What should happen after a deep breath, is an intake of genuine information.
Philadelphia's local governmental system is extremely complex and it
doesn't make everybody happy all the time. One of the temptations of a
paranoid worldview is that it purports to offer a simple, global
explanation for every unpleasant thing that happens in our community,
thereby relieving the anxiety that results from just plain not knowing
what's going on half the time.
In this off-campus neighborhood, paranoia focuses easily on Penn. Most
of us begin by being willing to believe anything bad we hear about it.
After all, it is big and does have a big impact on the neighborhood.
But it is not all-powerful. Still less powerful are the myriad of
smaller community agents such as UCD and various civic associations. In
real life, they seldom act entirely in concert with each other. And
there is no mastermind, no 'Dr. No' scheming relentlessly to make every
single unpleasant thing in town happen to you.
So when someone tells you that is what's going on, the chances are very
high they are lying. You are being offered a fake solution to society's
real problems.
Step one: don't be suckered. That alone won't solve all our problems,
but it may avoid unnecessary new ones.
-- Tony West
Dan Myers wrote:
Glenn, I agree with you on most of your opinions. However, your
forceful tactic "voice" doesn't always deliver in a positive way (and
that seems sad, because, if anything else, I think you want to do good
in the neighborhood).
So I ask---Is this beyond my control? Do I just have to suck up the
fact that the government spent my tax money unwisely on my own
street? Can I do anything more? Besides writing more question letters
to my "elected officials"?
Inquisitive mode on,
Dan Myers
PS I have nothing but respect for those who dare to write on this list
and not be insulted, unless constructively. (which is what I meant for
Kyle and Glenn)
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