Rob Howarth, a consultant with nonprofit community agencies in Toronto, writes an interesting piece on paying taxes as an effective way of building the common good. If you have comments on Rob's article, post them below for others to read.
These are the views of the author and not necessarily shared by the Ontario Nonprofit Network.
People seem to have a new-found fervour for collective solutions to collective woes. They want their governments to step in and take the heat off a massive market meltdown. Stimulus now! Spend more public money, the sooner the better! The curious thing is that no one seems willing to pay for this spree. Everyone hates paying taxes, and seems to imagine they can pay less and less of them and still have public spending grow. A combination of massive spending increases and significant tax cuts are central to both the Canadian and U.S. economic stimulus packages. Surely this will go down as the biggest attempts at a free lunch ever conjured up (except perhaps the brilliance of building our societies on non-renewable fossil fuel foundations).
I have noticed that conservative watchers of these ballooning deficits are warning that deficit spending today simply means deferring our taxes ‘till tomorrow. We are setting ourselves up for massive tax increases down the road. They say this as if it is a bad thing. I say, bring ‘em on! The sooner the better.
I have wanted to pay more taxes for some time now, but the conservative winds of the last twenty years have thwarted my desires. Tax cut aficionados continue even now to tell us that money in people's pockets is, in every instance, preferable to paying taxes. It is always preferable, but unfortunately just for solving individual needs. Once a group of individuals decide they need to do something together, like build a hospital, or school, or affordable housing, or collect the garbage - they will need to invent systems to do so. And also a way to pay for it fairly. I think we refer to these systems today as government and taxes. They are not perfect systems, and they are in constant need of reform and vigilance so that they reflect people's collective desires, and not just the will of the powerful. But the alternative of providing all of these collective goods via the private market is not looking like such a great idea these days.
So I still say, what's so funny about peace, love and a progressive tax system? If we had been paying more and fairer taxes all along much pain could be avoided today. We might even have chosen to strengthen our healthcare, green our energy sources, invest in community infrastructure, roads, cultural, educational and other public assets on an ongoing basis - not just when the banking system calls in sick.
Instead of a free lunch, let's follow John Lennon's advice and "free our minds instead". I'm starting by jettisoning the fiction that we can magically take care of each other, and be taken care of, without contributing very much along the way. And I'm printing up buttons that say: Tax me - I'm Yours!
Rob Howarth
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