Letter to the Editor - Express-Times Newspaper
An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to “get out of New Jersey” the other day. That phrase comes up a lot (usually preceded by “dirty jerzy,” corruption, property taxes, “the Soprano state,” etc.) and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?
I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don’t know anything else.
I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating, but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state.
How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonment is not a solution.
Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: “A man who hasn’t found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live.”
If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I’m crazy, but so was Dr. King.
ERIK B. ANDERSON
Independence Township
This letter is being discussed on HackettstownLife.com.
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