(See what I did there with the title? Like a tax "write off"? We mustn't lose our sense of humor, folks. I spent time with some great friends today and at least got that back.)
Any law that is in the books in this country is
presumed to be the will of the People – it is what Society wants. It would follow then that lawbreakers are
those who are going against Society.
Anyone looking at my situation could very quickly
come to the conclusion that I am breaking the law via civil disobedience where
the income tax is concerned, and, therefore, I am obviously going against the
will of Society because the law says I have to pay it.
But, Society, before you judge me, you may want to
examine me a little more closely, and then perhaps reevaluate what your true
will is.
Let me plant this in your head first: It’s 1850, and
it is now a federal crime to assist fugitive slaves. It is a federal crime to not hand them over to the authorities if you have the
opportunity. Let’s say you decide to
help a known fugitive slave get from point A to point B on their journey to
freedom. Technically, you are a
criminal. But in helping a fellow human
being escape bondage, did you really
commit a crime? Are your actions truly
worthy of punishment?
Let’s jump back to today. You ask, “Who’s this uppity piano tuner in
Illinois thinking he’s above the law?
Why, he’s nothing but a whining freeloader! Take him away!” Well, let me try to give you a better
picture.
I’m a single dad.
I have two boys to whom I am very devoted. We are a tight-knit family. We love music and video games and humor and
each other. They also have a devoted
mother and have roughly equal time with both of their parents.
I tune pianos for a living; I have no
employees. Apart from the income tax, I
pay taxes every day. Most of the money I
earn pays for food and gasoline. The gasoline
is for running my car so I can get to my tunings so I can get paid and buy more
food. We like to eat every day (it's become a habit). I spend every dollar I make, and I pay taxes
every time I spend those dollars. As a
renter, I pay a part of my landlord’s property taxes, and there are probably
some other business-related taxes of his I help pay. If the income tax disappeared tonight, we
would all still be “taxpayers,” make no mistake.
You might be thinking right now, “Ha, a piano tuner
who doesn’t want to pay his income taxes, and he doesn’t even provide jobs for
other people. No employees; just makes
money for himself. This guy isn’t contributing
much to Society. He needs to pay up.”
Well, it’s true that my business provides a job only
for me. So, maybe I really don’t make
much of a contribution, right? I only
make pianos functional so that professional pianists can perform and their
agents and promoters have something to do; so that piano teachers have an
instrument their students can use; so that piano students have something to
practice on at home. If pianos couldn’t
be tuned and the keys kept from malfunctioning, then people wouldn’t buy them
from dealers, and dealers would stop ordering them from manufacturers. Piano performers (with their agents and
promoters), piano teachers, dealers, and manufacturers would have to look for
other work. This would affect businesses
that market pianos and do their advertising.
The industries that supply raw materials for pianos would see their
orders diminished. And what industries
are those? Well, there's the lumber industry, and steel, copper, iron,
brass, wool, leather, cloth, vinyl, plastic, paint, glue, graphite, ink,
finishers, movers, etc.
So, yeah, piano tuners aren't really plugged into anything. It’s just me, and I’m just a leech who sucks
up resources and gives nothing in return.
If you do anything for 47 years, you can safely be
said to be an expert. At 47-years-old, I
certainly qualify as an expert in two very important areas: on being human, and
on being a part of Society. As a human
being and as a member of Society, if anyone approached me and said, “I work
hard all year round to provide for myself and my children. My labor is my only resource for providing
for us. In the normal course of the
year, even during this recession, I make enough to make ends meet, maybe a
little above living month-to-month, but not much more. I have no financial cushion to rest on if
times get really tough. I’ve decided
that the income tax is not much different than having to pay for breathing as far as my rights are concerned, so
I’ve stopped paying it, yet I still contribute to government coffers every day with no problem. What do you
think? Should I have all my money taken
away so they can collect what they say I owe?
Should I face time in prison for not filing returns? Should my family be broken up and
traumatized? Or should I be left alone
to continue doing what I’ve been doing – supporting myself and my family so we’re
not a burden to anyone else?”
As an expert human being and member of Society, I
couldn’t find it within myself to tell such a person that they deserve the
punishments prescribed in the law, even though the law, being "in the books," presumes that that is my will. I couldn’t
identify those punishments and their rather dire consequences as being aligned with my will
in any way. I would come to the
conclusion that this person isn’t “going against Society” at all, and if they
deserve anything, it would be the encouragement to keep on keepin’ on; it would
be a pat on the back. I’d tell them they
are doing exactly what Society expects of them as a responsible, adult human being, and they
should be left alone to continue doing it.
After all, government has the ways and means of raising its necessary
revenues without in any way interfering with that person’s going out and
earning their living, so why should it?
What’s the point?
In the same way, if it was 1852 and someone told me
they just helped a slave escape to freedom, I’d reflect on the 1850 Fugitive
Slave Law, remind myself that I am talking to a felon, and buy him a drink.
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