Sometimes it seems like the whole world is on vacation in late August, and even the developments in Libya or hurricanes headed for Haiti seem far away. Never mind discussions about tax reform.
Yesterday while reading two Boston Globe articles I couldn’t stop thinking about the role of government in our communities and what we value in them, and how we decide to participate in government and pay for it.
Certainly the current national deficit debate has revealed that different views of government’s role has fueled a hot debate about how government should work.
One Massachusetts Network Members would argue that an increasing income gap among our fellow residents does not create an environment of prosperity needed for all to thrive in this society. Industries need to have the proper public and human infrastructure to be successful such as an educated and healthy workforce, a steady legal system, a good telecommunications system, among many others. All these variables need resources to exist and be maintained.
The study paints a stark picture of two commonwealths, in which the gap between rich and poor, east and west is growing. For example, the inflation-adjusted median income of affluent families in Greater Boston has grown 54 percent since 1979, to $230,000 from $150,000 a year, largely due to high-paying technology jobs.
In Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley, where decades of plant closings have left hollowed-out economies, the inflation-adjusted median income of the poorest families fell 24 percent, from $21,000 a year in 1979 to $16,000 - on par with some of the most impoverished parts of Appalachia.
