Updated below.
I've become quite tired of hearing about how people think their taxes are too high. I don't necessarily like paying my taxes, but at least I understand what they're for.
To that end I would like to profer a solution:
If you don't like paying your taxes, you shouldn't have to anymore.
You read that right. You should be able to opt out of paying your taxes.
A few quick notes about your tax-free existence:
You'll no longer be allowed to utilize a service or work for a business, company or institution that receives or is paid for through tax dollars. In the event of a health or safety emergency, don't bother calling 911. You don't contribute. Are you a teacher at a public school or university? You're going to have to find a new job. You're now mooching off the state. You are also now going to have to send your kids to private school (again, make sure that it's one that doesn't receive any public funds) or you're going to have to educate them yourself. And then there's the food. It looks like you're going to have to grow your own food and maybe even raise your own livestock. Either that or you're going to have to make sure that you buy all of your food from growers who don't receive government subsidies, either to grow a certain crop or, as in the case of many, not to farm all of their land. The little things? Sports? They're most likely out as many of your favorite franchises either receive some sort of finanical backing from local or state governments or they play on land that is either owned by or whose construction was funded by the public. The arts? We won't even GO there.
Finally, all of this is moot as you'll not be able to utilize any roads, highways or interstates that are built or maintained under the auspices of government funding.
I would like to apologize for this little diversion, but it's just something that was welling up inside of me for a long time now. It seems absurd that people have no idea what their taxes pay for. Is there a tremendous amount of waste? Of course. No system is perfect when you've got 535 basically speaking for 350 million.
It's a travesty that we value an education so little in this country that schools everywhere, at every level, are being "forced" to cut programs, curricula and activities. Naturally, there is plenty of blame to go around. Administration, municipalities, unions, teachers and, of course, ordinary tax-paying citizens all shoulder part of the responsibility for the failures of education. And my solution isn't just throw money at it blindly. The way I see it is that somebody (or, rather a large group of somebodies) paid their taxes when I was a kid to make sure that I had educational opportunities even though I grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in my home town. I would be willing to gamble that at least 50% of my elementary school (possibly much, much more) were on free or reduced lunch. What happens when we no longer want to help these kids get at least one solid meal a day? Do we say "Sorry, kid, but it's your own fault you're poor" or even more sinister, "This is God's punishment for ____." That's a load of bunk.
This is a pretty raw post. I just wanted to, in the words of a friend of mine, "Crap it out." Feel free to comment, debate, excoriate (me, not each other), whatever.
