Sharing Ideas, Support and Good Times
New England War Tax Resisters came together during the weekend
of September 9 - 11 for their 20th Annual Gathering. That's an
impressive record for any group, especially for one with no leader,
and no hierarchy-generally thought a requirement to make things
happen. There are some solid WTR groups in New England including
New England WTR based in Boston, Pioneer Valley WTR in Western
Massachusetts, New England WRL in Connecticut, and in Maine the
WTR Resource Center, along with a lot of individual wtrs in each
New England state. Over the years they have shared the responsibility
for pulling off a weekend get together. Sometimes the schedule
is pretty well planned out; other times they've come together
and figured it out as they go along. One way or another, it's
always an excellent place to find what you need to carry on for
another year.
The theme for the 20th Gathering was "Beyond NO! Gandhi's Constructive
Campaign & War Tax Resistance." The keynote talk is printed
here, and in future issues we may follow-up with more from other
panels and small groups that further developed a Gandhian-style
strategically planned nonviolent campaign.
Announcements for these fall gatherings appear in this newsletter
or on the NWTRCC website. You don't have to be from New England
to attend.
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By Joanne Sheehan
This text is from the keynote presentation at the New England
WTR Gathering, September 9, 2005.
"What is effective social change?" is a question that I have
been thinking about over the last few years, and I've been developing
workshops based on Gandhi's work.
Gandhi outlined three elements for social transformation and
saw them as intertwined. Social change will not come about by
just doing one of them. The three elements are personal transformation,
political action, and constructive program.
Personal Transformation: Gandhi saw this as a beginning,
because even if each of us becomes "peaceful," we still need
to do more. Personal empowerment is a first step in the process.
If we are working together and feel unempowered we won't be
able to do what we want. In addition, personal transformation
includes understanding the choices that we make. In my own work
with high school students, it is apparent that young people
need to know about choices-how we live our lives, lifestyles
choices, how we relate to others. This can be the most important
part of a workshop with young people, but it is something each
and every one of us must explore. War tax resistance is certainly
an aspect of personal transformation, as we make decisions about
what we do with our money, what we choose to support or refuse
to support.
Political Action: When asked what is nonviolent action,
in the U.S. we often think of civil disobedience or particular
actions. I do an exercise in nonviolence trainings where I ask
small groups to list 10 wars. They do this quite quickly, but
then they struggle to come up with 10 nonviolent campaigns.
(People who have seen the series "A Force More Powerful" are
better at this!) And usually they list tactics and movements
rather than campaigns, not understanding the difference. In
contrast, when I've been in India, people describe nonviolent
action as what they are doing in the villages, the constructive
work they are doing.
Effective nonviolence is strategic. Too often we see a problem
but only think of single actions in response. We don't think
strategically about a longer term response. In her excellent
speech at the opening of the World Social Forum in January 2004,
Arundhati Roy said that even though the international anti-war
outpouring on February 15, 2003, was wonderful, it was a weekend,
and, "Holiday protests don't stop wars."
In Gandhian campaigns of nonviolent action against specific
evils, noncooperation is a key. Gandhi's Salt March initially
involved only 80 people, but the act of picking up the salt
from the sea and making their own salt in defiance of British
taxed salt was revolutionary. The power of the Salt March was
that it became a massive campaign-there was something everyone
could do. Some packaged the salt, some sold it, all could refuse
to buy the taxed salt and buy the alternative. The people of
India were saying no to the Empire and that became the turning
point in their struggle for independence. We say no as WTR's.
People in the military are saying no. We need to explore more
in our culture how we say no, how we noncooperate, and acknowledge
that there is a network that exists that helps this happen.
Military resisters are not alone by and large. These days Cindy
Sheehan has helped galvanize the network and make it more connected.
To be effective political action, noncooperation needs to be
one aspect of a strategic nonviolent campaign that might include
other tactics such as protest, public pressure from boycotts,
etc.
War tax resisters tend to be very experienced with the two
elements above. It is the third of Gandhi's elements that we
need to study and add to our efforts as we work for social transformation.
Constructive Program: We are quick to identify and protest
the things we don't like in our society, but we are often asked
"so what are you for?" As revolutionaries we need to start building
a new society in the shell of the old. Gandhi said we should
not wait for one to crumble before starting the other. Constructive
program brings people together to do the kind of community work
that is empowering, bringing them to a point of self reliance
and being ready to develop a new society. To outline a nonviolent
campaign involving all these elements, we need to begin to identify
where the change is needed. Gandhi identified 18 elements of
constructive program in India that included removal of untouchability,
developing village industries, sanitation, basic education,
national language, spinning cloth as a symbol of economic freedom,
labor unions, involving students, and caring for lepers. These
are not a specific model for us, but ones that we can begin
to get help from as we look at the changes needed in our society
to begin to build a new one.
Gandhi was disappointed that the Congress Party did not take
his constructive program and move forward with it into self
reliance and beyond. In India some changes have been made, some
are still being made. One example (of many) in India of constructive
program involved getting clean water and village sanitation
to hill tribes. The government spent decades trying to bring
in high technology solutions that didn't work. But when the
women of the area, who were disempowered and had been hauling
water for years, began to organize around their own issues and
gain strength, they eventually bought a pump. The pump allowed
them to create community industries, and each transformation
built on the next.
When we talk about the "shell of the old" in the U.S., we can
see with Hurricane Katrina that we are one hurricane away from
being a third world country. The structure is not working for
people. It is a façade that is only working for the people at
the top. The poverty, classism, and racism of our society was
exposed by the winds and floods of Katrina. Gandhi was working
with a huge society of very poor people. As we look at our nation
of very poor and very rich people, the things that we identify
as underlying our constructive program will be much different.
There is also the issues of who defines what the elements of
a constructive program would look like in this society? I think
it is a continuous group process that needs to include those
most in need of a new society, and those most interested in
building one. That is our challenge.
Editor's note: In a future issue we will present some
of the examples of elements of constructive program, and some
programs themselves, that the group identified during the rest
of the weekend.
"…NONVIOLENCE FOR GANDHI was more than just a technique
of struggle or a strategy for resisting military aggression;
it was intimately related to the wider struggle for social justice,
economic self-reliance, and ecological harmony as well as the
quest for self-realization. For Gandhi, nonviolent defense required
the reconstruction of the personal, social, economic, and political
life of each individual. 'We get nothing by asking; we shall
have to take what we want, and we need the requisite strength
for the effort.' …For the individual, it meant increased power-from-within
through the development of personal identity, self-reliance,
and fearlessness. For the community, it meant the creation of
a new set of political, social, and economic relations. At the
community level, then, the constructive program is that part
of the strategy designed to facilitate the development of new
social structures that foster political participation, cultural
diversity, economic self-reliance, and ecological resilience."
From The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense by Robert Burrowes
(pages 204-205)
Joanne Sheehan works with War Resisters League New England
and is the Chair of War Resisters' International through which
she has traveled to India twice. She has not paid taxes for
war in her lifetime.
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Backup Withholding
In a random conversation with a nonfiler recently, he mentioned
that the only collection he has had from the IRS in many years
is "backup withholding" on his bank account. The IRS informed
his bank of the seizure, and the bank wrote the resister:
We have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
that you have underreported reportable interest or dividend
income. As a result, the IRS is requiring us under Internal
Revenue Code Section 3406(a)(I)(C) to "backup withhold" twenty-eight
percent (28%) of all reportable interest and dividend payments
made to you.
…You must contact the IRS and obtain a written determination
(release) in order to be able to stop backup withholding. According
to IRS regulations, we are not allowed to stop backup withholding
until the IRS notifies us in writing. At that time, we will
write to let you know the exact date on which the backup withholding
will be discontinued.
While you are subject to backup withholding, you may not certify
to any payor (bank, broker, etc.) making reportable interest
or dividend payments that you are not subject to backup withholding.
In the case of this resister, monthly interest on the account
has been between 72¢ and 92¢, and it is unclear from his bank
statements if these small amounts are actually being paid over
to the IRS. As the letter indicates, you may not be able to
open another interest-bearing bank account while subject to
backup withholding, and, of course, closing the account can
end the seizure.
If you have any interesting experiences with backup withholding,
please let us know your stories.
Charitable Deductions
A friendly accountant offers a short summary on this topic: "You
can itemize deductions for donations of up to 50% of your income
to nonprofits. If you donated more, then the excess would be carryover
to the following year and could be used as a deduction then. So
a single person making $30,000 could only get a deduction for
$15,000 in charitable contributions. This by itself would not
reduce the tax to zero. However, that $15,000 deduction would
be added to other itemized deductions such as state taxes, real
estate tax, mortgage interest, and others. So combined, there
is a potential that the charitable contributions added with other
deductions could generate a zero tax."
People who are interested in bringing down their taxable income
can download forms from the IRS website and play around with
the numbers before the end of the year to see how their tax
bill is adding up. It is impossible for NWTRCC or most WTR counselors
to offer this kind of detailed tax information, so filers should
be encouraged to work out the numbers on their own or with help
from friends, family, or paid services as desired. Filers interested
in this style of not paying for war might find these websites
helpful: Tax Resistance
Blog, and The
Picket Line.
New Practical Coming Soon!
Number 7 in NWTRCC's Practical War Tax Resistance series of pamphlets
will cover issues of health insurance (or lack thereof), social
security, inheritances, and aging. We plan to have the final version
in print in November. Watch the website or the next issue for
ordering information.
Verizon Wireless
A telephone tax resister has had success getting Verizon Wireless
to remove the federal excise tax from bills by faxing a short
letter to the company at 800-734-4707. Show your name and phone
number, and write a note similar to this: To Whom It May Concern,
This letter is a formal statement to take all necessary measures
to meet my request for my Refusal to Pay the Federal Excise Tax
because it helps pay for war. Thank you very much. Sincerely,
Name.
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Many Thanks to
Chicago Area War Tax Resisters Support Group
St. Louis Covenant Community for War Tax Resisters
who gave since our last newsletter. We deeply appreciate your
support! We've also gotten behind on sending thank you notes to
individuals who gave over the summer. We are most grateful for
your contributions and will use these resources wisely.
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Contacts needed! We are in search of new area contacts or counselors
in Albuquerque, Montana, Nebraska, and New Hampshire. If you live
in any of those areas (or know someone who should be asked) and
can be a contact for people interested in war tax resistance,
please call or email Ruth Benn at the NWTRCC office, 800-269-7464
or nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org. The
local WTR network is so much more important than having a distant
number to call.
[Return to List of Headlines]
International News
Peace Tax Seven: The Struggle Continues
By Simon Heywood
"We will appeal and if necessary take this all the way to
the European Court of Human Rights"
This update appears on the website of the Peace Tax Seven,
www.peacetaxseven.com, along with other details about their
case.
In a two-hour hearing at the High Court in London on July 25,
Judge Collins rejected the Peace Tax Seven's (see MTAP, Oct.
2004) appeal and upheld the previous decision to refuse permission
for a full hearing.
In a nutshell, the judge accepted that we had enough of an
argument to warrant a full hearing, but refused to offer us
one, at least in a British court. It was, he said, an argument
relating to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The basic decision-making body for the ECHR is the European
Court in Strasbourg, so, effectively, we were told to take the
case to Strasbourg.
We were bringing the case under the British 1998 Human Rights
Act (HRA), which allows British courts the discretion to interpret
the European Convention in their own British way. There has
been no ruling on military taxation under the Human Rights Act,
so this was uncharted legal territory. As we understand it,
the judge could have allowed a full hearing in Britain under
the terms of the HRA, but he chose not to. He said he was afraid
that if British courts allowed themselves to listen to our arguments,
it would risk putting British law, as regards the Convention,
out of step with the rest of the European Union.
It will be possible for us to appeal again, to the Appeal Court.
Chances of a win are very slim, but this would open the door
to a direct application to the Strasbourg court. The Seven decided
unanimously to proceed along these lines, and we have instructed
our lawyers accordingly.
Of course we disagree strongly with the judge's decision, and
we are disappointed by it. But the main impression of the day
was the amazing support we had, from more than 50 people who
turned out in person to pack the courtroom and to the thousands
who signed the online petition. There are too many of you to
thank individually but we deeply value the contribution of each
and every one of you. These are grim times in many ways, but
in the middle of it all we have had tangible proof of how much
good can be done…. A groundswell of opinion is a powerful tool
for positive change.
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Resource Centers: A Simple Way to Organize for WTR
By Larry Dansinger
Back in the early 1980's my partner, Karen Marysdaughter, began
the Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center. It's still operating
over 20 years later. While we haven't turned the whole state
toward war tax resistance (yet), it's an issue that many peace
and justice people in Maine are aware of; they know where to
go to get that information.
While some organized WTR groups are obvious contacts for anyone
seeking information, even one person willing to give a few hours
a month can begin a resource center. Where there is no group,
the resource center is a perfect substitute.
Our resource center consists of: (1) Usually three e/mailings
a year (flyers for a regional New England gathering in the fall,
notice of the statewide WTR meeting in February, and a list
of resources along with April 15 plans); (2) A brochure about
the Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center that gets displayed
at events and in supportive organizational offices; (3) A phone
number and email for people to call or write if they need counseling
or support (which actually can be done by other people); (4)
Occasional articles on WTR, workshops, or other activities to
keep WTR in the minds of peace and justice people and the public;
and (5) An account at a local credit union for donations and
refused taxes.
To do this only requires a small but regular time commitment
to promoting WTR, a willingness to be "out there" as a wtr,
and a few basic organizational skills, such as doing e/mailings,
writing articles, and keeping track of money. Our budgets have
been pretty minimal, usually $250 or less per year, covered
by a few donors and sales of literature.
I would be happy to send samples from our resource center or
talk with anyone who wants to start one in their state or area.
It's quite simple, yet it is crucial for potential wtrs to know
where to get information and support if they are going to take
what may seem like a serious risk and no longer pay for war.
Contact: Larry Dansinger, Maine WTR Resource Center, 161
Stovepipe Alley, Monroe, ME 04951, (207) 525-7776, invert@acadia.net.
Making WTR Visible
Here's a way to create an outdoor display for the WTR Exhibit
(see Resources section for more information and the pdf version
for a diagram.):
Mount the six posters along the bottom edge of 30" x 40" foam
board, and add large hand-printed headings across the top for
greater visibility.
Purchase six pieces of 2' x 3/8" rebar (ribbed steel rods used
for concrete reinforcement), and two 20' sections of 1" PVC
pipe, cut into thirds for six pieces about 6'8" long.
Set up: Pound the rebar into the ground vertically forming
two triangles, 40"/side, positioned several feet apart. Place
a section of PVC over each rebar. Use strips of plastic packing
tape to secure the back of the foam board panels along each
side to the vertical PVC, with the top of the panel just a few
inches below the top of the PVC. (If you fold back a tab on
one end of a tape strip before placing it, it makes removal
and disassembly much easier.) This makes a pair of sturdy, wind-resistant
kiosks for temporary outdoor display, with the larger print
mostly visible from afar, even above the heads of people reading
the text.
Thanks to Jack Cohen-Joppa, S. Arizona WTR/Nuclear Resister,
Tucson, AZ
Activists' Trial Ends
The first and only federal conspiracy trial arising out of civil
resistance to the Iraq War ended September 26 when the jury announced
their verdicts: not guilty of conspiracy. The four were convicted
on lesser charges, damage to property and trespassing, both misdemeanors
that carry possible sentences of one year and six months respectively.
Two days before the invasion of Iraq four Catholic Workers
from Ithaca (WTRs and friends of NWTRCC) committed nonviolent
civil resistance at a military recruiting center. The trial
in Tompkins County Court in April 2004 ended in a hung jury.
However, almost a year later, the U.S. government decided to
retry the four, on charges including conspiracy, a trial closely
watched by activists. See www.stpatricksfour.com
for more information.
Prison Support
Please send letters of support to Inge Donato, who began a six-month
prison sentence in August. Inge was convicted on charges related
to the refusal to pay war taxes by members of Restored Israel
of Yahweh (see MTAP, August 2005).
Inge Donato # 40885-050
FDC Philadelphia Detention Center
PO Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Fixed!
If, during the past year, you purchased the Practical #3 pamphlet
on "Resisting Collection" from NWTRCC you may find that the text
does not flow properly. Somehow we mixed up two different versions
in a print run last year. It is now corrected and updated, and
new copies are available. We can replace your old one, or you
can download it from the website in either a text or PDF version:
www.nwtrcc.org/publications.htm#practical.
WTR Exhibit
Get ready for tax season now! Order the National War Tax Resistance
Exhibit and then see the instructions on the opposite page for
an idea about setting up an outdoor display. The Exhibit consists
of six posters measuring 22" x 34" each, depicting the history
of war tax resistance from 400 BCE to 2000, with one panel on
current resistance outside the U.S. The posters are mailed in
a tube, and purchasers should plan to mount it, such as on foam
core, for display.
Introduce people to war tax resistance at demonstrations, fairs,
workshops, libraries, schools, shopping centers, or food coops,
and then be sure to send photos of your display to NWTRCC.
You can see pictures of each poster on the web at www.nwtrcc.org/exhibit.htm.
The set of six posters costs $30, which includes shipping and
handling. Contact the NWTRCC office for more information or
to order an Exhibit.
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Ideas and Strategies
With the war tax resistance strategy conference just around the
corner as this is written, this issue includes a few pieces to
add to the brainstorming mix. Joanne Sheehan's presentation on
Gandhi's constructive program, Larry Dansinger's description of
a WTR resource center, and Marion Bromley's words from 1991 all
offer organizing approaches or thoughts. In addition, I am reminded
of some of the ideas that come to the NWTRCC office. Usually these
are just short notes or quick calls, and it's hard to figure out
how to respond, but in light of the conference, I'll list a few
of them here. Maybe one of them will strike your fancy. Stay tuned
in the next issue for a report on the conference itself!
- A large scale tax rebellion or a mass "tea party" for April
2006.
- Bringing a class action lawsuit of as many war tax resisters
as possible into the U.S. court system, and/or have someone
who is a "certified conscientious objector" (someone who got
out of the military recognized as a CO) bring a case again
war taxes in the U.S.
- Bringing a complaint/court case against paying U.S. taxes
for war to the International Court.
- Calling for national actions at times of year other than
just on Tax Day.
- Surveying progressive circles to get a good count of how
many war tax resisters there are (a proposal that includes
the survey will come before the conference too).
-Ruth Benn
Coordinating Committee Meetings
Past, Present, and Future
The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee holds two
meetings each year of the Coordinating Committee, where decisions
are made about the budget and direction of NWTRCC and the work
of the office is reviewed.
Last May the meeting was in Nashville, and we carried only
a short report in an earlier issue. A few other things that
came up at that meeting were that we will produce a flyer (half-sheet
size is recommended) linking spending on the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan with war tax resistance; we will try to produce
some new Public Service Announcements for radio before the next
tax season; on flyers we should use more graphics and fewer
words and could make something bookmark size for student outreach.
The group talked about fundraising and asking more people who
use Working Assets to nominate NWTRCC for funds when WALD sends
out the annual ballot, to get more groups to link to the NWTRCC
site, and to ask Alternative Funds to include NWTRCC in their
redirections.
We also welcomed new members to our Administrative Committee,
which helps plan these meetings and oversees the work of NWTRCC
between meetings. The Committee members for the coming year
are: continuing as full members: Lincoln Rice (WI) and Eszter
Freeman (CA); joining as full members: Daniel Woodham (NC) and
Susan Balzer (KS). Alice Liu (CA) will be an alternate for one
year and then move into a full position. Welcome to them all!
The next Coordinating Committee meeting will be during the
Strategy Conference weekend, and in May 2006 we will meet in
Seattle, WA. Watch for the date and details on the Seattle meeting
in one of the next couple issues! We hope to meet you at one
of our weekend gatherings.
[Return to List of Headlines]
Reprint Series
A Sense of Freedom
A Talk by Marion Bromley
Marion Bromley (1913-1996) was working for the Fellowship of
Reconciliation in the 1940s when she met Ernest Bromley, who was
circulating a statement about refusing to pay for war. She and
Ernest married not too long after that and made their way to Cincinnati,
Ohio, where they lived the rest of their lives. They are two of
the founders of the modern day war tax resistance movement. Marion
gave the keynote address at the 1991 New England War Tax Resistance
Gathering in Voluntown, Connecticut. The following thoughts on
WTR organizing made up about the last third of her talk, originally
called "80,000 Days of War Tax Resistance."
For each of us, I feel sure, refusing to pay taxes is a very
personal decision. similar to refusing military service. In
the beginning, of course, I thought this was such a simple,
clear way to oppose the devilish war system, that it ought not
be hard to let people know how it could be done. One of the
songs we used to sing was "If two and two and 50 make a million,
we'll see that day come round." And the logic of the potential
of tax refusal to stop war is sound, I still believe. Maybe
I shouldn't think of that as a naive dream and still be focusing
on ways to bring that day when they couldn't have a war because
nobody would pay for it.
In the past in Cincinnati we've had some dandy demonstrations
on tax day, with original, creative skits on Fountain Plaza.
We've picketed at the IRS on various occasions, always showed
up to leaflet the dilatory taxpayers whose cars were lined up
in the blocks around the Post Office every year, so anxious
about getting their return in the mail before midnight.
The three-year struggle with the IRS over the Gano Peacemakers
property, starting in 1972 with their assessments so obviously
based on a crooked audit, gave all of us an opportunity to expose
in that specific example their tactics and the way the Nixon
administration had manipulated the IRS to attack its political
enemies. The seizure of the house in 1975 brought about an increase
in support activity, in Cincinnati and in Washington, which
resulted in their reversing the sale at auction and removing
their signs from our front and back doors. A similar campaign
in Western Massachusetts over the seizing of two houses … received
tremendous support from organized tax resisters and favorable
national attention.
In the 1980's we had several fine workshops in Cincinnati.
We had good resource people come in to help our small local
contingent who had been solid refusers for years. We had good
process, people shared their concern about refusing and about
continuing to pay; suggestions were available about ways to
avoid withholding, and good literature was distributed. Good
people came to the workshops and appreciated them. But our group
of tax refusers attending regular meetings did not increase;
it decreased during the next few years. It happened that some
people felt they had to stop refusing because of factors in
their personal lives; some of our strong pillars moved from
the area; and we no longer had a group.
Now sometime in the last 20 years or so I've stopped feeling
it was my responsibility to save the world. I don't feel I have
failed my life's mission because people still go on paying for
war. Better people than I am go on paying for war. Most of the
time I know I am responsible for myself, not for the actions
of others. I've done some "organizing," getting other people
to meet and plan some event; I prefer not being in the role
of urging other people to do something. And I certainly have
learned that except in a general way of helping to put tax resistance
into the literature and speech and consciousness of anti-war
people, I cannot persuade other pacifists, who care as much
about the suffering of warfare as I do, to stop paying for what
they abhor. Mostly I remember that.
But sometimes, when I see what can happen in, for example,
Czechoslovakia, when people get in the streets and refuse to
cease their clamor, and bring about some important changes in
their political life, a little hope flickers in the back of
my eyes somewhere about what could happen if people really knew
they could prevent war. They could stop the murderous adventures
of the U.S. in such places as Grenada, Panama, and the Persian
Gulf. They could cause the energy, the brains, the national
resources of the country to be used to meet the basic needs
of the poor, the cities, education, food, sensible health care,
housing. They could force the empire to withdraw its tentacles
from those bases all over the world…stop arming the world in
the profitable grossest of all national products.
Maybe that represents an unrealistic goal. As I said, mostly
I don't feel it's my responsibility to cause that to happen.
I'm not suggesting anyone else should take responsibility for
that. All I'm trying to do is recognize where we are. Or, as
they say these days, "where we are at."
I don't want to leave the impression that a change of national
leadership, such as was accomplished in Czechoslovakia, is the
kind of revolution I'm interested in. When I happen to be in
a group that is singing, "All we are saying is give peace a
chance," I feel I'm being somewhat hypocritical. I want much
more than the absence of warfare. I want a much different society
from that I happen to be living in. People often ask why I don't
have such-and-such a bumper sticker on our car. I explain that
if I were honest I would have to have the car covered with stickers,
windows and all. I'm not an unhappy individual. But I'm far
from satisfied.
However, our theme this weekend is taxes for war. Maybe if
we can't figure out how to start a massive rebellion against
taxes for war, the next best thing is to figure out why we have
not been joined by a least a few hundred thousand people who
have decided to stop paying those taxes. How come we took that
matter of paying for war seriously enough to take some action,
and so few of our comrades have done so? Are we really different?
Do we care less, somehow, for clothes, or cars, or fancy homes,
and so on? What makes the difference between a refuser and a
conscientious serious person who continues to pay?
One thing I'm clear about is that I'm not "into" sacrifice.
It seems to me the assumption that I should take some punishment
onto myself to make amends for the evils of society is somehow
a denial of one of my deepest convictions-the absolute equality
of all human beings. It seems to me to demean others to feel
I'm so morally superior I have to serve as the sacrificial lamb.
Any steps I've taken against the practices that are so obviously
evil seem to me to be more from my desire to be free. I know
my resisting taxes hasn't had a fig's worth of significance
in changing anything. I look upon it as my feeling a little
more free because of that step. And I know for sure that I haven't
made any sacrifices. I only wish I could convey that sense of
freedom to others.
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