Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Anti-war tax protest

With Americans due to get their collective pockets picked in less than two weeks, and the proceeds from that mass act of larceny going, in part, to fund the fiasco in Iraq, it's worthwhile to highlight the efforts of people who are actively expressing their disapproval of the whole process.

Dorothy Hansen used to pay her taxes faithfully every year - until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Since then, she has stopped filing her income tax returns to show her disapproval of the war. ...

With the tax-filing deadline just two weeks away, some Bay Area residents are using it as an opportunity to protest the war by withholding their tax dollars to fund it.

Known as war tax resisters, they consider it an act of civil disobedience. Some withhold only a symbolic portion of what they owe - $10.40, for example, to represent the 1040 tax form - while others, like Hansen, refuse to pay anything at all. Many will redirect their tax dollars to a charity of their choice.

There are plenty of reasons to refuse to pay taxes -- if you have a little more courage than I have, that is. Simply wishing to hold on to your own money is a perfectly decent rationale. But a desire to keep your hard-earned dollars from funding a bloody foreign adventure is among the better reasons that occur to me.

The War Resisters League maintains a Website with helpful information about military spending and options for keeping your personal funds out of government hands -- even if only symbolically.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home