Why it is your duty to stop supporting the government →
how tax resistance fits the bill →
isn’t some government worth paying for? →
doing without government →
citizen dependence / reliance on government
As Americans finish their annual tax-filing flurry to meet a deadline, it is true that tax rates are lower than they were a few years ago.
But according to a different yardstick, the federal government’s reach is expanding.
Slightly over half of all Americans — 52.6 percent — now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J.
That’s up from 49.4 percent in and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in .
If the trend continues, the percentage could rise to pass 55 percent, where it stood in on the eve of President Reagan’s move to scale back the size of government.
Mr. Shilling’s analysis found that about 1 in 5 Americans hold a government job or a job reliant on federal spending.
A similar number receive Social Security or a government pension.
About 19 million others get food stamps, 2 million get subsidized housing, and 5 million get education grants.
For all these categories, Mr. Shilling counted dependents as well as the direct recipients of government income.
One in five!
A few days ago I went to the first class of San Francisco’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team training.
It is designed to train people to be useful to their neighborhoods in case of a disaster that overwhelms emergency services.
The first thing they did when I walked in the door was to take my name and hand me three sheets of paper to sign.
Two were the sort of liability release forms that everybody has to sign nowadays to keep the lawyers from circling overhead.
But the first one of the batch was, I kid you not, a loyalty oath.
(or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.
And I do further swear (or affirm) that I do not advocate, nor am I a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that now advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means; that within the five years immediately preceding the taking of this oath (or affirmation) I have not been a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocated the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means except as follows: ________________________________________ (If no affiliations, write in the words "No Exceptions") and that during such time as I hold the office of ______________ I will not advocate nor become a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means.
Not only that, but it’s a felony to be an oath-taking disaster volunteer who nonetheless “advocates or becomes a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or violence or other unlawful means.”
It turns out, though, that even if I don’t take the oath they’ll let me take the class and learn what it takes to be helpful, but they won’t give me the helmet, vest, and membership card that makes me an official mouseketeer.
I think I can live with that.
