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No taxation without representation [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-02-09

What is our money supposed to go towards when we pay taxes? What is the role of the government, and the purpose of paying taxes, in general?

Everyone that works, ideally, is supposed to make enough money to take care of all of their needs, which include everything from housing and food, to safety, education, and healthcare. Those are just the basics. We can pay for our own security, we can pay for our own schools and doctors... however, it can be rather prohibitive to take care of everything on our own, on a local level.

So, people started organizing into groups and pooling resources to lower costs. Eventually, we figured out that if we all pitch in, we can get standardized healthcare, affordable education available to all, and police departments for safety — all of it at a much lower cost than if we paid directly into it ourselves.

This is what our taxes are for. They are there to take care of the things we already need and would be paying for ourselves, but we do it collectively to get a better deal. In large part, this is the reason government exists and taxation is allowed. In return for paying taxes, the government promises to use that money to help all people, and protect us.

So what happens when those benefits vanish?

What happens when the Department of Education is dismantled? When not everyone has equal access to that education, or to the healthcare they are paying in to; when the CDC doesn’t notify anyone of the dangers ahead, and people die? When a doctor can’t even provide medical assistance to us out of their fear of government retribution? When we can’t safely travel on the roads, and in the skies, that we are paying to have safe; when consumer protections are gone, when the government agencies meant to keep our air, water and land clean are replaced by private interests? What happens when the services we are all paying taxes to get are no longer provided? When the government no longer works for us, and they have their own plans with our money?

What if those taxes, instead of being used to help us, started being used to build concentration camps instead, for example?

That is not what I agreed to... that is not my contract with the government. When my money is being used to fund internment camps instead of public parks, our contract is null and void. I can use that tax money to pay for the education myself, and for the healthcare that will no longer be provided to my family. It will be more expensive, but I need that money. That money has a purpose, and if that purpose is not being fulfilled, then I need to spend that money myself on those services that we need. And if my money is being intentionally misappropriated, then there must be a way to do something about it, right? Contact our government, our representatives, and have them stop it all?

But they all seem to be on board with it. They are the government. There is no one in the government we can contact, and no one that will listen to us. And those that may try to listen to us are effectively outsiders, and in no way control the government. We have no real representation in the government; no one that will listen to our concerns.

That is not representation.

And we know there can be no taxation without representation. It’s a part of our history. It’s how our nation was founded. This is our contract with the government, and if one side violates that contract, the other side has a right to stop paying. Period. It’s our money. No one is entitled to it without giving something back. If I need the money for my family, and the government no longer provides the basic services it is mandated to, I have not only a right, but a moral obligation to spend those taxes on my family instead.

But first… we need to give our representatives a chance. Everyone needs to try, and try hard, to get them to reverse course. Tell them what your money is meant to be used for, and tell them what you expect them to do. And save every single correspondence. Contact your GOP representatives as well, in fact contact them first, and give them a chance to work for us. And save every correspondence. I’ll repeat that once more time — save every email, record every phone call… keep it all. This is your attempt to get some representation and proof you got denied.

There can be no taxation without representation. This is not just some idea from 250 years ago, this is our superhero origin story. This is how we became a nation.

Start talking about it. And when enough people talk about it, then we can start discussing the details around the logistics, and avoiding backlash. First, we need enough people to start thinking like our forefathers did, then we talk about how to do it.

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” - Ryunosuke Satoro

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/9/2302605/-No-taxation-without-representation?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

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