>I don't think a lot of people realize how awful it is to be poor, even in Massachusetts with all the supposed social safety nets we have.

Massholes do not care. We're busy patting ourselves on the back for being better than Florida for the middle and upper class.

If you point out that inequality is a huge problem in MA and it's actually a very difficult place to survive for working class people, the response is pretty much, "Wahhh, boo hoo, go live in the South and see how you like it there."