The Indiana Century Podcast

Sovereignty, Not Subsidy | Indiana Century S1E4

Kory Easterday

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0:00 | 49:41

We've been told there are two paths for a place like Indiana.

The first: beg corporations to build here with tax breaks and subsidies. Cut the ribbon. Celebrate the jobs. Then watch, a decade later, as they leave for a better deal somewhere else.

The second: accept decline. Watch the young people leave. Watch the Main Streets empty. Tell ourselves this is just how it is.

Both paths lead to the same place: extraction. Both assume our future is something that happens to us, not something we build for ourselves.

In Episode 4 of The Indiana Century Podcast, host Kory Easterday names the third path: sovereignty.

This episode lays the philosophical foundation for everything that follows. You'll learn what sovereignty actually means and how we use it as a practical framework for building. We break it down into four elements: ownership, capacity, infrastructure, and will.

And then we introduce the Five Pillars of the Indiana Century Project:

Energy Sovereignty: A public utility authority building Small Modular Reactors across the state. Power owned by Hoosiers. Profits that stay here, funding schools and property tax relief through the Host Community Fee. The ultimate goal: zero spent nuclear fuel and 100% renewable energy.

Connectivity Revolution: High-speed rail connecting Indianapolis, Lafayette, and Kokomo in 30 minutes; with eventual connections to other hubs. State-owned fiber running alongside the tracks. New Main Streets for towns that lost theirs.

Agricultural Renaissance: Farmer-owned processing co-ops. The Indiana Premium brand. The Hoosier Heritage Land Trust. The Indiana Carbon Bank. And the Indiana Grain Reserve, giving farmers the power to wait for a fair price.

Health & Compassion: A Hospital Receivership Authority that takes over failing hospitals instead of letting them rot. Rural health hubs. A Clinic-in-a-Van fleet blanketing all 92 counties. The Animal Stewardship Corps.

The Funding Flywheel: Truck tolls. Cannabis revenue. Host Community Fees. The Bank of Indiana: a state-owned bank partnering with local lenders. The Indiana Future Fund: a sovereign wealth fund targeting $100 billion by 2050. Constitutional locks protecting it all.

Featured Book: Thomas Paine and the Promise of America by Harvey J. Kaye

This isn't left vs. right. It's forward vs. stuck.

Sovereignty isn't given. It's built.

IndianaCentury.org