Holy property taxes Batman! (Boston, Newton: how much, private school, university)

[id77]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

This is the case in most places I looked when I fled the city. In Somerville it was 12% below before residential exemption and my new place (in the suburbs) is about 18% below the appraisal.

When I looked at comps in Lexington and Newton, the tax payments were showing around $15,000/year whereas I’m paying $10,000/year in Boston. A couple other towns were even higher. I don’t know what it is, but if I’m paying $5,000/year less than I would otherwise for similarly valued property, I can’t really complain about taxes in good conscience. Even if they raised it 20%, I’m still ahead and certainly have no grounds to complain.

[ben young]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

I don’t really care what your politics are. I’m more interested in what way you think colleges are actually secret liberal propaganda machines. Is there something about studying organic chemistry make a person want to tax the wealthy?

Nothing secret about it .Read the mandatory course lists.'
The other note is why after paying 12 years of public education with dubious results, should a person now pickup the burden of the students collage debts ?. Now the new owner of the debts ,you ,me ,others, who had no say in the courses taken .will never share in the monetary gain of the now free " student " Please don't say it betters the world to have an educated society. In the past 20 years it has not proven so.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by ben young

Please don't say it betters the world to have an educated society. In the past 20 years it has not proven so.

An educated society is better but over the last 20 years our institutions of education have been doing an extremely poor job of educating people.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

An educated society is better but over the last 20 years our institutions of education have been doing an extremely poor job of educating people.

Because they aren't educating, they are indoctrinating. And it's not as much about hard science but about social sciences, critical thinking/philosophy, history, humanities.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Because they aren't educating, they are indoctrinating. And it's not as much about hard science but about social sciences, critical thinking/philosophy, history, humanities.

But its the people that study those fields that have a harder time finding high paying jobs, because the money is in STEM. Making sure they read some Rand in addition to Vonnegut isn't going to change that.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

But its the people that study those fields that have a harder time finding high paying jobs, because the money is in STEM. Making sure they read some Rand in addition to Marx isn't going to change that.

It's not just about the core curriculum. STEM students also require sound training in the aforementioned subjects. Businesses and organizations need people who can think broadly and critically and independently, collaborate and work congenially with people who have different ideas, and intellectually oppose different viewpoints and ideas based on the intellectual merits of an argument, and not on dogma. Organizations (and society) also need people with liberals arts and humanities backgrounds, regardless of whether they are "high paying." They also need to learn in a place that values a free marketplace of ideas which encourages, not suppresses difference, so they are prepared to enter a world filled with difference.
I notice you didn't respond to my previous response to you. Why the references to immigrants, gays, and sex-ed?

[ManApplet]

Property tax here where I sit currently exceeds the original purchase price. The outrage!

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

It's not just about the core curriculum. STEM students also require sound training in the aforementioned subjects. Businesses and organizations need people who can think broadly and critically and independently, collaborate and work congenially with people who have different ideas, and intellectually oppose different viewpoints and ideas based on the intellectual merits of an argument, and not on dogma. Organizations (and society) also need people with liberals arts and humanities backgrounds, regardless of whether they are "high paying." They also need to learn in a place that values a free marketplace of ideas which encourages, not suppresses difference, so they are prepared to enter a world filled with difference.

They really don't. If you work as a computer programmer, you're going to be judge by the quality of your code not by your eloquence or any sort of "see both sides" attitude.

I also think you underestimate the degree to which hard science majors also tend to be very liberal. It's no coincidence that major tech hubs also tend to be very blue politically. And again, it's not because of what they studied in school.

I notice you didn't respond to my previous response to you. Why the references to immigrants, gays, and sex-ed?

How do you define conservative ideology if not by those things? I guess I should tack on Reagonomics and trickle-down theory?

Could you specify the types of conservative things that you want colleges to teach that they don't currently?

[teslasucks]

Cancel debts, period. It called pay what you owe.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

They really don't. If you work as a computer programmer, you're going to be judge by the quality of your code not by your eloquence or any sort of "see both sides" attitude.

Actually you do if you intend to live and be successful outside the confines of your office and in future positions.

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

I also think you underestimate the degree to which hard science majors also tend to be very liberal. It's no coincidence that major tech hubs also tend to be very blue politically. And again, it's not because of what they studied in school.

I'm sorry to break this to you, but the world is not binary. Your world seems to be but the real world is not. And I highly doubt your idea of liberal is congruent with mine. Either way, the political proclivities of IT people are not relevant here.

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

How do you define conservative ideology if not by those things? I guess I should tack on Reagonomics and trickle-down theory?

How is conservative ideology relevant to this thread? And no, I would not randomly refer to immigrants, gays or sex-ed to "define" conservative ideology.