E
lena and I went to our first Vermont Town Meeting Day. I'm instantly in love with America all over again. The Town Hall was packed, though the entire town has a population of less than one thousand souls. It was simply incredible to hear the moderator read out the rules of the Town Meeting, which have been in effect for more than 150 years. Every single year, this little village has gotten together to propose articles, choose how to distribute taxes, elect officials, argue and debate amongst itself, and just generally concern itself with its own governance. It's simply amazing, seeing subsidiarity in a republic in action. Simultaneously banal and miraculous, like so many things. We had to leave early, regrettably, as I had a class to teach, but things were already heating up over whether to make the Town Clerk an elected position, rather than appointed. It was extremely exciting, and I'm already looking forward to next years, for which I will certainly be clearing my schedule. I'm so glad that this sort of thing can still exist in our world of giant entities making faceless decisions. Here in Vermont, from time to time you have to look your neighbor in the eye, and tell him why he's wrong about the select board. That's pretty special.