World 01_10_18

Downsizing
H1/2
Around 1900, progressive dreamers wrote a series of
Utopian novels, sharing their vision of a perfect Socialist
future.
One thing that they all had in common was communal living.
In the perfect future, they assumed people would live
together in large apartment complexes.
Communal living is just rudimentary common sense. It
saves lumber, brick, and steel. It saves electricity. It saves fuel
because people are close to town and closer to work. It saves
heating oil.
Somewhere in the 20th Century, this efficient communal
ideal was tossed in the garbage and was replaced by the ideal
that a respectable American has to live in a house.
Nothing, it seems, can shake the ideal of the single-family
home.
It has been proven that home ownership primarily benefits
big banks, oil companies, IKEA, and Home Depot. It doesn’t
make the people who live inside the houses happier - just more
indebted.
But check out any commercial during the playoff games
this weekend. Whether they are selling Fabreze, Fritos, or
Pharmaceuticals, the smiling Americans in the ads are all living
in spacious single-family houses. It’s as if apartment
dwellers or people who share their houses with renters are too
poor or too uncivilized to even show on television.
“Downsizing” shows us a 21st Century Utopia where
almost everyone can afford to buy a house in cash.
In writer/director Alexander Payne’s imaginative new
world, people have the choice to undergo an irreversible procedure
that reduces their size by approximately 99%.
Living a new life at 5 inches tall is extremely appealing to
two very different types of people: environmentalists who
Central Vermont Chamber Supports Efforts that Recognize
State’s Beauty and Culture
The new year is upon us, and with
it the return of the Vermont
General Assembly to its second
session of the biennial term. This
means that once again the Central
Vermont Chamber of Commerce, as an
advocacy group, will represent the
interests of Vermont’s business community.
The Chamber works together
with the Vermont Chamber, other local
Chambers of Commerce, and various
other business groups.
The Chamber is a membership based organization, led by a
very active Board of Directors. The Board has several committees
that report to it, one of which is our Public Policy
Committee. Our Public Policy Committee has met and spent
several months reviewing and making changes to our Public
Policy Positions. These positions, once adopted by the Board
then become the official policy of The Chamber.
During the coming session, The Chamber will once again
be engaged with a number of issues and this week and next, I
will be presenting those issues to you for your consideration.
The Chamber recognizes that government has a responsibility
to support and protect all citizens. The Chamber is
cognizant of the fact that government has a direct role to play
in creating a climate that is conducive to growing the economy
Ṫhe Chamber has adopted the following policies in an
effort to expand our economic profile, support our environment,
and create jobs.
Budget and Taxes: The Central VT Chamber supports policies
that:
• Promote economic growth
• Do not disproportionately burden the business community
or any one business sector
• Limit state government growth to no more than the historic
rates of annual inflation
• Reduce corporate taxes to encourage private sector growth
• Rely exclusively on property taxes to fund local government
• • •
• • •
want to leave a smaller carbon footprint. And hedonists who
want to enjoy all the finer things in life (diamonds, drugs, and
mansions) for a fraction of the price of regular-sized people.
Alexander Payne’s point is that people are eager to buy any
product that makes them feel like they are saving the planet or
keeping up with the Joneses. But they aren’t willing to do the
one thing that will actually lead to environmental conservation
and happiness: stop wanting more things.
If Payne had nailed this point home and given us a few
laughs along the way, “Downsizing” would have been an
American classic. But he takes the film in a very different
direction. “Downsizing” is full of surprises, but each surprise
takes the story further off course.
Matt Damon’s lead character is so boring and bland that
you never care whether he finds himself.
Matt Damon was once a great movie star with a cool sense
of humor. Now he seems more and more like the dense marionette
caricature version of him from “Team America: World
Police.” When Damon isn’t educating us about the difference
between butt slapping and sexual assault (wow, thanks Matt!),
he is making lousy movies. What was his last decent film?
2006’s “The Departed” maybe?
“Downsizing” is an over-long, unfocused bummer of a
film. I haven’t felt this ripped off since that time that I foolishly
bought a house.
• Oppose the imposition or expansion of Local Option
Taxes.
Education and Funding: The Central VT Chamber supports
policies that:
• Return Vermont per-pupil spending to no more than 130
percent of the national average
• Reduce property taxes by increasing the pupil-to-teacher
ratio
• Provides students with the option of attending any elementary
or secondary school
• Promote efficiencies through consolidation.
Employer/Business Mandates: The Central VT Chamber
supports policies that:
• Hold businesses and employer mandates to a minimum
• Avoid additional paperwork and reports that consume precious
time and resources
• Encourage business expansion and job creation.
Employment and Labor: The Central VT Chamber supports
policies that:
• Enable employers to maintain a safe and productive working
environment
• Support the rights of individuals to work without being
compelled to join a union or compelled to pay for any part of
the cost of union representation
• Provide equal pay for equal work
• Support visa programs that encourage temporary workers to
legally seek employment in the United States.
In order to create a climate that encourages business expansion
and responsible growth, The Chamber supports efforts to
grow our state that recognize the inherent beauty and culture
that is Vermont. We believe that adoption of these policies
will lead to greater economic growth, more business investment
and the creation of new jobs.
Next week, I will review The Chamber’s positions on
energy, health care reform, permitting and transportation. I
appreciate hearing your thoughts on our positions. Feel free to
contact me via email at Bill@centralvt.com, or by phone at
(802) 229-5711.
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January 10, 2018 The WORLD page 11