7. I work hard for what I have

I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

Well, I don’t know how hard I have worked. Actually it seems pretty easy given my privilege. Nevertheless, I am happy to share it as I can. I am not aware of the government forcing me to be charitable. As I say, I am happy to be charitable, but I just don’t notice anyone forcing it.

Are we talking about taxes here? Because I don’t see taxes as having anything to do with charity. It seems to me that paying taxes is the price one pays for living in a free society.

As to whether we pay too much in taxes, I just don’t see that as the issue either. I have paid $30 for a meal and thought I got a great bargain and I have paid $10 for a meal and felt ripped off. The issue is the value, not the cost. Where we have waste we should trim it. But we pay a lot less in taxes than they do in Europe.

There are some things I would prefer to buy with my taxes than to have to shell out every time I need it. There in Kansas you have a turnpike for a part of the Interstate system. You have to pay a toll. We have to pay gas taxes here in Missouri. Maybe if I lived in Kansas and I never took the turnpike I would think I was getting a good deal, but it seems like a bother. I drive in Chicago sometimes and the toll roads there are an absolute pain.

One of the things I am happy to pay taxes for is public schools. That is how we got our education, but beyond that, I really want to live in a society of well educated people. People who are not well educated can easily fall prey to all sorts of charlatans who get wrapped up in appealing to the baser nature of folks and have them following conspiracy theories like rats after the Pied Piper. Better that we should have a well educated populace who knows more about what they want than about what they don’t want.