Government
and Taxes
Not
a little problem confronting our great nation is the widespread ignorance and
myopia of our people resulting from any one or a combination of sub-standard
education, profit motivated media, and/or a less than transparent government,
each of which is a subject in and of itself.
In
my posting today, I want to talk about government and taxes. Volumes upon
volumes of books can be written on these two subjects, but I want, only, to
make three simple statements of fact about them.
First,
if we were subject to a dictatorial fascist form of government, it would be all
over–end of discussion. We’re done–end of blog.
Second,
we are not, presently, subject to a dictatorial fascist form of government. Rather, and
thankfully so, our government is a democratic republic, (as Abraham Lincoln said
in his magnificent and historic speech at Gettysburg), “a government of the
people, by the people, and for the people”, a representative government through
which the people govern themselves. Can anything be simpler? We, through our elected
representatives are responsible. The key word here is “responsible”, and that doesn't mean let somebody else do it. We and our elected representatives are in
this together. Now I say to you again as I have said times before in this blog
in one way or another, if enough of you shrug off your responsibility, leaving
it to someone else, you will surely lose your democracy–back to First. We’re
done–end of blog. We should begin to teach this concept of government and responsibility
of the people in the third grade. If a student can learn arithmetic in that
grade, they can learn government.
How
much government should we have? And, the answer is: We should have every bit as
much government as the people need, want, and are willing to pay for, which
brings me to my third thought for today, taxes. Nothing is free. “Nothing is
for nothing”. In the scheme of things, everything is paid for by somebody,
somewhere, sooner or later, one way or another, in the chain of events. If you
get something “free”, either you paid for it unknowingly or someone else paid
for it for you.
What
does this have to do with taxes? In plain words, taxes are the total costs of
providing the services the people need or decide they want from government; and
which, they (the people) levy upon themselves to pay for such services. How
they evade, avoid, lie, cheat, steal, deceive, and “screw up” the process
notwithstanding, all taxes are taxes on the people, by the people, and for the
people. Bottom line, final analysis, one way or another–only the people pay.
For everyone who doesn't someone else, directly or indirectly has to cover
their share. Don’t tell me businesses pay. They don’t. Business must make a
profit, the expense of which must be paid to their investors in order for them
to remain in business (see my blog on the purpose of a business). Sooner or
later in the chain of transaction events, if a business remains in business, taxes
paid by it are passed on to their customer, we the people. Here, too, we should
begin to teach this concept of taxation in the third grade.
Government!
Never forget, “It is us”. We pay for it–we the people.
Ronald
Miller
mtss86@bellsouth.net
Hey Grandpa, I agree taxes are "on the people, by the people, and for the people", but what should be expected of us when the Government grants itself the power to make decicisons for the people based not on "what the people want and are willing to pay for" but what they deem is necessary. I personally do not agree with or want to pay taxes for government mandated programs which I believe unconstitutional. Yet, we do not choose how our tax money is used or divided. So, in order to be a reponsible citizen and pay taxes to fund programs I believe in I have absolutely no choice but to also fund programs I don't believe in. Why is it the government should choose how my tax money is split up? Why should I not be allowed to pay taxes torwards only, what I believe is beneficial to myself as a citizen, and beneficial to the country as a whole? In my opinion, when we the people have the power to choose where our hard earned tax money goes, then we finally have a voice within the governement. There are many citizens who will say "yes, I believe the government should provide this service or that service, and that it should be funded by tax revenue", but I guarantee if people had a choice of where and how there tax money was allocated (being that the are required by law and responsible as citizens to pay taxes) we would truly see what services the majority of the population agreed with. Tax revenue is the principal power of the population yet it is controlled by government, hence the government controls the population's power. Why are we so free to decide where spend all our money within the market place but not free enough to decide where we spend our taxes?....
ReplyDeleteLove, Alex
Government and Taxes–Response to Comment One
ReplyDeleteDear Alex: As we discuss government and taxes, we need to be mindful of multiple functions of the whole, the detail of some of which intertwine with the detail of others. That’s a mess of words, but I have difficulty explaining it differently.
Speaking of taxes, in and of themselves, to say taxes are “of the people, by the people, and for the people” is to say they, taxes, in sum total, directly and indirectly, emanate from the people, go to the government, and come back to the people in government grants and services. It is, also, to say that, ultimately, in the final analysis, only people pay taxes. This is true, on the whole, whether the government is federal, state, or local. If a citizen could choose which taxes he would pay and which he would not, our whole nation would quickly collapse. It is difficult enough now to get people to pay their “fair share” according to their “ability to pay” as it should be.
We have, also, said our government is a representative democratic republic. Of course, that means we, as a people, collectively elect representatives to represent us in conducting the day to day affairs of our great nation (federal, state, and/or local). They are the elected management of our nation. You have heard it said: “All for one, One for all”; “United we Stand, Divided we Fall”; “One Nation, Under God”; and so on. As a democratic republic, we vote and act collectively in unison with one another. It is only fitting and proper that we do this in this manner. Anything otherwise–if everyone paid only those taxes or obeyed only those laws with which they agreed we would have complete anarchy, confusion, and rebellion (or, more kindly, disorder). As I have indicated in previous postings, there are over three hundred million people in our country, each of whom have different values, viewpoints, desires, and needs (colors of water, if you will). There is disagreement even in families. Even they can’t get along–just look at our fifty per cent divorce rate.
Unfortunately, on occasion, we have representatives who refuse to accept the collective will of the people, also. They refuse to support the president the people elect; they refuse to fund laws they, themselves, collectively have passed in conjunction with their own rules; they refuse to “take care of the people’s business”; etc., etc.–all for the sole benefit of their own particular political party, the good of the nation notwithstanding. Disgraceful.
I hope I have answered your question, Alex. I love you, too.
Your grandpa