I am going to rap a little red, white and blue at you today. Break out yer flags and yer apple pies and yer Battle Hymns of the Republic and all that.
Just back from a staff retreat here, where it was my job to explain the history of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, where I work, to a team of my colleagues here. I was getting into how the place that ISC is based – little, rural Vermont – played a significant role in ISC’s founding as an organization dedicated to promoting active citizenship, strong communities, and environmental stewardship around the world. I used a Norman Rockwell painting that will probably be familiar to many of you, entitled “Freedom of Speech.”
Rockwell painted this in 1943, as a series of four works displayed around the country in department stores and other public places, to demonstrate what was at stake for America and for the planet during the Second World War. Other paintings included “Freedom from Want” – most of you will know that one as well, which shows a typical large family Thanksgiving dinner with a table so laden with food it looks fit to bust – “Freedom of Religion,” and “Freedom from Fear.” These concepts were drawn from Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, in which he warned of the danger posed by the Axis powers and called for increasing American military production to support our allies with shipments of weapons and materiel – 11 months before Pearl Harbor.
“Freedom of Speech” was probably the most successful of the four paintings. Rockwell drew from his experiences with New England town meetings, such as those we still attend in Vermont today. For those of you unfamiliar with the practice, a town meeting is just that – everyone in the town is invited to gather in a central location for a big, open debate on the important (and unimportant) decisions the community has to make. In our little town of Worcester, this includes everything from whether to give $200 to the local Meals on Wheels program, to whether to buy a new fire truck, to approving a $1 million (plus) local school budget. Everyone has a chance to have their say, and decisions are taken collectively and democratically. It’s actually something of a state holiday in Vermont.
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| Freedom of Speech - Norman Rockwell |
Just back from a staff retreat here, where it was my job to explain the history of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, where I work, to a team of my colleagues here. I was getting into how the place that ISC is based – little, rural Vermont – played a significant role in ISC’s founding as an organization dedicated to promoting active citizenship, strong communities, and environmental stewardship around the world. I used a Norman Rockwell painting that will probably be familiar to many of you, entitled “Freedom of Speech.”
Rockwell painted this in 1943, as a series of four works displayed around the country in department stores and other public places, to demonstrate what was at stake for America and for the planet during the Second World War. Other paintings included “Freedom from Want” – most of you will know that one as well, which shows a typical large family Thanksgiving dinner with a table so laden with food it looks fit to bust – “Freedom of Religion,” and “Freedom from Fear.” These concepts were drawn from Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, in which he warned of the danger posed by the Axis powers and called for increasing American military production to support our allies with shipments of weapons and materiel – 11 months before Pearl Harbor.
“Freedom of Speech” was probably the most successful of the four paintings. Rockwell drew from his experiences with New England town meetings, such as those we still attend in Vermont today. For those of you unfamiliar with the practice, a town meeting is just that – everyone in the town is invited to gather in a central location for a big, open debate on the important (and unimportant) decisions the community has to make. In our little town of Worcester, this includes everything from whether to give $200 to the local Meals on Wheels program, to whether to buy a new fire truck, to approving a $1 million (plus) local school budget. Everyone has a chance to have their say, and decisions are taken collectively and democratically. It’s actually something of a state holiday in Vermont.
