worse than in any other of the top G7 countries.
When I read that Elon Musk is worth $450 billion, and that a person working at the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, would have to work 6.75 million years to earn that amount, I realized how far out of whack our values and tax systems have become.
- According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost about $20 billion to end homelessness in America.
- Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America has calculated the cost of ending food insecurity in America at $25 billion per year or $150B for six years.
- The Education Data Initiative indicates that free community college tuition across the U.S. would cost $58B a year. A three-year trial would cost $174B.
- A federal baby bond program like the one that State Treasurer Mike Pieciak is introducing a pilot program for in Vermont would cost $60-$82 billion a year and would give newborns an economic leg-up on higher ed or starting a family or business.
So for something like $426 billion, Elon Musk alone could fund the elimination of homelessness, eliminate hunger in America for six years, offer three years free community college across America, invest in the well-being of America’s future citizens and still have $5 billion left over to spend on himself.
How long will we tolerate the undertaxed accretion of extreme wealth in Vermont or nationally?
If we are to adequately fund “the commons,” we will need an equitable tax system and leaders who are focused on the good of “the commons.”
Surely, working together we can do better in the next year and reestablish equilibrium between freedom and unity! We have in the past and we will again.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bill Schubart: My New Year’s wish list for Vermont.