So today is “tax day” and I just saw a popular comedian saying you can help your kids understand taxes by eating a third of their ice cream cone. That’s cute, but it’s unjust. Paying taxes is more like keeping back a third of their ice-cream money to make sure they have shoes or school supplies. Ice cream is a pleasure; surely shoes and school supplies are an obligation if we care about the health and strength of our children and our society as a whole.
And another thing: everyone seems to hate the IRS, but all they do is follow the rules that Congress makes and crunch numbers. It’s Congress that decides what we pay in taxes, and it’s also Congress that made over 500 changes in the tax system last year and apparently expected the IRS to process them efficiently at the same time that Congress cut their funding by something like 20%. Talk about unjust!
And a last thing: I just read that there are more volunteers to ServiceNation (AmeriCorps) from Montana than from any other state. That’s something to be very proud of, because ServiceNation gives young people an opportunity to get training and work experience and earn a little something before they have to make big decisions about their lives. Our son was in AmeriCorps in 2007-08 and, while he didn’t enjoy it all, he continues to be very glad that he did it.
Montanans in general seem to have generous hearts. Being a bit isolated and not very populous may bolster that, and also a certain sense of independence. Let’s be just, too, by not relying on cute sound-bites, and by recognizing that volunteering is a wonderful thing, but that we each also have some inescapable obligations to the people around us if we are all to benefit.
May we all open our hearts to one another and live in peace.
Mary Fahnestock-Thomas
Hamilton