A love letter to Pennypack
I often go to Pennypack Park, and I often think about everything the park has given me. As a teenager, I sought safe harbor from the world, and I found it. In college, I looked for a place to exercise and a place to begin the process of self-understanding, and I got both. The more and more I think about it, the more I realize that for the past six or so years, Pennypack Park has been one of the greatest positive forces in my life.
Now, as young man, I want to help others receive the same gifts that I have. I want the people of the Northeast to understand that 10 minutes down the road lies an immense treasure than anyone can enjoy. And I want them to know that it’s our duty to maintain and care for this beautiful relic.
Each time I go into the park, I carry one or two trashbags with me, and I come out empty handed. It’s a small act, but small acts can sometimes lead to bigger acts. I am just one man, with only one pair of hands, but there is something so certain about my choice, something that feels so right about it.
I can’t tell another man how to live his life. No one can. I am not affiliated with the City of Philadelphia, any local or national government agency, and I make no claims to discredit the efforts of the groups already hard at work in the park. I am simply helping, and if more people do the same, we may someday start to give back to Pennypack what she has already given us.
Jackson Buttery
Mayfair
Enough with libertarians
Don’t be duped.
I issue these words as warning to my fellow conservatives and anyone else who may be considering the libertarian alternative in the November election. Seldom in the history of ideas has a political philosophy been more poorly thought-out.
Our libertarian brethren simultaneously support fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, a formula they claim will produce limited government. But that formula is guaranteed to create the precise opposite, for once morality and traditional values are cast aside, ever larger numbers embrace lifestyles and modes of living that lead to government dependence.
Haven’t we learned anything from a half-century of promoting permissivism and promiscuity? More of the same is simply not the answer.
So don’t be duped. Libertarianism is a more naively utopian scheme than Marxism; it is well and truly a fool’s paradise.
George Tomezsko
Fox Chase
Tax more than just soda
Mayor Kenney decided to push for a three-cents-an-ounce sugary drinks tax not to reduce people’s sugar intake, but purely as a revenue generator to pay for universal pre-k, recreation center upgrades and other commendable programs.
However, despite his best attempts to avoid the sugar debate, proponents of the regressive tax have nonetheless trumpeted the health benefits that could be realized if such a punitive tax caused people to consume less sugar. The USDA reports that Americans eat between 150–170 pounds of sugar each year. Most would agree that there’s too much sugar in the average American diet. So, if we can agree that too much sugar in our diets is unhealthy, then why aren’t our elected officials considering an across-the-board tax on all consumer products sold in the city that contain added sugar? Other popular consumer goods such as cookies, candy, cakes, baked goods, ice cream, and even mass-produced dairy products would be taxed.
By spreading the tax over multiple industries and products rather than solely on the back of the beverage industry, the city could realize the revenue it seeks without unduly burdening manufacturers, distributors or consumers.
William Hamilton
Teamsters International V.P. (Eastern Region)
President, PA Conference of Teamsters
Double standard in NE
Where are the Donald Trumps or Joey Ventos of the Northeast? Why is it OK for the Russian immigrants to speak their language in public and no ones complains about it?
Is it because the color of their skin?
I have heard Hispanics speak their language, then you hear someone say, “This is America. Speak English.”
You remember Joey Vento, his sign at his store, you have heard Donald Trump’s comments.
I agree in freedom of speech, but it should be for everyone, regardless of the country of origin or the color of their skin.
Be fair to everyone.
Carlos Perez
Rhawnhurst
