New England used to be an agricultural region. There are so many small farms around our communities that it gives me the impression that if we made it a priority and funded/encouraged it, we could be an agricultural region again. It’s possible that we could grow enough to sustain ourselves, though I don’t know for sure what it would mean to try to feed all of the people here from New England’s arable land alone.
This will bear some investigation.
We also used to be an industrial region, at the same time as it was an agricultural region. There are abandoned mill buildings all over the area. Turners Falls, the next town over from me, has a decommissioned water turbine. That’s sustainable power. I wonder if that turbine could be brought back on line, and how much of our current power needs it could meet?
To be clear, I’m not saying “start up all the old mills again,” In most cases, that’s not possible. On the other hand, though, if there are old mill buildings and other facilities that are refurbishable, it would be better to do so than to reinvent the wheel in all cases.
It’s also true that those old mills were rife with problems. They were often terrible, dangerous work environments. They exploited workers. They were massive polluters. We could do so much better with modern humanistic labor and safety standards, and with environmental protection regulations in place and enforced. We would have to work to make sure that corruption was monitored, controlled, and eliminated.
It’s worth noting that New England’s best and most important industry is education. We would do well to open our universities to students from all around the world, as we once did. I work in this industry, and I’m proud of what the University I work for does, and glad to be able to contribute.
And I think that’s what I most like about the idea of an independent New England. We could all be part of something we’re proud of again.
Small disclaimer — I am likely being very naive. I have no real notion of what the starting of a new nation in this period in human history involves. I have some education and some mid reasoning ability and imagination. Read along with me as I investigate what such a massive change would mean. It’s an interesting subject.
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