I used to regard paying taxes as a mostly honorable civic duty.
Now it mostly dishonorable.
This poses a dilemma made worse by the fact that I'm now self-employed and paying actively instead of passively. I dread writing that next check.
A weakened IRS is vulnerable to tax resistance. Could a coordinated mass movement directly fund science, public health, education, national parks, and other things being sacrificed to enrich the oligarchs?
@judell the fact that donations to charities and such are tax deductible means that, as I approach the end of the year, I make some very large donations to causes that I support. Then I don’t have to pay support the immoral government and I’m not breaking the law either. I know my money is being used to genuinely care for people.
It sucks. Because I believe government can work. I’m sorta privatising charity when I would rather support a moral government who does the right thing. But if the government will be immoral, then this is a reasonable alternative.
@paco simplifying:
(a - d) * r = t
a is your income
d is the cash/FMV of your donations
r is your tax rate
There is no a, d where 0 < d < a for which t = 0.
@colby Fair enough. I probably sounded like I think it’s dollar for dollar. One dollar donated to charity is a dollar not spent on taxes. I realise you’re right and that’s not how the math works.
My point (that got a bit muddled) is that I wish I could just pay taxes and that the government would do the right thing. Because forcing individuals to find and choose to support the right causes isn’t the right way to run a society.
Supporting charities should be a way to boost benefits above a moral baseline. It shouldn’t be a fight against immoral injustices. Normally I WANT to pay taxes.
Jon Udell
Paco Hope #resist
Colby Russell