When I looked at the digital version of the Morning Call Monday morning, the weekend shootings were the 7th story down the page. The Friday and Sunday shootings were lumped together in one article. By Monday afternoon the shooting story was at the bottom of page.
When shootings have become so commonplace in a city this size, we are indeed a cesspool. When our elected officials are so incensed that someone would dare use that term, it is they who should apologize. They should apologize for thinking that the citizens should consider this level of violence as normal. They should apologize for wanting to put image above safety.
As for the ones who say we should stop complaining, and join them in the marches for harmony, I feel no sense of security from their performances. They for the most part are either being paid to work in the new violence industry, or hope to be elected.
Years ago I complained about the poverty industry.... Those groups and organizations that specialized in the poor. Now that we have a violence industry, the advocates for the poor seem like the good old days.
reprinted from September of 2019
ADDENDUM AUGUST 9, 2021: In addition to this blog, a couple years ago I started a facebook group named Allentown Chronicles. On that page I limited posts to history and occasional local politics, I disallowed crime reports. Nostalgia is nice, but if it hides current reality too much, it becomes delusion. This past week we had two homicides in Allentown, with another nearby. The strawberry pie in Hess's Patio isn't coming back, and we can't keep ignoring the blood in the street.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThe routine shootings, the omnipresent litter, the dilapidated buildings, and overcrowded and blighted neighborhoods are clear signs of a dysfunctional local government. Some communities fall into this state when local industry leaves town and takes all the jobs and opportunity with them. However, that is not the case with our city, Allentown, it has been ruined by the very people the voters elected, and re-elected to hold city offices. There are no shortages of jobs and opportunities in the city, three hospitals, two colleges, plenty of public schools, the county seat, the federal courthouse, the county jail, a major corporate headquarters, located in a prosperous and rapidly growing geographic area, and a business district that the state dumps millions into annually. No it's not a lack of jobs or opportunity but the fact that those who take advantage of the opportunities choose, often very wisely, not to live in the city. Until we elect leaders that will serve this cause instead of others nothing will change.