A bit of stolen wisdom...
"so I'm sitting in Tim Hortons listening to these two blue collar schmoes talking about taxes. Now, before I get into this I just want to state that this isn't a rant about the poor, cause the same principle applies to rich. And this isn't a rant about the dim witted, cause the same thing applies to the extremely clever. This is as much about common sensibility as you'll ever hear. Now, this is how the conversation began. "fuckin' government, blah blah blah, taking all my check. No wonder the rich have so much money, they can hire tax lawyers blah blah blah" to which his knuckle-headed friend responded "well, you know where that money is going don't ya? It's going to those fuckin' dope addicts and welfare bums that are too lazy to get a real job blah blah blah. I gotta work to pay for them to live blah blah I ain't payin' no tax". Now, under most circumstances I would agree with their logic, but in this case I had just gotten off the highway and it led me to think differently. Who built the road I wondered as I drove along it? Who maintained it? Who cut the lawns on the side of the road, and cleared the trash and debris from the gravel shoulder? It all got me thinking. And the more I thought, the more clear it all became. They continued to talk. "shipping all my tax dollars overseas, I ain't payin'..." Who are these people I wondered? And, as they continued along their narrow minded line of thinking I, for a split second, wanted to walk over to their table, lean in on their conversation, and say "you don't like paying taxes? You better learn to fly then". I just wanted to say that, smile, and nothing more, leave their table and walk out of the store. I wanted to leave them thinking "learn to fly? Who the fuck was that guy?" they'd probably think I was some crazy, interrupting a perfectly good conversation, putting in my two cents that don't count for nothin', and of course blah blah blah. But, I thought that would be perfect. Learn to fly. Of course. You don't want to pay for roads, that's fine, don't use them. The problem is though, I'm not going to let some two bit schmoe drive on the road I, and every other tax paying citizen paid for. That's my road. If he didn't contribute then stay the fuck off it. If he thinks for one moment that the road paid for itself, like it was some gift from god for him to use, some gift that will repair its own potholes and clean its own trash, well, he just isn't thinking very hard is he? Does he think that some previous generation had footed the bill and all was paid for? Did he not consider the hundreds of roads under construction at this very moment, all over the country? Well fine, he doesn't have to pay his taxes, on one condition, from the moment he leaves his house, steps to the edge of the grass he paid for he can stop, look upward, and learn to soar, in flight, to his next destination, cause those roads and sidewalks are perks for tax payers only. And he can hover all he wants, as long as, heaven forbid it is to a public park. I pay for those too. I pay, you pay, we all pay for use of that particular piece of land. We pay to have it cleaned, mowed, cared for. And he better not be intending to pick his children up from school, cause guess what, if it's not a private school, they won't be going. They simply won't be invited. So, that leaves him hovering from his home to the store, or to his cottage or whatever, as long as it's his, and not ours. I guess the whole point of this rant is that there's a ton of stuff we pay for and don't even think about, and if you don't want to pay your taxes for it that's fine, but you better get out a shovel and some cement and start working, cause I'm not about to let you use my roads and sidewalks if you're not going to pitch in. I guess, unless you live in some secluded forest like and animal and never leave, you at some point or another are going to have to pay tax, cause getting by not paying it is about as easy as learning to fly. blah blah blah."
Courtesy of the person I often refer to as the smartest man I know....
