Isn’t it strange that those who are so adamantly opposed to taxes try so hard to get on the tax-supported welfare wagon by seeking political office? Politics is apparently the next step up for those who can’t make it in the real world.
It should be a patriotic duty to support this great nation and its endeavors. But when people say they “support” this nation, they mean by waving flags and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. They never think that paying taxes is considerably more important than giving lip service to patriotism.
Without taxes we never would have attained the prominence in the world that we have. Those monies are used to build and nourish all our amenities. Think what a nation without taxes would be like. Is the military supposed to come knocking on our doors requesting a handout in order to protect us in times of conflict? Are we to develop our own personal police forces, build and maintain our own little stretches of road, construct schools for every neighborhood, build our own hospitals, airports, and meeting buildings?
What has happened to the statesmen who extolled the virtues of office by serving “thee,” not “we”?
Let’s bring this down to the local level. Why can’t we find money to hire the 10 additional officers that our sheriff says he needs? I am sure he with his experience knows what he requires. Why can’t we have a rehab and detox facility here? It sure would be better than people pissing the park, puking on the sidewalk and sniffing paint. But we don’t have the money, because people don’t want to pay more tax. Shouldn’t Christ’s children be concerned about the sick and infirm? I read many books, and one of those given to me by someone professing to be holy seems to say that Christians are duty-bound to care about those less fortunate than themselves.
I have paid my fair share of taxes, both in my business and labors. True, I often don’t care for the things our taxes are spent for. For instance, I would like a larger portion to be spent on education than on war. Education is never as expensive as ignorance, war equals postpartum abortion, and diplomatic talking means behind hearses we are not walking. I would rather have diplomatic talks for years than a war for a day. I’ve never seen a war that was settled; it always requires diplomacy to end it.
Those that built this nation were traitors to the King. Fortunately, he was 3,000 miles away or we would now be a monarchy. Yet there were territories that had to be pressured into contributing to form a union espousing freedom for all (except the slaves, women and the poor, of course). It was and still is a trial-and-error adventure.
Most of this land we call America was purchased from other countries, or obtained through military actions, both paid for with tax money. Which part would any of you sell to get your money back? Of course, the incoming administration is all for doing just that, shedding and selling off public lands. We have elected the very persons that would give it away with the stroke of a pen. As Pogo said, we have met the enemy and he is us.
We have turned this nation over to a group that pays no taxes yet lives off the levies paid by others. Where would they be if they did not have roads and highways for transporting their goods, law enforcement to protect them from would-be robbers, county clerks to record the deeds to the lands they own? They call taxes unnecessary but ours have given us just about the highest standard of living in the world.
All the hypocrisy makes me glad that I’m soon 87, on my way to heaven. (My friends will know why that makes me chuckle.)
Galen Larson writes from Montezuma County, Colo.
