Couldn’t agree more. None of that is surprising to me; depressing, yes—but surprising, absolutely not. Mass likes to masquerade itself as some “liberal paradise” but the systems here can be so entirely fucked for so many people. It’s the smugness of some people here who act so haughty when speaking of other, more traditionally red states. People often bring up stats around the superiority of the Massachusetts public school system in relation to other places, for example. But if you peel back a few layers, you see how drastically different (read: worse) that public education can be based on what city/town you’re in or your zip code. It’s honestly exhausting trying to have these conversations with people who wear the rose-colored glasses and believe that this state is so superior.