Submitted by The_Sloth_Racer t3_10k6nq2 in funny
The_Sloth_Racer OP t1_j5oseea wrote
Reply to comment by scottieducati in My high school in Wilbraham, MA, got the 'Saturday Night Live' treatment due to lighting issue. The school has a server to control the lights with no manual override. The server got hacked and the school hasn't been able to turn off lights since 2021. Still not fixed. by The_Sloth_Racer
> We have more gun crimes and homicides than NH, VT, or ME per capita.
I wasn't talking about New England. I was comparing gun crimes in Mass/New England compared to the rest of the country, specifically states in the south and southwest like Texas.
> The list of debacles grows every year, we can start with the new MBTA cars.
Oh trust me, I agree with you on that. I know Mass has plenty of issues just like any other place. Mass has plenty of nepotism and that's the first thing that should be fixed. I've spent most of my life in Western Mass around Springfield and Northampton and have also lived in Worcester and on Cape and have seen how differently Western Mass gets treated. We still have some parts of the Berkshires without high-speed internet that Maura Healey finally said will be built but we'll see. I know Mass isn't the best state in the US but it definitely has many advantages over many other states. I know that if I lived in any other state I would be dead because I wouldn't be able to afford the medications that I have to take to stay alive. On MassHealth, I pay nothing for any medical care.
Leiryn t1_j5p171k wrote
Yeah but you still live in Massachusetts š¤¢
imnotlyndsey t1_j5qmcxa wrote
It could be worse. They could be living in Oklahoma (this is a self roast)
The_Sloth_Racer OP t1_j5sk9h7 wrote
Or Florida or Texas...
When I think of Oklahoma, all I think of are lots of fields and farms and very few people per capita. Is that accurate?
procrastinatorsuprem t1_j5rj8mi wrote
Arent he mbta issues because they privatized in 2014? Doesn't Keolis manage the MBTA? I don't remember any problems like this when it was state run.
scottieducati t1_j5oupdg wrote
LoL so letās tout our stringent and woefully messed up gun licensing withā¦. Not our neighbors. Phenomenal.
We could also talk about the layers upon layers of taxation, here. Like a goddamn onion people think itās normal to pay sales tax on a car, then excise tax on top of it yearly, oh plus inspection requirements. Want to expand your house? Thatāll cost you 50% more than in NH because of the vast amount of bullshit.
Itās staggering what folks accept as the norm down here. You are not getting a good return on the immense tax schemes that suck everyone dry. Look at the state of our actual schools (buildings), roads, the T, etc.
We also have a pretty big prison complex here, and a state police force that canāt seem to stop committing fraud and wasting taxpayer monies.
The entire economy of Boston was underpinned by subsidizing secondary education and the schools profited so much they bought half the damn land area and guess what? That means less taxes.
Thereās a dire housing problem and the local / state government hasnāt acted to curb NIMBYism for decades. Directly hurting anyone not rich enough to own land here.
So letās add on a few more passive taxes that folks wonāt notice instead of using sound policies to foster affordable housing, mixed-use development, invest meaningfully in infrastructure and transit, and broaden the tax base.
When is it enough to demand some kind of accountability or real change?
I honestly think the incremental creep of mismanagement, taxation, and slapping band aids on core issues has people a bit deluded.
Boston and the surrounding area is great for white collar, high earners who own a home. Forā¦. Everyone else? Iām not convinced.
Melbonie t1_j5u1a3n wrote
Maybe you should move to Florida with the rest of them. If you do the snowbird thing like all of my family's neighbors do, you can live in MA half the year and enjoy all the perks of a functioning society, and hang out in the cockroach heaven of Florida the other half, for no income taxes. Down here helping out a sick family member caught up in a sick underfunded system right now, and you're deluding yourself if you think less is gonna be more. We have an amazing quality of life in MA, and we take care of each other. Don't believe the hype- it's not any cheaper in Florida- and if you need any sort of help, ever, it's fuck you you're on your own. Same goes for NH. Live Free or Die means if it ain't free, go ahead and die. My aunt just died of cancer up there and it was unnecessarily stressful and unpleasant. Worst kind of blessing that she went fast, as it was all pain, suffering and fighting for any little scrap of help. We get what we pay for, and must experience true lack before we can appreciate anything.
scottieducati t1_j5u1mbw wrote
So weāre better than FL but canāt improve? They arenāt comparable and I never asserted as much.
MA has plenty of shortcomings and if you donāt see that Iād love some of what youāre smoking. Is it better than some areas? Absolutely. The bar isnāt very high if FL is your comp.
Melbonie t1_j5u4h5z wrote
I just see the same tired Taxachusetts argument, old as Methuselah and just as fictitious. I paid more taxes as a percentage of income in WA, OR, CT. I paid WAYYY more for healthcare, home and car insurance, utilities, water, gas and groceries in FL, SC and GA. We have plenty of shortcomings in MA, who doesn't, but the fact is that we get a lot of bang for our buck, compared to most states. Particularly all the low-tax states that our tax dollars subsidize. I work in public service, caring for "invisible throw away people" (elderly, disabled, mentally ill) and we could always do better, but are doing light years better than any of the other 6 states across the nation I've lived and worked in. But that's not your cohort, so you don't see it. No offense and I hope you don't, but chances are someday you'll need some of the services we pay for and then you'll see the value.
scottieducati t1_j5u6bwd wrote
Totally down for better social safety nets and yeah thatās a huge plus for MA vs NH.
Weāre also home to big pharma and healthcare so indirectly benefit from it at perhaps the expense of having serious discussions of universal healthcare.
Itās a weird place to be here, so much progressive potential but so much old money, corruption and nimbyism holding things back.
I intended that list more as a list of opportunities to improve things here and less of grievances but realize it may have come across poorly.
Iāve owned a business here and there is a LOT to be done to make things better for small business.
Donāt have to look far from Boston to see them closing and being forced further awayā¦ we get banks and chains now. Iāve lost count of shuttered local business in metro west.
The financial burdens to the little guys (but maybe not those in āneedā) is astronomical these days. Something needs to change or folks wonāt like where we end up.
Melbonie t1_j5u9xbg wrote
DEFINITELY need to cultivate a way better environment for small business. I'd love to use my public sector skills to craft similar programming for anyone who could use it, not just MassHealth qualified folks. Given the trend toward corporatization of everything, we should really try to be progressive leaders in making small business more achievable. We talk a big game about local source in Western MA, but not a lot of action. I was really disappointed to see the crony capitalism in the MassHealth sector when Baker brought Optum on board- another layer of administration and bureaucracy is not what the system needed, and their services can't be cheap, given all their advertising at Fenway and Gilette. (seriously- what are they even selling, exactly? and to whom?) Don't even get me started on the outsourcing of MassHealth customer service to places like Indiana and Wisconsin...
I was driving to the store a couple weeks ago and saw the Repubic waste management garbage trucks picking up in town and wondered whatever happened to local DPWs-- thinking yeah, they saved money going to the corpo, but now that Republic is the only game in town, they can pretty much name their price, can't they?
I digress for sure, but looking to big business for everything is eventually going to be a losing proposition.
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