Nothing whatsoever to do with writing, but…

[EmilyMiller]

I think I caused some paranoia in the "stalkers tread," which I probably started. Everyone was suddenly worried about being identified; even I wondered if I had gotten too specific about locations. But at 68 I don't care anymore and it's probably too late anyway. Morris Heights, Williamsbridge, Norwood (it was just Mosholu Parkway then), Sunset Park, Cranford, Morris Township, Clifton, Plainfield, Hawthorne, West Orange, then back to Williamsbridge. You can see the pattern that my ex-wife, with her "moving bug," caused. There's a specific story about most of those places because of her.

I hope I’m posting on erotica sites at 68, hun .

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

I hope I’m posting on erotica sites at 68, hun .

Em

I didn't start writing them until I was 62 and I didn't start posting them until I was nearly 63. So it's never too late.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I didn't start writing them until I was 62 and I didn't start posting them until I was nearly 63. So it's never too late.

You are truly an inspiration. And not a hint of sarcasm in that. I aspire to being a dirty old lady.

Em

 

[MetaBob]

It's the same in almost any state.

People who live in Bakersfield have nothing to do with LA or SF, yet most of their taxes go there. Same with people in Durango who have to pay for Denver's problems, or people in Laredo who have to fund Dallas, or people in the Berkshires who are pissed at Boston's policies.

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate and innovate because big cities have sufficient infrastructure and workforce, including educated white-collar professionals, to support big business. Together, they generate vast tax revenue.

This is nothing new. I bet farmers in the Athenian hinterlands used to be pissed at that city's excesses, too.

Blaming cities for their excesses is also not new, but the reality is that money flows from urban areas to rural areas now, just as it always has. Low-traffic rural roads cost more money to build and maintain than the areas where they're built can generate, so tax revenue that disproportionately comes from big cities subsidizes them.

 

[EmilyMiller]

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate. Because big cities have sufficient workforce and infrastructure to support big business.


Blaming cities for their excesses is also not new, but the reality is that money flows from urban areas to rural areas now, just as it always has. Low-traffic rural roads cost more money to build and maintain than the areas where they're built can generate, so tax revenue that disproportionately comes from big cities subsidizes them.

Bravo. We create the fucking wealth.

Sick and tired of being dicktated (spelling intentional) to by subsidy addicts.

Em

 

[Trionyx]

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate and innovate because big cities have sufficient infrastructure and workforce, including educated white-collar professionals, to support big business. Together, they generate vast tax revenue.

Similarly, federal tax money flows from blue states to red. On average, red states use more federal dollars than they generate and blue states use fewer federal dollars than they generate for many of the same reasons MetaBob noted.

 

[MetaBob]

Similarly, federal tax money flows from blue states to red. On average, red states use more federal dollars than they generate and blue states use fewer federal dollars than they generate for many of the same reasons MetaBob noted.

Absolutely true, and the numbers prove it. Compare:

As of 2021, the only red state in the top 16 in Table 1: State Collections Per Capita is North Dakota, which is riding a temporary resource extraction boom.

Meanwhile, as of 2020, every one of the top 10 states in Table 8: Federal Aid as a Percentage of State General Revenue is a red state. At least 44% of the general revenue for all 10 of these states comes from redistributed Federal Aid.

Here's a heat map of property taxes collected by county. The highest rates are indicated in blue. With the exception of Teton County, WY (think the rich enclave of Jackson Hole), these are cities.

From the intro paragraph to that map:

Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local government and generate state-level revenue in some states as well. In fiscal year 2019, property taxes comprised 31 percent of total state and local tax collections in the United States, more than any other source of tax revenue.

 

[Dearelliot]

Some great places in Pennsylvania, but I love Jersey! Born raised and lived in Central Jersey, going on 89 years. I live on a lake in horse country...Couldn't be happier...
Except maybe for my property taxes, $13,000 a year..

 

[Voboy]

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate and innovate because big cities have sufficient infrastructure and workforce, including educated white-collar professionals, to support big business. Together, they generate vast tax revenue.


Blaming cities for their excesses is also not new, but the reality is that money flows from urban areas to rural areas now, just as it always has. Low-traffic rural roads cost more money to build and maintain than the areas where they're built can generate, so tax revenue that disproportionately comes from big cities subsidizes them.

That was only part of my point, though. The broader one involves value clashes between what cities prioritize vs what the hinterlands prioritize. It's not just about money; it's often about regulations, restrictions, and other legislation targeted toward the cities, which leave the countryside shaking their heads.

City folk pay taxes and see direct benefits. Country folk pay taxes and don't see the direct benefits, not as tangibly. Obviously it's not the same everywhere; some states do a better job than others.

 

[MetaBob]

Yup. The Schuykill Expressway. Pronounced "Skoo-kill" by most, and yes, nicknamed the "Sure-Kill" due the high volume of traffic accidents.

SKOO-kul I thought, from my time there.

 

[alohadave]

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate and innovate because big cities have sufficient infrastructure and workforce, including educated white-collar professionals, to support big business. Together, they generate vast tax revenue.


Blaming cities for their excesses is also not new, but the reality is that money flows from urban areas to rural areas now, just as it always has. Low-traffic rural roads cost more money to build and maintain than the areas where they're built can generate, so tax revenue that disproportionately comes from big cities subsidizes them.

The money flows from the cities, but often the rural areas have an outsize impact on spending.

Taking the Mass example, the western part of the state gets it's roads paid for by Boston taxes, but they do not want anything to do with funding the T (MBTA, state run mass transit that primarily impacts the Boston Metro area). It doesn't directly impact them, so they fight it tooth and nail.

So even though Boston is the main economic driver for the state, they fight against things that they perceive as only benefiting Boston.

 

[Rustyoznail]

The city/country divide happens everywhere. When I set up the road rehabilitation program each year, I have to be careful not to make it city-centric, even though those are the roads that desperately need work.

 

[Voboy]

The money flows from the cities, but often the rural areas have an outsize impact on spending.

Taking the Mass example, the western part of the state gets it's roads paid for by Boston taxes, but they do not want anything to do with funding the T (MBTA, state run mass transit that primarily impacts the Boston Metro area). It doesn't directly impact them, so they fight it tooth and nail.

So even though Boston is the main economic driver for the state, they fight against things that they perceive as only benefiting Boston.

At least, in MA, the people out in the boonies live within a couple hours of using the T. And if I'm heading out for a Big Event (a Sox game, say) there's a good chance the road I'll be using to get there is funded by tolls which impact neither the city nor the countryside.

If I live in Davis Creek, CA? I'm an eleven hour drive from LA. My nearest major city with a pro sports team is Sacramento, and all they've got is NBA. That's still almost six hours from me. I'll never even dream of using the RTD in Los Angeles.

Sure, I get some tax revenue from the cities. A chunk of my school funding comes from there, for example. But that funding is disbursed according to a formula that would benefit me the same way whether I lived in Redding or San Diego.

 

[MetaBob]

City folk pay taxes and see direct benefits. Country folk pay taxes and don't see the direct benefits, not as tangibly. Obviously it's not the same everywhere; some states do a better job than others.

Actually they do see the benefits; it's how they get decent roads. They just choose to take their benefits for granted and focus on what other regions need that they don't, and thus see as unimportant. Meanwhile, much of their infrastructure continues to be paid for by tax revenues collected from urban interests while these "country folk" don't contribute much, if anything, to urban needs like mass transportation, such as the T in Boston that alohadave mentioned.

That was only part of my point, though. The broader one involves value clashes between what cities prioritize vs what the hinterlands prioritize. It's not just about money; it's often about regulations, restrictions, and other legislation targeted toward the cities, which leave the countryside shaking their heads.

"Value clashes" are culture-war fodder, which I try to avoid. Facts should be safer except that some believe in "alternative facts."

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yeah, as in "Watch yinz do-in t'day?" A response might be "We were pondering visiting a local winery to sample their wares." A counter would be "Well, I was plan-en to piss out a six-pack of Rollin Rock."

Rolling Rock - from Latrobe, PA, I believe. I used that in a story once, but it would take a while to explain. Well, read the story, which is based on an old Twilight Zone episode. Except, among other things, Serling never mentions Pennsylvania but it plays a big part in the story.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/penitentiary-planet

 

[Duleigh]

You are truly an inspiration. And not a hint of sarcasm in that. I aspire to being a dirty old lady.

Em

Good luck in that endeavor! There's a bunch of us dirty old (Fill in the blank)s hanging out here

 

[EmilyMiller]

Rolling Rock - from Latrobe, PA, I believe. I used that in a story once, but it would take a while to explain. Well, read the story, which is based on an old Twilight Zone episode. Except, among other things, Serling never mentions Pennsylvania but it plays a big part in the story.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/penitentiary-planet

Yuengling is much, much nicer.

Em

 

[Duleigh]

Yuengling is much, much nicer.

Em

Make mine a Genesee Cream Ale
Jenny Cream - an inuendo in 12 oz cans.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Make mine a Genesee Cream Ale
Jenny Cream - an inuendo in 12 oz cans.

Genesee Cream Ale - primed for carbonation with wort instead of sugar - my first and only beer ...

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yuengling is much, much nicer.

Em

I'm sure it is, but since it's a prison system (excuse me, a correctional institution), they are going to go for a lower cost.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm sure it is, but since it's a prison system (excuse me, a correctional institution), they are going to go for a lower cost.

??????

 

[TxRad]

??????

My thoughts exactly.

 

[gunhilltrain]

My thoughts exactly.

People, maybe I should have been clearer, but I just mentioned, and linked to, the story I was talking about.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/penitentiary-planet

The beer, Pennsylvania, and prisons are all in there. The Twilight Zone original didn't have the first two, but it was about a convict and a robot (I have her as an android). What I wrote was not really a spoof, but definitely a reimagining of the the Rod Serling original.

Jean Marsh is still around at age 88.

 

[lc69hunter]

You've got it backwards. Big cities generate the revenue that small cities and rural areas depend on. This is the nature of cities: cities are where big businesses locate and innovate because big cities have sufficient infrastructure and workforce, including educated white-collar professionals, to support big business. Together, they generate vast tax revenue.


Blaming cities for their excesses is also not new, but the reality is that money flows from urban areas to rural areas now, just as it always has. Low-traffic rural roads cost more money to build and maintain than the areas where they're built can generate, so tax revenue that disproportionately comes from big cities subsidizes them.

And of course that justifies the big cities forcing their politics on the rural communities

 

[gunhilltrain]

And of course that justifies the big cities forcing their politics on the rural communities

This happens wherever there are big cities and rural areas. It probably happened in ancient Rome; it probably happened in ancient Egypt. You have to go back to hunter-gatherer days for it not to be a factor.