Some bits and pieces from here and there:
- Marlene at Pick My Brain reviews “Death & Taxes,” the new war tax resistance video from NWTRCC: “I listened intently to the 28 voices who spoke with clarity and passion about their call to action and I was definitely inspired to do something, even a token action to resist using my taxes to fund war and militaristic action. … I heartily recommend using this 30 minute DVD in small groups, Sunday School classes, peace and justice retreats, etc. It is fast paced, very positive and upbeat with lively music.”
- RantWoman, at RantWoman and the Religious Society of Friends, reflects on the neglected tradition of Quaker war tax resistance and what it might take to revitalize it in modern Meetings.
- South Carolina is requiring all organizations that “directly or indirectly advocate, advise, teach or practice the duty or necessity of controlling, seizing, or overthrowing the government of the United States, the state of South Carolina, or any political division thereof,” to register their activities with the South Carolina Secretary of State and pay a five-dollar filing fee. A member of the Alliance of the Libertarian Left decided to register: “When belligerence and inhumanity prevail, the peaceful and the humane must find honor in being categorized as the enemies of the prevailing order. Please keep me updated as to the status of our registration. I look forward to hearing back from you as to our official recognition as enemies of your state and its government. … PS. I am told that there is a processing fee in the amount of $5.00 for the registration of a subversive organization. Our organization is in fact so dastardly that we have refused to remit the fee.”
- Paying taxes is not a civic virtue, according to a Google Translation of an op-ed by Thomas Schmid in a recent issue of Welt Online, which namechecks Thoreau on the way to criticizing governments who rely on data stolen from banks in tax havens to crack down on tax evaders.
- Wendy McElroy has an interesting note about the philosopher William Wollaston who investigated the sensible idea that our actions are a more reliable indicator of our beliefs than are our utterances.
- “Where are 1% of American adults?” asks Shakesville. In prison, is the answer. Along with some other revolting statistics about America’s lockdown culture that you’ve probably heard before was this interesting claim: “It is illegal to bring into the United States any goods produced by forced labor or by prisoners, yet American prisoners make 100% of the military helmets, ammunition belts, bulletproof vests, ID tags as well some other items used by the US military. Although a prisoner is not technically forced to work, solitary confinement is the punishment for refusal. They also make 93% of domestically produced paints, 36% of home appliances and 21% of office furniture.”
