Twitter
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Delicious
Digg
Newsvine
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiKeep it in Vermont
What will you do with the "economic stimulus" check you receive from Uncle Sam? No matter what any of us may think of this particular governmental plan, most of us will be getting a small share of this $103-billion payoff. So, what are you going to do with your check?
The powers-that-be in D.C. are hoping that we will all use our checks to buy, buy, buy in order to spend, spend, spend our way out of the recession (not that they admit we are in recession - but we know better). They are encouraging us to head down to our favorite big-box stores and buy the latest widget, gadget or trinket. Their plan, reminiscent of the New England Ponzi scheme of yore, assures us that if we all spend this money on new widgets, then widget factories will increase production, hire more widget-making employees - and voila! Our economy will rebound and flourish, at least until this particular pot of money runs out (or until someone realizes that all of the widget factories are now in China).
If you think this plan sounds akin to putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm, you are not alone. If you think adding to our $9 trillion national debt is not only foolish but dangerous, you are not alone. (Yes, the government is borrowing this money. Which future generation will have to pay it back?) If you think it would have made much more sense to invest this money in green technologies or transportation infrastructure, you are not alone. And if this reminds you of the president's inane advice to "go shopping" after the tragedy of Sept. 11, you are certainly not alone. Shopping to feel better, shopping to defeat terrorism, shopping to fix the economy - consumerism as the magic cure for whatever ails us all.
So, what are you going to do with your check?
Many people have told me they are going to use the money to pay bills, thereby offsetting the ever-increasing costs of health care, gasoline and food. And boy, oh boy - I can't blame anyone for taking this route. Sure, no one is thrilled about putting more money into the pockets of big oil or insurance companies, but bills are bills, and too many of us are struggling just to keep afloat. (Recession? What recession?)
But here's another idea, one that came from two Mad River Valley residents who put their heads together and created a new approach - and a new Web site called "Keep it in Vermont." Their idea is simple and brilliant: We all use the money to stimulate our local economy. Instead of shopping at big-box stores, where the money flies out of our state and we end up with products made in China, we "keep it in Vermont!"
According to Robin McDermott and Rob Williams of Waitsfield, Vermonters will collectively receive about $150 million from the economic stimulus plan. They suggest that if we all spend even a portion of this money in our local communities, it will make a real difference. Imagine infusing $150 million - heck, even $15 million - into farmers' markets; independently owned shops, restaurants and businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Money spent this way will genuinely stimulate our local economy.
Studies from Maine to Texas show that when $100 is spent at a big-box store, only $14 remains in the local community. The rest flows out of state to pay middlemen, corporate shareholders, and huge CEO salaries. But spend that same $100 at a local, independently owned business, and $45 stays in the community. Money spent at an independently owned business supports not only that business, but the local banks, accountants, and print shops these businesses use.
Robin and Rob put it this way: When you buy at a farmers' market, your money goes to the farmer, who then spends money at a local business, who in turn pays their local employees, who then spend money at local restaurants, where the chefs buy food from local farmers, and so on ... A living example of a stimulated local economy!
I know I'm being somewhat contradictory: On one hand I am criticizing the very nature of spending our way out of our economic woes, and on the other hand I am suggesting that spending locally is the very thing we need. And it's true, if I had my way, those checks would never have been cut in the first place. We don't need a feel-good, too-little, too-late attempt to fix the economic mess we are in. What we need is a national plan to economically and environmentally invest in renewable energy, public transportation and education. Just imagine what that $103 billion could have really accomplished.
And bring it closer to home. What could Vermont do with $150 million? What kind of real economic development could be achieved if we used that money to advance a greener infrastructure that created jobs, saved money and reduced our carbon footprint? What could Rutland or Barre do with $50 million? Imagine solar panels on every city building or co-generation facilities providing heat and electricity from the same source of fuel.
What could your town do with $5 million? Or $1 million? Picture more farm-to-school partnerships, where our children are fed healthy, whole foods straight from our neighboring farmers. Or town offices converted to solar hot water or biomass heating systems.
What could your community do with $100,000 or even $10,000? What about community-supported loans for home solar conversions or bike paths to encourage pedestrian or bicycle commuting?
You are not alone in your vision for healthier and more sustainable communities. Check out the "Keep it in Vermont" Web site and see how people from all over the state have pledged to use their "economic stimulus" dollars to strengthen our communities, our state, and our planet.
Carol Tashie lives in Rutland City and tried hard to find a balance between what is possible and what is impossible to ignore. Her column explores how ordinary people can make the planet a healthier and more just and peaceful place to live. She can be reached at carolweeklyplanet@yahoo.com.
© 2008 Times Argus
16 Comments so far
Show AllSome of my stimulus check will be going to Cindy Sheehan.
Well, I haven't gotten a check yet--but if I do, my intention is to spend it all on gifts to environmental, peace and media accountability groups, and my friend in Ecuador who struggles to preserve his indigenous culture and land with little income.
But this essay is another good suggestion.
To the guy who says "guess I better move to Vermont" while bemoaning his financial struggle, I say: good luck. I really wanted to move to Vermont, but found that Vermont is so popular among the rich that buying land there is beyond the reach of people like me. Also, dur to that influx of yuppies, Vermonters are pretty hostile to newcomers.
When I asked the office of my Republican congressman what was the thinking behind not including the poverty stricken folks in this rebate scam,the reply was that they didn't want people to be paying off debts with the money..... How does one respond to that kind of thinking in a way that doesn't involve armed insurrection?
I would expand this and say spend ALL your dollars locally. It would keep more dollars in this country and reduce gas usage(i.e. trucking overseas goods from the coast to your town.)I live on $40K but I do not buy at box stores. I often have to choose not to buy at all but I would rather do that than support the Chinese economy.
Way to go Carol. As a Vermonter we are planning to employ Vermonters to do some necessary homestead improvements. To the Texan up above: Yes, Bernie was a proponent of shipping nuclear waste to poor communities in your state. And that is one reason why many progressives in VT have long ago broken ties with the so-called independent junior senator from VT. The struggle to close VT's nuclear power plant called Yankee continues. Perhaps, with some courage, VT voters will elect Anthony Pollina, the Progressive Party candidate, governor, and the closing will happen. Vermont has 4 major political parties and Pollina has a reasonable chance. Progressives and other concerned VT citizens are working on closing the one and only nuclear power plant Vermont has. That said, given a choice between living in the Republic of Texas or the Republic of Vermont, I choose the Green Mountain State for dozens of obvious reasons, the lack of stifling heat being but one of them. G.W. Bush being the major one.
duh...It will take a great depression before stupid americans get two key points to the coming collapse:
1-trade imbalances must be made unconstitutional (this means restoring our manufacturing base)
2-defense spending must be limited to actual defense (around 8% of discretionary budget-like everyone else)
I propose a holistic escape from the toxicity by forming non-profit intentional communities-kinda like the jews did in palestine before the 48 war. The corporations are not only feeding us poison food, politics and war, but destroying any sense of community we may have...my advice...get the hell out of mainstream communities...
Here's another thing that you should keep Vermont: YOUR DAMNED NUCLEAR WASTE. Your "progressive," formerly socialist, "independent" Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives have lobbied and politicked mightily to ship your stuff out and dump it in places like Texas, my current place of residence.
Now I claim no great moral superiority here: we've been shipping out our worst garbage, like the current president and No Child Left Behind, for a long time.
So I'll make a deal with y'all. You keep your nuke crap and we won't let Rick Perry and the crazy Mormon cultists out of their loony bins.
Starve a fever. Invest in your second favorite economy. This one's fighting an infection.
I'm a Vermonter, proud of my state, and plan to do my damdest to keep my stimulus cheque in Vermont. Unfortunately, I know that some of it is bound to leak out.
Whatever you do , invest or spend it now, since it loses value every day with oil price inflation and dollar value drop.
I don't know anyone (and after 17 years here, know lots of folks) rich enough to be receiving a "stimulus" check. Yet again, the poor are being kept down and ignored. Instead of making a $3000 income the minimum, this paltry and useless political stunt, such as it is, should have been directed to people earning LESS than $3000, or perhaps those making under the official $15000 poverty level. But then, it would have gone to people who actually need it, not people who vote in large numbers. Where is the power enhancement in that? Both political parties support the wealthy and corporations, as all the readers of CD know quite well. America is a land without hope and, therefore, without a future. The American dream has become a nightmare, from which death is the only escape. I wish I could leave, but I have not the means to even get to a large city, let alone the nearest international border. Even Mexico seems like a better alternative. At least people there still TRY to have real lives. America has become a land of real estate agents, bankers, burger flippers, and Wal-Mart greeters. Nothing real happens here any more. No one seems to care how vulnerable that makes us. Oh, capital can move across borders, but workers cannot. "Free Trade" is more like prison labor than anything free. We remain inmates in the largest concentration camp in the world: The United States of Poverty. It is NO accident. They have us just where they want us, under their black jackboots. Prescott Bush, after the dust settles, will have put his money on the winning side.
Guess I should move to Vermont. I've always believed that way. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so too is a society only as strong as it's weakest citizen. Yet the belief of the current crowd bringing the majority of its citizens into that weakest category, is that we're all equal - in taking care of ourselves.
I'll live under a bridge before I go through the hell of applying for housing aid, and I'll starve before I apply for food stamps, or shop at WalMart. But I don't advocate that others must do the same.
I file taxes each year to get back the small amount my meager retirement income takes out, so if I get a stimulus check, it'll go into my very flat food envelope.
As a former Vermonter (Strafford and Rock Bottom Farm commune), I have to say you are right on the money with this sort of thinking. Sad to say, it's beyond the the ken of most Americans. The chickens are coming home to roost, though and, sooner or later, the wisdom of this will be all too apparent.
I didn't get an 'economic stimulus' check because I didn't have an income last year. Sorry, I can't help with America's scheme to save the country by oniomania (just learned that from crossword puzzle).
Somebody somewhere postulated that the money given back will be deducted from next year's refunds. Whether or not that's true, in effect the government (already in budget deficit mode) borrowed even more money in order to give to hoi polloi a handout, right in time for election posturing.
As a Canadian who always has an opinion, solicited or otherwise, may I state that I have always viewed Vermont's citizens as the sanest, most rational in the union.
Vermonters have always correctly viewed socialism as one of the tenets of a properly functioning society.
This is probably based on the theory that the best manner for a society to function is to, first and foremost, always be socially responsible which in turn means that socialism is undoubtedly the best tool to use.
While individualism has its place it is a wise person who truly understands that no one person is an island.
Those who do not understand this usually end up adrift and alone in an endless sea of islands.
Oh well, eh ?
mwildfire: I would visit Vermont and look around a bunch. Most people live in the greater Burlington/Winooski area up north. If you come to VT and look around the state you will find many good land deals away from the "big" cities of Burlington, Rutland, Brattleboro, Bennington and Barre. As for new comers, we came from NJ in 1985 and have never had a problem. You will hear long time VT people talk about "Native Vermonters" and "flatlanders", but unless you have indigenous (native American) roots, which few Vermonters do, then you are not a "native Vermonter". Natal Vermonter, yes, if you are born here. It's a very good place to live and getting better all the time. And no, there was influx of yuppies to VT. Hippies in the 60s and 70s yes. Yuppies no. For the most part, VT life is simple, basic, but the living and heating costs are high as most produce needs to be shipped in (except during the growing season).