Readers sound off on the arc of history, Gridlock Sam and Amazon vans

Brooklyn: The Patrick Henry declaration, “Give me liberty or give me death,” is mere rhetoric to those not faced with a moral dilemma because everything else is expediency. The same situation exposed the Founding Fathers’ blatant hypocrisy, which of course failed to ignite their consciences, so they composed the mythic preamble and went about their livelihoods unchecked, unfettered and unhampered.

When you have nothing to lose, you’ll say anything. There is no accountability. A moral superiority enslaves the conscience, which becomes impotent — the situation that prevails in the present United States of America. We’re united in fantasy, the reality beyond our grasp.

All politics is shoddy at best and criminal at worst. It is always a Hobson’s choice to the voters and a Faustian deal for the politician who sells his conscience at the altar of his politics. When truth becomes relative, all bets are off; all structures will collapse eventually. Internal corruption, like all cancers, is a formidable foe; there is no worse enemy. This has proven factual for all so-called civilizations from the Babylonians to the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, from the former British Empire to the present United States.

Everywhere in the world, oppression reigns supreme. This will not change because the universe itself is governed by a moral code. Everything reverberates. Everything has consequences. Not justly or necessarily fairly because this is an unjust world. The best you can hope to do is die in your sleep. If this sounds cynical, bear it. Truth doesn’t hide. The ostrich that buries its head in the sand is not digging for diamonds. God bless you and yours always. Ade Ademola

Manhattan: Leonard Greene’s “2022? There’s a lot worth forgetting about” (column, Jan. 1) was spot-on about everything. Great article. To be honest, I do not always agree with him, but he was 200% correct about everything. Good job! As for Voicer Mike Sawyer’s celebration of his good health, I have never read a more obnoxious letter. I hope Sawyer didn’t jinx his good “genes” (not jeans) and lack of medical provider/drug needs with such abhorrent, self-righteous comments about his diet, exercise or 26 bird feeders in his yard. I bet there’s a lot of unhealthy poop in his yard. He forgot to add how much Medicare must love him. And maybe he should toss his 2004-bought jeans and buy a new pair. Hey, you’re 70. Happy 2023! Michele Masucci

Manhattan: Harry Siegel was born to be an intrepid journalist. It shows in everything he has done, from reporting on the scammers in Battery Park selling tickets for ferries to nowhere to sharing with us the kindness of strangers going way out of their way to help him and his family after a car mishap on a West Coast highway. We need to know of both chicanery and kindness. So, good resolutions, Harry (”Some resolutions for this year’s new revolution,” column, Jan. 1). Just keep doing what you do best. Susan A. Stark

Edgewater, N.J.: Forget Parade magazine! What about Gridlock Sam Schwartz? How are we expected to plan to get around during weekends and other events without his sage advice? Hopefully, Sam had a succession plan and we readers will be regularly hearing from that person soon. Jay K. Egelberg

Park Ridge, N.J.: Last week, the MTA stopped a woman preparing to ride the subway and announced she was the one-billionth rider of the year (“She’s a rail winner,” Dec. 28). If they had included all the fare-beaters, that number probably would have been reached by the first week of February. Steve Ostlund

Brooklyn: There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights; There’s a traffic jam in Harlem that’s backed up to Jackson Heights; There’s a scout troop short a child. The governor’s due at Idlewild! Car 54 — er, Mayor Adams — where are you? Sheila Milligan

Staten Island: I am very proud of the rookie NYPD officer on his first day working (”Machete attacker a jihadist from Maine,” Jan. 2). He did more on that New Year’s Eve night than Mayor Adams did in his entire 20-plus years as a police officer, sergeant, lieutenant and captain. Robert McKenna

Brooklyn: The governor of New York was sworn in. She will supposedly focus on public safety. Right now, criminals rule the city due to the failure of the Legislature to do away with bail reform. Some of the worst lawbreakers get arrested and get let go the same day only to commit more crimes, and sometimes deadlier. Citizens must be fearful of walking out of their house or being on mass transit. Conceal-and-carry was protected by the Supreme Court but our mayor and governor made it extremely difficult for one to protect themselves and their families. The governor wonders why people are leaving the state. There is no better reason than personal safety. Since she has been allowed to be in office, I can see nothing done to go after criminals. The statistics say crime is decreasing but real citizens see otherwise. Right now, your rating is a grade of D-. Joseph Comperchio

Brooklyn: Add another annoying noise to the already unmanageable, unregulated and undesirable things that make up our daily life in the city. I don’t have to worry about sleeping late anymore because Amazon delivery trucks are on my block bright and early, waking everyone up with their backup beeping noise. We need a separate law enforcement department to start addressing this overwhelming noise problem in NYC or it’s just another reason for people to move elsewhere. Joe Many

Earlville, Queensland, Australia: The world economy was created with expertise alone. It was certainly not created with labor. Expertise is developed after several degrees and decades of study, research and work in the laboratory. The people involved would have spent 90,000-120,000 hours studying and developing know-how and expertise. The nature of expertise can be seen in the American Journal of Mechanical Engineering, the Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering Research and the Journal of Chemistry. All of these journals can be seen on the internet. Just type the name into the search box and press enter. It should be clear that it was expertise alone that created the world economy. At its very best, labor was an extremely basic level of assistance. It was never economically valuable. Labor could never be used to make any products, not even a teaspoon. Grahame N.E. Bell

East Setauket, L.I.: As Jet fans process another disappointing loss, wondering why they put themselves through the same misery every damn year since 1969, they need to consider this possibility: Over a half-century ago, a smooth, charismatic Gunslinger made his way to a hotel swimming pool in Miami to relax before the Big Game. A powerful gust of wind swept through his coifed hair and a tremendous Entity blotted out the sun. “Hey, man, what gives?” said the Gunslinger, peering over his dark shades. The Entity explained that the Gunslinger’s team had no chance of winning without the aid of dark and mysterious forces. Was he interested? “Lay it on me, baby.” A proposal was made: In exchange for the Gunslinger’s soul, his team would overcome incredible odds to win the Big Game, but he and his team would never excel at anything again in his lifetime, be it football, acting or selling fixed mortgages. Was he still interested? The Gunslinger smiled and laced up his white shoes, heading for the nearest microphone to make his brash prediction. The Entity had never seen such hubris and greed until he made the same deal seven times with a kid from New England. J.B. McGeever

Union City, N.J.: To Voicer David J. Melvin telling me to boycott Russian caviar (”You said it,” Dec. 31): I’ve been “boycotting” it since President Biden took office — along with 90% of all the other things I can no longer afford. Alex Rivero