“I hope to see these flags flying all over the state,” says Chris Brimmer. In fact, I would like to see Vermont re-adopt it.”
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Q. Welcome, Chris Brimmer! Please introduce yourself for our readers.
A. I am a town planner by trade and currently work for a pair municipal governments. I also pretend to own a small farm in Ryegate. I’ve lived in Vermont this time around since 2000 which makes this the state I’ve lived in the longest in my 55 years. I served in the USCG as a seaman and suffered a debilitating back injury – this paid for my education through the Vocational Rehabilitation program with the VA.
Q. You are involved with the Progressive Party here in Vermont. Tell us about your involvement, and why the Progressives?
We have allowed the commons to shrink when that is where equitable treatment of individuals, whether it is a clean environment, universal healthcare, a dignified retirement etc. etc. actually comes from. And yes, I have heard of the myth of the “tragedy of the commons,” it was a propaganda lie to justify the Enclosure Act which privatized commons all over Great Britain and drove the rural poor into the cities where they could become underpaid industrial dones. Sound familiar?.
Q. Since 2004, the Vermont Independence effort has used the famed Green Mountain Boys (GMB) flag – 13 white stars on a blue field against a green backdrop – as a symbol for the emerging 2nd Vermont Republic (2VR). Why did you select the GMB flag as a symbol?
A. I think of this flag as an assertion of Vermont’s traditions of small d democracy, tolerance, innovation and independence. Just as the Trump signs signaled to all where those people stood, I hope to use the GMB flag to signify those principles I cited above. We do not grant rights and then take them away to placate an interest group, especially a religious interest group. It is also a big middle finger to the national GOP, who seems to support states’ rights until they assert the right to do something they disagree with.
Q. Explain why you are flying the Green Mountain Boys flag at your farm.
Q. Since 2004, supporters of Vermont independence and a 2nd Vermont Republic have championed an independent Vermont, suggesting that the problem facing the United States – Empire – is a bipartisan Beast and is unfixable. What’s your take on this perspective?
A. It may be time for a constitutional convention but I am not ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I think much of what has been identified as the tendency to empire is a function of economics and corporatist ownership models. I will say that it is an open question in my mind, though.
Q. Do you hope other Vermonters will follow your lead re: the flag?
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