Catholic Church of England Puts Happy Face on Taxes

Today’s chuckleworthy decree comes from The Catholic Church:

The Catholic Church of England and Wales launched a passionate defense Monday of one of society’s most reviled features — taxes.

In a 40-page booklet entitled “Taxation for the Common Good,” the Church argued that instead of an unfair penalty, taxation should be seen as a way all people can play a moral part in public life.

“Taxes are very much based on the principles of solidarity, which is based on the commandment to love your neighbor,” former Bishop Howard Tripp, Chairman of the Church’s Committee for Public Life, told Reuters.

“This document is suggesting taxes are a way to play our part and it is something we should be pleased to do… It’s all part of our duty to our neighbor, stemming from our duty as social animals,” he said.…

He said tax dodgers were not helping themselves or their community:

“If a person felt bound not to pay some tax to a certain cause they disagree with then they must follow their conscience, but I would urge them to look at other ways to deal with that problem, such as lobbying members of parliament.”

At Living on Less, asfo_del treats us to some unconventional wisdom. Excerpt:

I know it’s not an easy argument to make, in favor of substandard housing. But that is my argument. Whose standards are they anyway? I’d much rather live in a place that I can afford than a place that is excessive for my needs, and whose excesses I have to pay for, especially if that excess is mandated by the government, which presumes to know what is best for me but is not willing to help me pay for it.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to live a fuller and less-stressful life on the income you have, or if you’re thinking of lowering your income either for tax resistance or just because you’d rather not spend so much of your life on-the-job, you’ll probably get some good food for thought from reading Escaping the Job Trap: Its a Matter of Time, NOT Money!

Fans of libertariïsh science fiction may enjoy And Then There Were None by Eric Frank Russell (1951). The story (complete at that link) tells what happened when a delegation from the Terran Empire dropped in on a planet of anarchist yokels who possess the ultimate one-way super-weapon which their folklore says was given to them by Gandhi.