Taxes; A Dirty But Necessary Word.

By TLS

I used to be solidly in the no-taxes camp. I still catch myself often looking in that direction. I know now, like it or not, for better or worse, taxes (and probably increasing taxes) are a necessary requirement of a continuing society. Eventually it may all collapse, but hopefully that’s a long ways off.

I recently read a couple articles about a small rural town disbanding its police department due to a lack of funds. Another article referenced a small sheriff’s department that essentially just quit, all of them at the same time, due to colossally inadequate funding.

As bureaucracies grow they become slower and less efficient, that’s almost certainly a fact of life. There simply can’t be more than two or three people working together without some level of bureaucracy settling in, that’s just reality. Societies cannot function without taxes, another unpleasant reality. Another common reality? Constituents voicing ‘I want lower taxes!’ and ‘But, I also want more services!’ These two statements do not play well with each other.

Lawsuits, accidents, criminality, fraud, waste, abuse, training requirements, safety programs, etc; all these activities are secondary or tertiary or lower to a primary service. But, each one adds a layer of additional expense, an additional layer of inefficiency; as well as plain ‘ol poor management. Each one is also as unavoidable as death and taxes.

People living at or below the poverty level, or within sight of it, certainly do not want to pay more taxes. The stepped tax brackets are intended to provide some help here, whether effective or not. Those a little higher up that tax ladder have a little breathing room. However, this group gets a bit testy when they see their limited hard-earned income reduced by increased taxes to pay for inefficiencies and other wastes. Somewhere in here is a group that supports taxes, believe it or not. Higher up the ladder are other groups that take advantage of every loophole, side shift, deduction, and deception available to lower their tax bills.

This of course is only referencing individual income taxes. There are still corporate, sales, and a variety of other taxes hoovering up every penny possible. This is the money that supports the wealthiest, most advanced, most powerful nation of all time, that we are fortunate enough to live in. But, it seems, we’re starting to struggle.

Taxes suck, plain and simple. It would be great if bureaucracies could become more efficient and put to better use their allocated funds. This is not how it works unfortunately. But, we still need roads, utilities, police and fire departments, public schools, libraries, social aid, and an almost unending list of other services paid for by taxes.

Hold our governmental employees (I don’t call them leaders) accountable as much as possible. Advocate for improved efficiencies in processes, it might help. More oversight or regulation is probably not the answer, there’s probably enough already. Any additional systems that would oversee and attempt to improve, would itself eventually become victim to the wasteful bureaucratic certainty of life. In the end however, we need to pay taxes, and they’re going to go up, probably. Turning the tax spigot down or off will not help in the long run.

Taxes are meant to support the existing foundations of our society, but we also need to invest in ourselves. Local, state, and federal agencies must maintain, and improve, our infrastructure as well as the governmental and social services. Paying taxes may seem like fingernails on a chalkboard to many. But, cutting off our noses to spite our faces by not funding needed services is not a great path to prosperity. Paying taxes is about as much fun as a colonoscopy, without anesthesia. But, it’s still as equally important.

Clip art

<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/business-people-bankers-with-money-illustration_3200358.htm#fromView=image_search_similar&page=1&position=0&uuid=a75ddff6-48b7-42ea-9b2b-08fc9161f012">Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik</a>