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Democracy and Diversity

  By Academic, Civic virtue, Communitarianism, Conference Papers, Neighborhoods, NW Philly, Philadelphia, Political philosophy, Published Paper, West Mount Airy, West Mt. Airy Neighbors

This paper draws on my experience as a leader of West Mt. Airy Neighbors in the early 2000s as well as on my academic work on communitarian political thought. It was written for an International Conference on Deliberative Democracy held in Hangzhou, China in December 2004. It was published in Chinese translation in 2005 in a book edited by Bao-Gang He. An earlier version was presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in 2003. Abstract One of the oldest arguments in the history of political theory is that strong communities are only possible where people live a life in common. And one of the central themes of participatory democratic theory is that involved citizens are only possible where communities are strong. Together, these arguments lead to the conclusion that strong, democratic communities must be homogenous. Homogeneity is frequently thought to be a prerequisite for strong communities… Continue reading

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R8 preservation depends upon budget deal

  By NW Philly, Philadelphia, Published op-eds, Transportation

Mt. Airy Times-Express and Germantown Courier, August 6, 2003 The R8 Chestnut Hill West Train is still in danger. Although the recently approved SEPTA budget for the current fiscal does not eliminate the R8, further cuts are likely if SEPTA does not receive substantial additional funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Moreover, the new budget calls for severe cuts in services on R8 line, beginning in September. About Half all R8 Chestnut Hill West trains will be eliminated. SEPTA proposes to cut off-peak, weekday service on the line from twice an hour to once an hour. Inbound rains to Center City will run only once an hour beginning at 9:11 am. Outbound trains from Center City will run only once an hour except between 4:17 and 6:33 pm. Moreover, on weekends, trains will run only once every ninety minutes. The Northwest Campaign for Public Transportation believes that these cuts are,… Continue reading

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SEPTA and Snidely Whiplash

  By Humor, Philadelphia, Published op-eds, Transportation, Urbanism

Published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2003 The villain in this transit drama could be state officials or the “heroine.” Philadelphia-area residents are watching the theatrical melodrama “Saving SEPTA, 2003,” and Act IV has begun. The scene is set in Harrisburg, with Gov. Rendell, House Speaker John Perzel (R., Phila.), and Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill (R., Lebanon) in starring roles. Perched at the edge of our seats, we are waiting to see whether these three characters will redeem themselves, rescuing our flawed heroine, SEPTA, and saving the communities she serves. Act I began when the trio threatened our heroine by passing a budget that cut appropriations by $11 million. We were left wondering whether Rendell, Perzel and Brightbill were black-caped villains who wanted to force workers, widows and children from jobs and schools accessible only by public transit. Or were they good men who, in a moment reminiscent… Continue reading

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The R8: We are not out of the woods, yet

  By Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, Transportation

Chestnut Hill Local, July 3, 2003 Everyone in Northwest Philadelphia took a deep breath on hearing that SEPTA was proposing a new budget that did not call for the discontinuation of either the R8 train or the C bus. There is no doubt the effort of so many citizens in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown, and East Falls to petition and lobby for our train and bus lines had much to do with this decision. The efforts of our political leaders—State Senator Schwartz, State Representatives Washington and Myers, and Council members Miller and Nutter—to lobby for our train and bus lines should be commended as well. Yet before we get carried away congratulating ourselves, we need to read the fine print of SEPTA’s new budget. To look at it closely is to see that we are not out of the woods yet. The threat to the R8 remains extremely serious… Continue reading

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Why we may have to fight

  By International politics, Published Op-Eds

It is not easy for those of us who came of age politically during the Vietnam War to support any war, let alone one that does not respond to an imminent threat to our country. We know that war is horrible, even for the victors. And we distrust those who tell us that war is necessary, especially when we can see alternatives. These are healthy instincts. They account for the opposition of many people to President Bush’s determination of go to war against Iraq in order to disarm Saddam Hussein. But even our best political instincts have to be checked against the truth of the situation we face. Unless Saddam changes direction and agrees to disarm, war is likely to be the best response to our situation. What are the alternatives to war? The first is deterrence. We can prevent Saddam from using weapons of mass destruction to pursue his… Continue reading

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Misunderstandings abound in Cecilian Village project

  By NW Philly, Published Op-Eds, West Mt. Airy Neighbors

Chestnut Hill Local, January 18, 2003 The dispute over the Sisters of St. Joseph’s (SSJ) proposal to place 49 units of low-income senior housing in the historic Pelham district of Mt. Airy has, as it should, generated a great deal of debate in this papers’ letters columns as well as in many private discussions. But along with reasoned argument and debate have come some serious mistakes and misimpressions about what is at issue in this dispute. I would like to correct one of them here. The most serious—and indeed appalling—charge that has been made in this debate is that WMAN is acting to protect the interests of well-off and mostly white homeowners who fear that the proposed project will bring low-income and mostly black senior citizens into their midst. This claim has been a sub-text in some letters to the editor that have recently published. And we have heard reports… Continue reading

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A new supermarket for Mt. Airy

  By Economic Development, NW Philly, Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, West Mt. Airy Neighbors

Mt. Airy Times-Express, May 9, 2001  A New Supermarket for Mt. Airy Position Paper on the Proposal for a New Acme Supermarket In Our Community  West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN),  Mt. Airy USA, (MAUSA), South Mt. Airy Task Force (SMATF)  Mt. Airy needs and deserves a new, first-class supermarket. Why? A supermarket in our community is a necessity for neighborhood residents, especially those who come to the existing Acme on foot or by bus. Mt. Airy has the buying power to support a new first-class supermarket.  Today, a majority of Mt. Airy residents do their grocery shopping elsewhere—often outside the city—where they have access to new stores that, unlike the current Acme in Mt. Airy, are clean, well-designed, stocked with fresh food, staffed by trained, courteous employees, and able to provide many of the services found in the best contemporary supermarkets. Not only will a new first-class supermarket be a much… Continue reading

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Christianity in the Western Tradition

  By Academic, Biblical thought, Christianity, Conference Papers, Modern Political and Moral Thought, Philosophy, Published Paper

“Christianity in the Western Tradition,” in Don Thompson, Darrel Colson, and J. Scott Lee, Universality and History: Foundations of Core(University Press of America, 2002) An earlier version was presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Core Texts and Courses in April 2000. The link is to a slightly expanded version of the published article. This paper examines the place of Christianity in the Western tradition. It is a dissent from the idea—found in a wide variety of mid-century works—of a great tradition of political and moral thought that begins in Athens and Jerusalem and is rejected by the founders of modernity. On this view, Ancient Greek and Biblical thought share the aspiration to ennoble human beings. Modernity, on the other, builds on low but presumably more solid foundations. In this paper I wish to put forward a different story. My claim is that, though modernity fundamentally rejects the… Continue reading

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Forty Good Neighbors: An Introduction

  By West Mount Airy

In 1999 West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN)celebrated its 40th anniversary. As part of that celebration, a committee led by Mark Hartsfield and Dick Cox honored forty people (or families) as West Mt. Airy’s Forty 40 Good Neighbors. Though new to the neighborhood, I was then the Vice President for Community Affairs of WMAN. I volunteered to write most of the short biographies though I had help from Lois Frischling, Mira Rabin, Laura Siena, Melanie Black-Sellers, Elizabeth Werthan, Betty Gottlieb and the people who took the time to nominate the people from whom the Forty Good Neighbors. I also wrote this introduction to them. Writing these pieces was great fun and introduced me to the community and so many people within it. Links to the individual biographies are below. In the following pages you will meet our 40 Good Neighbors. These short biographies cannot do justice to the varied activities and… Continue reading