I've asked around of my conservative and liberal friends. I have enquired of the internet. I have even asked my dad. No one can tell me what these tea parties were all about except that they were protesting taxes. Now most people I know hate taxes. It is no fun, kind of like going to the dentist or the doctor's office. At least that must be what it is like for most people who pay taxes in one lump sum. However, I have always gotten money back from the government, even when I didn't think I deserved it. In that way, I actually like paying taxes.
I can hear the hisses and guffaws from my fellow Americans. They will say things like, "Well, that's good for you; but as for me I want my money." However, this is a bit of a misunderstanding.
First off let me explain why I am happy to pay taxes. I do not live destitute and scrounging around trash cans for my next meal. I have frozen pizzas, bread baking supplies, and enough Mountain Dew to survive for quite some time. Yesterday I went out to eat with friends. I have a bed, a computer, and more books than I need. In fact, I have a lot. Now, there are plenty of things I want to buy that I can't afford. Things like roads, public parks, and a good education come to mind. Whenever I look at my paycheck and see the money taken out for taxes, I think to myself how privileged I am that I own a stake in this country. I know that when I go outside I will not need a Roman noble's entourage to ensure my safety as I walk down the street or that if I want to hike somewhere I will not have to pay a fee to roam about public land.
Is it a perfect system? No, of course not. There are areas that need streamlined. American politicians, like Jeff Flake of Arizona, have it exactly right when they back their convictions up with real action by not accepting earmarks and pork. However, this is a responsibility more of the voters than of the politicians. If we really want less spending on waste, we'll vote for the right things. We don't, so we have a lot of pork. Simple as that.
Secondly, I should ask this question: did you print that money? I mean, perhaps it is government interference that prohibits us from going to our basement with a printer and green ink. If so, well that is fine by me. I am reminded of something a wise man once said, "Give to Caesar what is his." Many of us Christians seem to forget this. It is ironic because conservatives and especially Christian Conservatives tend to lament the loss of classical Western thought. If you understand Aristotle properly, than money is merely a form of order. It isn't something in and of itself, but rather it represents the interaction of human beings and the world in which they live.
The purest sense of economy is therefore not capitalism but bartering. I raise a goat and you give me some apples. Merits and fortune are at their peak in this form of economy, but nothing truly great is accomplished. The individual is at the mercy of the fates to a greater degree than anywhere else.
In a completely free capitalist economy we run into pretty much the same thing. Countries with less government interference in one way or the other don't really exist and perhaps there is a reason for that. Human beings are hardly smart enough to create a worldwide cabal that prevents such libertarian countries from emerging. My theory is that such economies exist under the aegis of larger economies, so let us look at those. Such an economy is hardly autonomous but rather useful as a piggy bank for the larger economy and in that economy the average human being is unable to pursue happiness. (In fact in modern America happiness is usually forgotten in the pursuit of success. If success makes you happy, that is well and good but please leave the rest of us alone.)
Also, as was pointed out by one of my dad's friends, why is that in countries with limited government we see less stability and poorer people? Areas with little central government usually push up the worst of society. In fact I believe that Navy Seals had to rescue Americans from people living in a country with virtually no centralized government. I am of course speaking of Somalia which is controlled not by enlightened Randian entrepreneurs; but by thugs, warlords, and the occasional pirates.
So, I think that paying a few bucks each week for a stable and relatively happy society is a good deal. I like looking at roads and schools; and thinking that while things can always be made better, my country is still the best in the world because people take an active part in each others' lives be it by themselves or by simply paying taxes.
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