On Taxes and Patriotism

There's a man that goes by the name Paul Begala who has apparently determined that its your patriotic duty to pay your taxes so the President can go on fixing the nation's woes without worry that you may have issues with how exactly he's doing it.

Paul Begala is an asshole.

Now, his argument centers around the Tax Day Tea Parties and the ignorant assumption that its participants are against taxes wholesale. The majority of Tea Party protesters are against massive government and wasteful spending, not taxes. Begala said that the first Tea Party was against taxation without representation, which is PARTLY true; the orginal tea party was also against government interference in the tea import businesss. Behold:

In 1772, the Indemnity Act 1767 expired (ah, for the days when British Acts had sunset clauses), thereby eliminating the full refund of the 25% tax on tea exported to the colonies. A new Act reduced the refund to three fifths, restored some other taxes repealed in 1767 and kept the Townshend tax in place. Result: a government-imposed increase in the price of tea and a consequent collapse in tea sales. The East India Company faced ruin - it needed a bailout!

Then as now, the correct bailout solution would have been to remove the government-imposed barriers to business, and let the East India Company sells its teas competitively (and this was what the Company asked for). To an extent, this was what happened. The Tea Act 1773 dropped the ban on the Company selling tea to America directly, so removing the middlemen and lowering prices, and restored the full refund of the 25% British tax. This enabled the Company at long last to sell tea cheaper than the smugglers.

But the Townshend duty remained, an affront to Americans and a symbol to the British government. Realizing the problem, the East India Company arranged for it to be paid in London or otherwise hidden. It was, in effect, an early Stealth Tax.

What happened next is well known - the Boston Tea Party was a protest against British usurpation of American liberties, not high taxes (as they had been reduced by the Tea Act 1773). Yet it was all the result of unnecessary government intervention in the market because some bright spark thought that it would be good for a company to have an income stream guaranteed by government.

In short, if we’d had a genuinely free market in tea in the 1700s, the tensions that led to the American Revolution would have been significantly reduced.

Begala has attempted to create a meme relabeling Tax Day, Patriot's Day. Apparently, for all his love of his country, he couldn't have taken two seconds to notice that Patriots' Day is the day remembering the Battle of Lexington and Concord. September 11th is known as Patriot Day. But do not fret over that, Mr. Begala, we know your Bush-hating, Obama-worshiping, cynical Iraq War ignorance is purely out a love of your country and has nothing to do with the fact you've been the attack dog of the Democratic Party for decades.

Conservatives and most libertarians have no problem paying taxes. Taxes alone are not the problem. The problem is the size and scope of taxes, what is being taxed, who is being taxed and how those tax dollars are being spent in the name of the citizenry that was taxed. Currently, those tax dollars are going towards things a good number of people don't like. Unless I'm mistaken, opposition to growing government spending was something Mr. Begala was against not too long ago (scroll to the 9:57pm post).

You don't have to like the government to be a patriot. All you have to do is love your country and the principles that it was founded on, even if you differ on the interpretation.

On Patriotism: Introduction

NOTE: I know have a number of series already in the works, but that's just how I roll. This blog is geared towards intellectual pursuits, but punditry isn't exactly out of the question, just not a top priority. Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots. -Barbara Ehrenreich [1]

A few months ago in a Facebook group called Atheism, Logic and Truth I came across a plea for help from the dark depth of the Midwest. Apparently, this lonely and persecuted teenage atheist was in dire need of liberation from the roving bands of Christians that inhabit her region and her nation. She wished to be whisked away to Europe where "free thinkers" reside, where anyone can say and do what they wish without the hell of religion to interfere in her intellectual pursuits. Coming to her rescue were the very same well-read, well-groomed supermen from the Continent. In responses that could defeat even the most ardent intellectual conservative, the superhero Europeans railed against the injustice of "ultra-nationalism" and of that damned Christian "morality". Calls for rescues of the mind were made. Keyboard-led assaults on the evil American state, the rabid zealotry of "Jesus freaks" and the "backwards" population were deemed successful. Self-congratulations abound on another mind saved. The world was safe from those damned patriotic Americans.

Then I arrived with heretical statement: "You're wrong about America."

Blasphemy! Ignorance! Close-mindedness! The calls of the intelligent and the sane assailed my wrong-headedness. How dare I defend free speech when there are still churches standing! How dare I call it liberty when a poor teenage girl must endure repeated encounters with people who believe in God! How dare I attack France for its socialism and racism, or Britain for its ban on self defense, or Germany for its economy! How dare I hold my country in my heart and mind! Patriotism is for the small. Patriotism is for the weak. And that is why Europeans will defend their way of life from any criticism!

Patriotism has a bad rap in America. To the outsider, it seems as though the worst political criminals hide underneath Old Glory in attempt to garner support from the stupid proles that inhabit the less sophisticated areas in this nation. This is true, they do. Alas, to the outsider, like the open-minded Europeans, that's all they want to see. They don't see the love in the eyes of grateful citizens when their uniformed loved ones return. They don't see the respect given to the flag by both young and old. They don't see the dedication to improvement of this nation by all thinkers of all colors and creeds. One does not need to be on the right to be a patriot. Some of the most American of musicians are of the left. Some of the most revered founding fathers like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, if living today, would garner scorn from the lesser minds of the conservative movement for their ideas.

In this series I'll explore the ups and downs of patriotic feelings in the United States. From the words and actions of our Founders to the calls for empire with Manifest Destiny to the fascistic years of Wilson and Roosevelt to the present where even presidential candidates reject the flag based on misguided views of patriotism. I intend to prove that patriotism is not of one political stripe or another, but a special spiritual current in American culture. That its not hate that drives one to raise the flag, chant "USA! USA!" or feel revulsion at those who disdain our symbols, our heroes and our culture, but of a deep and reasoned love for the unique nation we live in, work in and defend with our words and our actions.