Season two: What Issues Matter?

Hi, this is Anna Callahan and you’re listening to Incorruptible Massachusetts. Our goal is to help people understand state politics: we’re investigating why it’s so broken, imagining what we could have here in MA if we fixed it, and reporting on how you can get involved.

Today I’m introducing Season Two. In season one we explored just how broken the state house is. I interviewed the seven most progressive state reps as well as three progressive organizations working to make Massachusetts better for working people and working families: Mass Alliance, Progressive Mass, and Act on Mass.

In season two, each episode will be focused on a different policy issue. What policies should we focus on?

Well, we live in a society of contradictions. We are the richest country in the world — arguably in the history of the world. Yet we rank pretty low on the things that matter. We:

• rank 43rd in life expectancy,
• 44th in infant mortality rate,
• most Americans could not withstand a $500 surprise expense; that is a very precarious place to be,
• and the top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 90% of Americans.

In other words, inequality is at its highest point since the 1920s, and many if not most people are struggling to get by.

So the question is, what kinds of policies should the Massachusetts legislature be focused on?

For a little more context, let’s remember that climate change is an existential threat that is affecting many communities right now. If we don’t take bold action, we are in for some very unpleasant times.

And one last point: I believe we are in a “movement moment,” where the American appetite for change is high. It may be true that 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago, we couldn’t get bold policies passed. I think today we can. I studied inequality a bit in grad school, and one thing you can say about inequality is that when it gets really high, you get what’s called “political unrest,” which means people start electing unusual candidates and demanding real change.

The Massachusetts legislature should tackle issues that will dramatically improve the everyday lives of Bay Staters. Our Democratic presidential primary has already laid out a lot of these issues: Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, criminal justice reform, Housing for All policies, and more. I will be interviewing experts and organizers in these areas to hear from them what we can do to move bold policies forward quickly here in Massachusetts.

If you have any issues you think I should cover or anyone you think I should meet, just fill out the comment form on my website, annacallahan.com.

Thanks for joining me as we dive into the issues that are the most pressing and important, and how we can get them past our State House.