Does it sound like a political rant is coming? Not really, because I promised to keep politics out of my blog. This is more about the importance of being active in the issues and events that affect our lives. There is no left and right in that. It’s just, be aware and do something with your awareness.
Doesn’t this look like a beautiful town? It’s Slatington, of course, back in the day. It’s a picture of the “uptown” taken from the “downtown”. It was posted on Facebook by the Slatington History Preservation Committee. There were many comments, mostly asking for identification of the buildings or the location of the camera. But one comment stood out to me. Someone said something like “looks like a nice town to live in, not the garbage dump the town is today”. WTH!! I couldn’t let that comment pass with out a reply. I told the commenter “to be a part of the solution. Run for Borough Council”. I heard nothing in reply. I didn’t expect to. It’s too easy just to complain.
I get it. I served some time on borough council a few decades ago. It’s a pain in the ass, part-time job, with minimal dollars and no respect! But you know what? A borough council is necessary. If not for a few dedicated individuals, the town would collapse into disrepair and anarchy. But you don’t have to even be a council member to help. There are many other ways to continue to improve the town. Calling it a garbage dump and then doing nothing is not a way to help.
I am guessing that other small towns face this same dilemma. But here is a rather sad story to illustrate that Slatington may have the worst case of an apathetic citizenry. A few years back, in an attempt to be funny, a group of citizens strongly pushed a write-in campaign for mayor. Unfortunately, the person they chose to promote was a well-known mentally challenged man. You could argue that they were taking an active part, but no, not really.
Apathy is a problem nationally as well. We have a dismal percentage of people who vote. There is a famous quote “people get the government they deserve”.
A bit of a downer of a post today so let me end with a report on a really fun part of yesterday’s George reunion: Bumper cars…with almost every attendee participating!
A Semi-retired Kind of Life 