A veteran Croton letter writer responds to some critical comments in The Gazette about a Voice of Croton candidate, and related matters.
Jul 11, 2025 by Paul Steinberg
(CROTON CHRONICLE) Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published as a Letter to the Editor in the July 10-16 edition of The Gazette. It is reproduced here with the permission of the author.
Human history is one of hierarchy: we did as we were told by our betters. This was an evolutionary advantageous behavior, but times changed and individual agency and freedom of thought became important. Today we like to think that we make decisions based on reasoning, not because the elites tell us what to believe or how to vote.
Old habits die hard, as seen recently in our school board election and now in our upcoming village election. In response to statements made by Stacey Nachtaler (a candidate for village trustee), Ali R. Jaffery has written a letter in this paper (The Gazette, week of June 26/July2). Mr. Jaffery does not discuss Ms. Nachtaler’s policies nor those of the incumbent village board. Instead he disputes the purity of her Democratic Party membership, calls her an “anonymous-sounding candidate” (whatever that means), and denounces her for running against her “teammates.” Mr. Jaffery doesn’t like the name “Voice of Croton” which he says is “rather self-important.” Even the VoC platform is viewed by Mr. Jaffery as “throwing darts at their neighbors.” Read more at Some thoughts on self-depersonalization and the value of thinking for oneself.
(CROTON CHRONICLE) Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published as a Letter to the Editor in the July 10-16 edition of The Gazette. It is reproduced here with the permission of the author.
Human history is one of hierarchy: we did as we were told by our betters. This was an evolutionary advantageous behavior, but times changed and individual agency and freedom of thought became important. Today we like to think that we make decisions based on reasoning, not because the elites tell us what to believe or how to vote.
Old habits die hard, as seen recently in our school board election and now in our upcoming village election. In response to statements made by Stacey Nachtaler (a candidate for village trustee), Ali R. Jaffery has written a letter in this paper (The Gazette, week of June 26/July2). Mr. Jaffery does not discuss Ms. Nachtaler’s policies nor those of the incumbent village board. Instead he disputes the purity of her Democratic Party membership, calls her an “anonymous-sounding candidate” (whatever that means), and denounces her for running against her “teammates.” Mr. Jaffery doesn’t like the name “Voice of Croton” which he says is “rather self-important.” Even the VoC platform is viewed by Mr. Jaffery as “throwing darts at their neighbors.” Read more at Some thoughts on self-depersonalization and the value of thinking for oneself.
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