The Ugly Truth About How to Save Vermont

I wrote an even longer article on this topic and posted it for FREE on my Substack. You can find it here:: https://substack.com/@morgangold CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: The Hard Truth About Vermont 02:19 The "Austerity Death Trap" Explained 06:43 Build Vermont on Purpose (A Plan) 11:45 Idea 1: Concentrated Development 18:23 Idea 2: How to Build Good Houses Fast 28:10 Idea 3: “House First” property taxes (The Second Home Tax) 34:39 Idea 4: Population Growth 39:22 Idea 5: De-risk Life for Working Vermonters 41:26 Idea 6: Shrink the Government 45:41 The Four Levers: Population, Housing, Economy, Taxes 46:25 Closing: Is Vermont Sustainable? Is Vermont's future just "managed decline"? Many residents feel trapped by a demographic collapse, a massive housing crisis, and a regulatory environment designed for a reality that no longer exists. The current path is an "austerity death spiral," where fewer people bear the burden of increasing fixed costs. But I believe Vermont is sustainable...if we choose to build it on purpose. In this video, I reject the defeatist attitude that mediocrity is our destiny. We dive deep into the interconnected crisis facing the Green Mountain State and map out a radical plan to revitalize it. This isn't about turning Vermont into suburbia; it's about leaning into our strengths—our landscape, our resilience, and our capacity to produce. Join me in the barn as I lay out six concrete, actionable ideas to shift Vermont from a mindset of preservation to one of active creation. It’s time to decide if we want to be a museum or a living, breathing community. QUICK NOTE ABOUT THE ANIMATIONS IN THIS VIDEO: You might that the graphics in this video look different from my usual style. That’s intentional. I’ve stopped using AI for graphics and I’m only using art that I’ve drawn myself or I find on the internet. Every original illustration (not the charts and not the clips) and animation in this video was drawn by me and then animated using a combination of Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, and Adobe Character Animator. I probably should make a whole video about how my philosophy around AI has changed, but there are other stories I need to tackle first. If you have questions about that, ask me in the comments—I’m genuinely curious what you think. And if you want to see more of my drawings, you can check out my weekly comic strip over on my Substack: https://substack.com/@morgangold If you got something out of this video, please share it with someone else who might find it useful. That kind of support helps me keep making work like this. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL: Hello and welcome to my YouTube channel. My name is Morgan Gold and this is the place where Stories are Told. Thank you for watching this video. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think. Thank you, Morgan PS If you're looking for my farm YouTube channel, you can find it here: @GoldShawFarm