Just Imagine — No Taxes

There is personal wealth and then there is community wealth.  I read this a while back in a discussion of the growing wealth gap in this country.  One measure of wealth that has a lot to with the general happiness of a population is community wealth. This includes such things as parks, good roads, support of the arts, community buildings, education, etc.

I started thinking about this again as I have just come back from the Shelby County Clerks Office where I was registering my vehicle.   It is not an awful government building, I’ve been in a lot worse, but neither is it grand.  I still remember where they housed the County Sanitarians in Pulaski County, Arkansas.  It was an old hospital that had long been past its prime when the medicos abandoned it.  Now the County was trying to use it for office space.   It does seem to me that many government buildings get short shrift.

Short shrift would apply to many city, county, and state employees when it comes to pay.  Having been a state employee and worked with many city and county employees I know this be true.  It has the effect of making retention hard, recruiting even harder, and it works on peoples attitudes. The majority of government workers I knew wanted to do a good job, but felt overworked and under appreciated.  Many times they lacked the resources to do their jobs effectively.   I remember being a County Sanitarian and sitting in my office because the state did not have the money to pay travel.  If you are a County Sanitarian your job is in the community, not in the office.

Add together the decaying buildings, long lines, and overworked employees and you have the resultant sum of a poor interaction with the government.  Mine today was not awful, even with a surly clerk.  I am getting much better about ignoring this part of people.   But it did start me thinking.  Why can’t these interactions take place in pleasant surrondings, in offices adequately staffed, and by people with some basic job satisfaction?  Are we really that cheap?

When I was a kid there were parks all over the place, and almost without exception it cost nada to be there.  In Oklahoma you could just drive to the lake, park, and go swim.  This is not the case anymore.   I do not know what the percentage is, but it seems like most in Oklahoma parks charge now.   In Arkansas many of lakes and parks have a charge.  While it is self pay, you had better pay as the Ranger will be around checking, and the ticket is not cheap.

One could argue that this is a fee on the user, and yes it is.  But the parks are something that should be available to all regardless of ability to pay.  At certain times of my life, these fees were significant and factored in as to whether I did a “fun” activity.  Camping fees at a lot of US Forest Service locales have crept up to the point, you begin to wonder about a motel.   Of course, on the flip side it seems like a lot of these places have turned into big RV parks.  I reckon if you can afford a RV, and afford to haul it around the fees are incidental.

You read all the time about public swimming pools closing or operating limiting hours.  Here is another community wealth item going by the wayside.

It is well documented that our infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.) is crumbling due to lack of maintenance and continued investment.   This is one of the more obvious community wealth items.

Folks gripe about supporting the arts.  I cannot imagine a world without them.  Art, music, literature, etc give us joy and present the world to us in different lights.  If life is simply about surviving and making a living, how sad a place it would be.  The unfortunate truth is that while some arts and artists can support themselves, many would perish if not publicly funded.  We would all be poorer if these things went away.

Everybody gives education lip service.  I can think of few things more essential in a democratic society than a broadly educated population.  I can think of few things more important in a world that is becoming increasing technical than the education to be able to utilize and develop this technology.   We seem content to ignore the first, and to outsource the second.   Those are facts that should cause any reasonable person overwhelming sadness.

No one likes taxes.  At some point, though, we need to realize that taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized community.  Those among us (person or corporate) that have been blessed with more should be willing to shoulder a slightly larger share.  We should all be willing to contribute to the greater good.

Can you just imagine how it would be if all our roads, bridges, waterways were in prime shape.  How wonderful it would if we had green or watery spaces that all could use, and they were kept up and clean.  What would happen if we poured as much money and energy into our schools as we do into our sports arenas?  How much more of a pleasant place it would be if we all were surrounded by art, music, and had access to wonderful literature.  Now imagine what it would be like if no one paid taxes.

Just imagine.