 Well, let me thank all the parents for being here, especially the young people. This is the ninth year that we've done the State of the Union essay contest. This year, we had close to 600 kids in Vermont in 50 schools who participated. And the young people that you are looking at are the top 20 winners. So congratulations to the three of the top 20 are not going to be here today. I especially, after spending time in Washington, enjoy this event very, very much. And I think you will probably end up agreeing with me there's a lot more wisdom from our young people in the state here than we often see in the nation's capital. The purpose of the essay contest is to get the kids thinking about what is going on in our country, why it's going on, and where they would like it to go. Essentially, if they were president of the United States, what kind of state of the union speech they would give, what would be the themes, what would be the most important issues that they believe the country should address. And I've got to tell you, having read all of the essays, you would be and you will be impressed by these young people. So what we're going to do is we're going to go around the table and we'll have the young people talk a little bit about what they wrote and why they wrote it. And guys, there's nothing to be nervous about. And I will be a pest and maybe ask you a few questions as you go along. And then we'll open it up for discussion. You guys can comment on each other's work. But anyhow, congratulations to you all. You did a great job. So we're going to start off with Priyados Mohammed from Essex High School. Priyados, what did you write about and why? OK, so I wrote about Islamophobia facing the US. And I wrote about it because I wanted to make it personal to me. And as you can see, I'm a Muslim. So I wanted to shed light on a problem that faces a lot of Muslims around the globe, but not a lot of people know about. Good. Thank you very much. Joseph, what did you write about? Yes, so I wrote about the barriers that middle class and working Americans face from voting and on election day. And I wrote about it because if the opinions and beliefs of middle class Americans aren't safeguarded and reflected in voting, then politicians will continue to reflect the opinions of the elite. OK. Megan Benway is with the Missuskoye Valley Union. She's the one that we're waiting on. OK. Thomas Buckley with the Colchester. So I talked about how the system that we use to elect our representatives is fundamentally flawed. The plurality system, like the plurality voting system that we use, is ineffective and leads to the same two parties with the same sort of voter frustration without any kind of, without allowing for people to vote for third parties if they want to, without destroying their, without wasting their vote. And what's your remedy? No. Give me a second. So I think ranked choice voting, which they use in Maine, or have started to use in Maine, is effective to an extent, at least, with dealing with the spoiler effect, which is the problem of people being unable to vote for a party without losing their, without losing their ability to, without voting for the, without voting accidentally for the party that they'd like at least. And that took place in Maine and they elected a congressman on that basis. Okay, Brandon Byrne? I talked to him. And Brandon to the Essex High School as well. Yeah. I talked about climate change and how I feel like that's one of the biggest problems our world and our country is facing right now, because it's going to affect everybody on the planet. I think the best way to go after it and resolve it is a kind of effort nationally led by the government similar to the new deal with FDR and just the collective action. And I wrote my essay before I realized that the green new deal was actually a thing. So you're taking credit for that, right? We'll see. It's good politician. Okay, thanks, Brandon. Caroline Castle, is it Hartford High School? Yes. I wrote about xenophobia and how much of a major problem it is to our world today. Because after living overseas for six years, I began to realize that people were treating me differently and treating other people in my school differently based upon our experiences overseas. And they had all these misconceptions about who I was and who other people were based on stereotypes that they had learned about. Pryodos, do you want to comment on that? You agree? Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, after the 9-11 attacks, I mean, I wasn't born yet, obviously, but wearing the hijab, you kind of represent your whole religion in a way, and I feel like that's a stereotype we need to break. Colin Chadek Kressi is at Burlington High School. I, too, wrote about climate change and as a young person, what the younger generation can hopefully do. And I wrote about global solutions that are necessary. Colin, what is the major obstacle to moving forward on dealing with climate change? American spirit, I would guess, people that are just not motivated to fight climate change, even though it is an increasingly important challenge. Other thoughts on climate change? What is the major obstacle? Is there anybody who is interested in protecting their interests through fossil fuels? Who has a thought on that? Anybody? Andy? Yeah, they're through tax, carbon, like, tax and carbon, they're wealthy people, they get affected. And also, I talked about, in my essay, I talked about starting small and that would lead to bigger goals on climate change, like, starting small. All right, but let me pick up. Is there anybody who thinks fossil fuels are just great? And do they have any influence over what goes on? Well, I know, I'm raising that because a number of you have written about environmental issues on climate change. I want you to think about this for a second. Things happen for a reason, yes. They have a lot of input with their donations and lobbying on conference members. Who is they? Just lobbyists groups such as... Representing whom? The energy companies, like Exxon Mobile and those sorts of things. Okay. I can see ads on television about coming from Exxon Mobile and other companies about all the great work they're doing. Yeah. A lot of misinformation campaign. There's also the idea that if we try to attack climate change, it'll hinder the American economy. Good, okay. I'm gonna keep moving. I'm gonna get back to that issue. Page, Dean, is it South Burlington High School page? I also wrote about climate change. As many others have said, I think it's the greatest issue facing the world especially our generation. And I also wrote about some of the possible solutions to many of the climate change such as the economy moving forward with legislation and building partnerships with businesses and also our allies worldwide. Good. The last point that you make is an important one. And by the way, guys, these microphones are there for a reason. I think we don't have enough of them. Maybe we'll push this one down. Let me get this one. Yes, we are, I think, recording this, right? All right, so we can't record it well if you're not speaking into the mic. So why don't we push this one down a little bit and I think you have more on this side. Okay. You raised, Page, you raised the simple reality that climate change is an international issue. The United States could do all the right things that it wouldn't matter much. If China and India and Russia and other major countries did not also go for it. Who wants to pick up on that one? How do you deal internationally with this issue? Thoughts? I think it's through the UN, right? Good. That's why we made the UN so that countries can communicate with each other about global issues and global climate change is a global issue. All right, is somebody raised the issue about if you transform the energy system and it will have a negative impact on workers who work in oil and coal and gas. Is there another side of that, which is true, is there another side of that story as well? Can you create jobs by moving toward a green-type economy? Henry, do you think so? Grab that mic there if you could, please. There's, we're negatively impacting workers in fossil fuel industries. We need to recognize that, so we also need to avoid the pastries created and the temporary economic loss that will occur and we can help those people by implementing renewable energy and maybe helping them transfer like working the renewable energy deal. Good, okay. I'm probably gonna mispronounce the next name here. It's Anissa, is that Denby? Yeah. Am I close? Yes. Okay, grab the mic there, Anissa. Anissa's at St. John'sbury economy. Okay, and what's happening on that issue in this country today? Well, it scans and help a lot of... Isabel DeRosh, do I have that right, Isabel? Okay. Isabel's at Byrne-Burton Academy. Initially started out as something materialistic. It is. Who wants to pick up on that? Is, I think we sometimes say in Washington, you can disagree with somebody without being disagreeable. Is that kind of what you're talking about, Isabel? What about that? Have we reached a stage where disagreement results in all kinds of enmity and hatred and all that stuff, how do we deal with that? That's an important issue. I think my essay was kind of something like ranked choice voting means that if you're competing for second choice votes, you're not going to spend your time demonizing your opposition because if you have to demonize because that's gonna mean that people aren't gonna put you down as your second choice candidate in the likelihood. So you need to put, I think, real incentives in place to change political discourse for the better. You guys have friends who hold different political views than you do? Yeah. Are you able to speak with them in a civil manner and learn from each other who wants to talk about that? Yeah, I think that the issue right now with politics is that there's so much ego in politics where it's become less about doing what's right for the country, but more about doing what makes you look best as a politician. And I think politicians need to try to separate themselves from their egos from making themselves look better. And, you know, as citizens, you know, looking past, you know, just, you know, maybe statistics of a candidate and really looking into what they actually do. Well, you're touching on a very good issue, I think. And that is, if you think about, when you turn on the TV and you hear about politics, a lot of it has to do with the politician himself or herself, right? Rather than the issues impacting the American people. And I think that is a very, very, very serious issue. Because what politics should be about is what are the issues impacting all of us and how do you best address it? Whose ideas are best, who do you agree with? But too often, they really focus on the fact that politicians have problems or deficiencies, they're not perfect human beings, and we talk about that all the time. I'm sensitive about that issue, as you could say, but yeah, yes. Yeah, I just like to talk about how like, we do live in Vermont, and I live in Brompton, and it's in my school and my friends, like the group that I hang out with is like mostly left-leaning. And when we, and we're growing up in a time where a lot of, we disagree with our current president a lot, and he's kind of representing the Republican party in a way, and so when we think Republican, my school, most of my friends just think back, and it's not necessarily. Good, and that's a good point. And we should know, being in the state house right now, that there have been Republican leaders, people like Senator Aiken, Senator Strafit, and Jim Jeffords, and others, Dick Snelling, whose views as Republicans are very, very different. We're very, very different than Donald Trump's, for example, and it's important to understand that history. Okay, let's go to, am I pronouncing this right, Livia, or is it Livia? Livia. Livia. Greenberg at the Stratton Mountain School. The House of Health cares specifically how medical monopolies were able to control crisis to the point that it made most medical necessities unavailable to the majority of American people. Good, who wants to pick up on Livia's point on healthcare? Which polling shows is way up there is one of the most important issues that the American people care about. What about healthcare? What's the key, let me get to some of you haven't been talking too much. Gonna get to you guys. All right, Fiona, what about healthcare? Here, grab that mic there. Good, all right, when Fiona says it's so necessary, okay, everybody and almost everybody in one moment or another in their lives is gonna require healthcare. So what is the fundamental issue? Give me, no, no. What is when we think about healthcare, when we think about healthcare, what is the defining issue? If Fiona kind of touched on it. One. One? One. No? One of the fundamental human rights All right. Is having good health. Okay, that's the issue. So the issue is and there are people who disagree on this and we can go into it. But the fundamental issue is, is healthcare a human right or is it not? All right, give me the two sides to that, sorry. Why is it a human right? Who believes that it's a human right? All right, then tell me why you think it is, good. Healthcare is a human right, it says the UN defines it. Everyone has a right to a list of things and I don't have to list in front of you so I can't list it. But one of those things is to write to your life and if you don't have good healthcare then you're having to be deprived of part of your right to live. Good. It's similar to being deprived of water or shelter. Good, okay, let's pick up on that. Healthcare a human right? Give me, that was I think a good explanation, Henry. It's something very similar that we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and life, then that would mean that the right to be healthy is a human right. Okay. And especially if we have the ability to make people healthy. Good. All right, give me the other side of the story. Not everybody agrees, and these are people who are not terrible, awful people. They don't want to see other people suffer but they don't agree. What's the other side of the story? Healthcare is not a human right in American society. Who wants to give me that? I'll be the doubles advocate. Be the doubles advocate. All right, well, I have much experience with that kind of view but I do know that some people feel that if healthcare becomes a free commodity for everybody they're worried that people who don't pay their taxes are going to take advantage of the system and get free healthcare even though they do not pay taxes to the society that provides them that free healthcare. Good, I think it's about three quarters of it. That's good. What's the one quarter? I mean, I think Brendan got most of it but there's another fundamental philosophical difference which conservatives hold a view, which is not a crazy view. Progressives hold a different view. Yes, Joseph? I think some people would say that if you make healthcare competitive then make it a competitive market than different people. The different providers and different medical providers will have to cater to the people specifically and so that could increase competition. So I guess that's what some people say. Okay, but I want to get back to the argument, fundamental argument against healthcare is a right. All right, let's just say hypothetically. Mr. Jones started off his life with no money. He worked really hard, became very, very wealthy, takes good care of his family. They have very good health insurance and then some politician like Bernie Sanders says, well, we should have healthcare for everybody. And Mr. Jones says, you know what? I've worked really hard in my life. I'm taking care of my family. Why do you want me to pay more in taxes to take care of somebody else who maybe is not working as hard? Maybe he's not a nice person. Why should I have to take care of other people's families? Not a good argument? Who wants to get into that? What's the two sides to the story? Well, I think that's the way we judge people for their duty to society and we need to balance quality and I guess meritocracy, they're not completely different but they sometimes compete with each other. All right, this is actually, and healthcare is one manifestation of it, maybe the most important, but not the only, which is the defining issue of American politics today. And that has to do with what is a right which all people are entitled to as opposed to a society that says, hey, good luck to you and I hope you make it do well, but if you don't, don't come asking me to help you because I got to take care of my family, you got to take care of your family and we're all in it for ourselves, okay? And I don't really want to worry about your family. What about that? I think what's crucial is that I think people who are arguing that you shouldn't say give healthcare to everyone aren't going to say that healthcare, well, they are implicitly saying healthcare isn't a human right, but I think what they would say is that if the government take complete control of the healthcare and makes it a completely public system, you're gonna have something that's less efficient and less effective. They will say that, but that's not the key issue. That's an argument that they will make against, say, a national health program. But the deeper than that is the question of whether everybody is entitled to healthcare. Let me ask you this from an international perspective. Carolyn, I think you've been around the world a little bit. All right, what is the status of healthcare among major countries on earth? Do they have this debate? Yes, it's a major debate. I'm there with the millennium development goals and the sustainable development goals. I think a lot of the goals addressed issues like malnutrition, which is also fundamentally connected to well-being and health. Because if you're immunocompromised and you don't have as much food as you may be, you become more susceptible to diseases. Absolutely, okay. All right, I think the dividing line here, and we'll get back to this later on, is if something is a right, it is the obligation of society to provide that right, which generally means taxes. Now we live where we are right now is some 75, 80 miles away from Canada. If you get sick, if you're diagnosed with cancer and you have to undergo chemo therapy or surgery, how much would it cost you in Canada? Anyone know? Zero, not a penny. Now they're 80 miles away from here, country in many ways, similar to ours. And yet anybody in Canada can walk into any doctor's office they want, they can undergo, and I was up there in Toronto, last year, and in the hospital, people dealing with major surgery. I think the biggest healthcare cost for them is parking their car in the parking lot. It's about it. And generally speaking, people argue about the strength and weaknesses, but I don't think too many people would say that their system is radically worse than the United States, and many will say maybe it's a better system for a variety of reasons. All right, I want to get back to that issue, because that is the fundamental political divide in this country, and there are honest people on both sides of that issue. Let's keep going. Seth Hart is at Burlington. Yeah, I talked about failure, all of a sudden to talk about it, and I've been fortunate enough not to relate to it a lot of these issues on a personal level, but I think failure is something that I've been pretty interested in, and I think every successful person has to deal with it, and so yeah, I just thought it was a unique and very important issue. I read that, and it is very interesting, but what Seth is writing about is not healthcare and it's not the environment. He is talking about the challenges that we face as human beings, and the fear of failure, and you're going into the grading system in schools and all of that. Do you want to say a word on how you feel the grading system sometimes impacts the decision? Yeah, yeah, so I think ever since we get into kindergarten, if we do a spelling test or we get a big fat F or something that's like, fail, you fail, but in reality, you didn't really fail, like you might have messed up or something, but if you fully, if you really learn from that mistake, then I don't think that's a bad thing. And I think you also write that there's a lot of pressure on young people, all of you, most of you, I still want to go to college to get good grades and not get those Fs, right? And that has an impact on your well-being. Who wants to pick up? Because I think that was an interesting observation that Seth made. Does he have a point? Let me get to some more. You guys on this side are pretty quiet there, and Isabel, why don't you jump in on, what about the fear of failure? I mean, I'm... Hold up my close theme, please. Going through the college process, right? This is a school scenario I've had before, high school, and the difference between the experiential learning and being able to approach things without that fear of failure and how that creates an environment that you have more of an ability to really learn from that rather than having to weigh, well, do I want to take AP biology this year, or do I really need to maintain my GPA? That's something that we all face, but it comes such repercussions on our features from such a young age, which is an interesting system. Okay, other thoughts? Thomas, did you want to jump in on that? Yeah, I guess I just feel that failure is... Like, is hiding the fact that you didn't do well on, say, a spelling test necessarily better? Like, is masking it by, like, flowery language or whatever better than just having it clear? Because I think you can learn, if you know that you didn't do well on your spelling test and you have the opportunity to improve and succeed and learn some of this, but I feel like if you don't, if you consider what you are your performance adequate, even if it was poor, it just leads to kind of a road to mediocrity. All right, if you hear those, you were the winning essayist, so now when I... Okay, so I'm just a freshman in high school, so I just started, and I think that the stress is already happening because, like, you were saying, like, do I take an AP class and risk my grades going down, or do I just take a regular level class but keep my grades up? And, like, also the peer pressure part of it is, like, do I want to have classes with my friends but negatively impact my grade? So I think that it is a big problem. All right, a couple of you have raised that issue. You run the risk, if you take an AP class, yeah, of not necessarily getting A's, right? If you take a general class, the likely it is being right, you're gonna get A's, right? Some of you guys struggle with that issue? Well, not. Thoughts on that? All right, Henry, I can see the wheels turning there. I think this, like, review is a different but related problem, which is, like, the over-emphasis on grades themselves. Like, you're worried about, or, like, we're worried about having a lower grade if we take a harder class and what we should be worried about is actually learning because grades don't always indicate how much you learn. At any schools, including my own, there's, like, a very, like, a rigid track towards, like, adulthood in terms of what you need to do before you graduate. And that's very limiting for students because no one learns the same way, no one learns at the same pace. And I know other schools, it's not always that way, they do better with flexible pathways. That's an excellent point. I can tell you from my own personal experience, when I went to college, I went to the University of Chicago, and it turned out, just my luck, that the issues that interested me were not what was being taught in the classrooms. So I spent half my life down in the library doing a lot of reading and studying and getting bad grades because those weren't necessarily the issues that were being discussed in my classroom. All right, let me move on here. I think we're up to Simon Rosenbaum at Vermont Common School. Simon? I wrote my essay about anti-Semitism in other schools which is an extremely personal piece. We live in a state that is 93 to 94, depending on what census you look at, a percent white and of Christian heritage. And that creates an isolated relatively ignorant society. And I'm talking about Vermont as a state, which means that that can come out towards you, which there's been an uptick in a field of discrimination against youth, Jewish youth, recently, which it's been 39% of our faculty, there's 39% increase in Jewish youth who feel discriminated or threatened. And that can come out of a school which is, we create fields of bullying, sadness, and can cause life and trauma. Okay, thank you, Simon. I'm gonna get back to you for your dose. You have a similar concern, right? You're Muslim, Simon is Jewish. Yeah, I think that the feeling of isolation can really happen. And like he was saying, Vermont is a very white state. And especially with youth and news and stereotypes, people get the wrong image of others based on color, based on religion. And I think that in order for us to get past these stereotypes, we have to kind of forget the past and not base people based on what religion they are, what country they came from. Okay, Andy, you wanna get to that? Yeah, actually me and Simon actually talked about this issue before this. Hold up, Mike, a little bit closer to you, Mike, please. We'll talk about that at first, saying like, my school is perfect at first, and I'm from a Muslim high school. And we get to know different cultures, and we share the same problem, the same problem. We can connect with each other and work our way up to sex. And actually that helps a lot if you come from another country, like I do. And like I was telling Simon, maybe different school that's very diverse can go to a non-diverse school and share the community, share the culture, share their experience, and maybe you can get that from each other. I think we need thoughts. Let me get to some people I haven't spoken very much. I'm sorry, I can't see your name. Right, Anissa, okay, yeah, move that over there, right. That's showing that in the past two months, there has been that many school shootings, that there definitely needs to be something changed in our regulations for better control because if this is such a big issue, why isn't there change already happening? Okay, okay, let me pick up on Anissa's point. I wanna do two things here. I want somebody to answer Anissa's question of why change has not taken place. And who are the forces? This is not the fossil fuel industry. It's not the insurance companies. Where is the opposition to gun safety legislation coming from? Henry? So this touches on what you said about power earlier. In this case, it's the NRA. There's also Alec, which is a conservative think tank. And so things like that make it very easy for politicians to stop that kind of legislation. Okay, good, that's right. I wanna, what is the conservative argument or the NRA argument against gun control? What's the argument? Yes? They say the second amendment there. Right, they say that. But what above and beyond the second amendment, what do they argue? Do they, what do they argue? Yeah. They argue that their personal safety will be taken away if their firearms are taken away. Good. I also, I'll take the juxtaposition again or not the juxtaposition, that's a fancy word. I can't use fancy words. The opposite position. Essex High School had a real lockdown. I think it was my freshman year. Henry was there too. It's terrible. I definitely think gun violence is bad and terrible, but I also think that the real issue with gun violence lies with the idea of violence is the fact that somebody has been pushed to an extreme limit that they feel their only way to solve their problems is with violence. And I think their kids get bullied a lot in our public schools and most of the time when gun violence occurs, it's the bully that resorts to gun violence. And I think that if we can have a more accepting and welcoming community when we don't ostracize people who are like quiet, reserved, not everybody says, oh, don't talk to them, they're the weird kid. Don't go near them. I think a lot of our problems can be resolved just in the humanity. Good point. In other words, as someone who believes in strong gun safety legislation, I think that's not the total answer. And I think that's what you're saying. Obviously there are common sense things that have to be done, but you have in this country a lot of anger and a lot of mental illness. I mean, we get calls in our office and I think every other elected official in America gets the same calls. And that is, I remember my staff telling me that somebody called and the person said, I am very worried about my brother. I am worried what he may do to himself or to somebody else. We're trying to get help and we can't get help. Can't get help. And I think it's fair to say there are many, many thousands of people in this state and around the country who are walking around the streets, who own weapons, who are suicidal, who are homicidal and it's hard to put yourself in that head. So I think the point is that it's not just, I think guns are a very important part of it and people who should not own guns clearly should not have access to them and all that. But it is, there's other aspects of this as well and that there are a lot of, you know, and you know, you just try to think about this horrible situation in Las Vegas last year and know that some guy gets up there and no one still knows why. And breaks up in the hotel window, shoots, kills 50 people, wounds many, hundreds of people, why? More thoughts on that. Yeah. I think Alchester also had a lockdown this year. But also, you were asking about like what they made for and the two arguments that I always remember are gun, like two catch fridges, are guns don't kill people, people kill people and that the, oh and then the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Generally untrue. I think you brought up suicide when you were last point and I think that's a very good point because people who choose more lethal methods of suicide are more likely to actually kill themselves before they actually receive help. If I may. Yeah. That kind of relates back to the healthcare problem we're having in our country. I also know that Vermont also has a problem with mental illness and helping people who have mental illnesses. There are a lot of people on Church Street that are mentally ill and could use help but again the healthcare is not free and they can't afford it. And by the way, that's right. But you should know that Vermont does a lot better than many other states. But the lack of, you know, that takes us to the opioid issue and many other issues. But mental health is a major crisis in this country and it relates to a whole lot of other things. Yeah, Seth. In health class we're going over the trial of health which is physical health, mental health, and social health. And our health teachers ties how mental health is so much harder for people to talk about. The comfort that's looked at as such a bad thing and with physical health, the obesity and so it's obvious, we can see it. But with mental health it's not always, you can't always tell, it's not the danger of it. And so it's looked at as a bad thing. And so that goes back to society. Now that's a very good point. And if you broke your arm, people say oh, too bad you broke your arm, we had cancer, that's terrible. But if you have mental health problems, you're a little bit crazy and you're a little bit weird and there's a stigma attached to that that is not attached to a physical problem. And we have a very active social media network in my Senate office and we did a discussion with a young African-American guy where that issue of stigma in mental illness is especially strong in the African-American community. But it's strong all over and it's a stigma that we have to break through. So insurance, when we talk about mental health insurance and health care coverage, obviously it must include mental health as well as physical health. Okay, oh did I, she's quiet, she's quiet. Okay, I believe on my list, Henry is the last panelist to talk about his issue. Henry? And I, I think I recognize the point of political corruption behind that. And so I wrote about it in carbon tax, like on businesses and the need to separate economic interest from what's right for our world, then need for our politicians to do that. And that can facilitate like transfer to a normal energy. Okay. Okay, let me do this as well. I think anyone, I think everybody made a presentation that I miss anybody. Look at everybody. And by the way, Katerina, raise your hand. Katerina's worked very hard in organizing this event. As did Kate and David in my office as well. Oh, can they please stand up? Wonderful, thank you. I should have said at the very beginning that these guys were selected not because I sat around judging the essays, but we had I think six Vermont teachers who looked through all the essays. And I thank them. What I want to do now is I want you to think hard. We have discussed a lot of stuff. We have really gone over some of the major issues facing our country and in some cases the world. What are the some major, major issues that we did not discuss that none of you wrote about? Ended up not coming off the discussion right now. I think an issue that we didn't discuss was like addiction to media and addiction to being on screens and seeing, I think this also connects back to gun control laws, seeing violent video games and a lot of, we're exposed to a lot of those things in our everyday lives. And I think that's really important for our generation. Excellent point. All right, your world is different from your parents' world and your grandparents' world in a very profound way. God, I date myself as now all that was, but when I first got involved in politics, if we wanted to send out a press release, now we did it, we put it in an envelope and we took it to the post office and two or three days later some newspaper received it. And now I have five people who do nothing else but send out emails in every minute or something. But Caroline's point about the amount of time people spend on computers and on screen is in fact a huge issue for a dozen different reasons. It's the immunity to violence that many people might see in video games, but it's not just that. It has been glued to the screen and what that does do, there are a number of studies which suggest that might not be the healthiest activity in the world. And so that's a very good issue. All right, what other issues did we not talk about? We did talk about the global water crisis. Good. And how it affects billions of people. For example, in Colorado, there were multiple people arrested from fights over agricultural water supplies. Right. And that's in our own country, in developing countries. I believe in developing countries, the average was something like it's primarily women carried at something like multiple gallons of normally not clean water multiple miles a day. Which you can say, oh, two miles is not a bad thing, so I was carrying five. I wouldn't say that. What is pretty heavy, you know? It's, that's a huge international issue and tied to climate change. It is an issue in this country. And as you know, in California, they significantly reduced water consumption. All right, that's an important issue. All right, what are the issues? Yep, Toms. We haven't talked about the opioid epidemic. I believe one of the essays discussed it, but that definitely isn't here. I think especially in Vermont, that's had an enormous effect on our quality of life for a lot of Vermont. I did. We lost like 110 people last year to overdoses. Very serious problem. Okay, what else? This isn't really a state issue, but a global load issue, poaching and the black market trade for animals. The endangered animals, animals going extinct. That's a big problem facing everyone that lives here on earth. Good, that is seeing the various species of beautiful animals being wiped out is hot breaking. All right, but you guys still on that thinking. One moment, one moment. You are still not touching on it. And it concerns me, has a lot to do with media and it has a lot to do with schools. You're still not touching on what I consider to be one of the major issues facing our country and the world. And that is that all over Vermont and all over this country and all over the world, you have people working incredibly hard and in some cases not making enough money to take care of the basic needs. So there are people in Vermont who are working two or three jobs trying to make sure their kids get enough food and they pay their rent and mortgages and meanwhile, you have an incredible unfair distribution of wealth and income, you see. And when you talk about power, you know, whether it is the power of the fossil fuel industry or the power of Wall Street or the power of the health industry, this is what you're talking about. And it's something you gotta be thinking about. Now, who has any idea about what percentage of Americans own what percentage of the wealth? Somebody guys think about, yeah. That's exactly correct. Now I see that as an astounding fact. That's why I use it in every speech that I give. But nobody outside of Vermont knows that. So that's, but am I missing something? All right, let me just pick up what Roland said. That's in fact a true fact. The other true fact is the top one tenth of 1%, not 1%, one tenth of 1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%, 46% of all the wealth income generated today goes to the top 1%. The bottom 40% of the American people have zero wealth. Don't know anything. They own a house, their mortgage is bigger than what the house is worth. Now to me, and tell me if I'm missing something. That seems to be an astounding reality that we don't talk about a whole lot. Am I wrong, tell me if I'm wrong on it. I mean all the other issues, every single issue you guys raised is enormously. But see my job, I got to deal with the really, really important issues which are not as important as the really, really important urgent issues which are not as important as the world is coming to an end tomorrow issues. All right, so all of these issues, everything that you discussed is of enormous consequence. But sometimes we have to think in a little bit different way. All right, why is what I said true? It is true. Why is it that we don't discuss this? Who has thoughts on that? Brendan, you're thinking about it? What's the answer? Why don't we discuss that? Is it important or not? Is it worth discussing? I definitely do. I did not know that before and that's why it's kind of hitting me hard. Okay. That's three people. Three people own more wealth, I guess that's Gates and that was the guy from Omar. Bezos and the guy from Omar is who? Yeah, Warren Buffett, of course. I think it's those three guys. Collectively own more wealth than the bottom half of America. How does that impact the politics? Forget the economy, forget about morality. How does that impact? If so few have so much money, how does that impact politics? Yeah? You can buy influence. Surely can buy influence. Right, okay. So you got one family, which is way up there, I don't know, sixth or seventh, called the Koch Brothers, K-O-C-H. And they're very, very conservative. In the last election they spent, I believe $400 million to a lot of candidates who represent their point of view. Okay, so let me close because some of you I know have come from a long distance and want to get back home. Parents, do we have a right to be proud of these kids? You know, and I think their generation doesn't necessarily get a fair shake. I get around the stake and we have many, many wonderful and bright kids who are doing great things. So let me just thank all of you for submitting your essays, which were great for participating in this discussion. And I wish you all a very, very best in your future endeavors. Thanks for being here. Thank you all. Okay. And now what we did, what we did is we took all of your essays and we put them in the congressional record, which means you're a part of American history. That record will stay and we're going to give you subliminating copies of your essays.