Along with our rights and freedoms as Americans come responsibilities. Taxes are both a community responsibility and a patriotic duty. They represent an investment in our country, in our present, and our future.
If past taxpayers had not performed their duty, we would not now have a highway system to enjoy. Neither would we have programs that protect our safety, our health, and our environment from unscrupulous corporations viewing our nation as theirs to pillage, plunder, and pollute. Without taxes we would not have fire, police, garbage collection, and medical services in many regions of the country. Without taxes, education would be available only to those able to afford it, science would be lingering in the backwoods, and technology would be nowhere. And of critical importance also, there would be no safety net for the underprivileged or folks who have fallen on hard times due to sickness or events beyond their control.
Taxes are not a plague that we should avoid and evade at every possible opportunity; we should be grateful for living in a prosperous nation, and should welcome the opportunity to give a little back in order that our fellow citizens and future generations can enjoy what we enjoy. I resent my taxes being used for corporate welfare or to sacrifice Americans and Iraqis in the Bush War of Global Domination, and surely some programs could be improved, but overall taxes benefit us. Whether individual or corporate, those who wish to avoid paying taxes should leave the country. Alan,